Gaudi overload

Today we took the train to Colonia Guell to see an old friend of S's mum, who lives there for part of the year. D is 89, and still very fit and sharp as a tack. She kept us entertained for hours with her reminiscences of life in Catalonia in the 1940s and 1950s (you can't really get a word in edgeways once she gets going). She also cooked us a simple and delicious lunch while we went out and walked around the Colonia Guell, a workers' village built around a cotton mill, set up by rich industrialist and friend of Gaudi, Eusebio Guell. It's best known for the very typically Gaudi church -- note the brick catenary arches, just like the ones in the attic of la Pedrera. There's a view of the outside here. We may have had enough Gaudi for this visit.

After a cloudy start, it had turned into a lovely day, and the village was full of signs of spring. After lunch we caught the train back to base, and are hoping to try a jazz club this evening.