The matinee of light

The big beautiful city of Barcelona. Light played off Gaudi's organic facades like constellations. And then there was magic, like nothing I have ever seen before. Casa Batlló, La Pedrera, Park and Palau Güell, Sagrada Familia, all homages to Nature, whom I miss whenever I venture into a big city. But then I entered his cathedral and looked up to see a forest canopy, a kaleidoscopic gate to a higher realm, and everything made sense. Like I said, nothing my small self has ever experienced before. I can only imagine what effect it will have once the Spaniards finally finish constructing it. A dance of magical, natural, celestial, genial light. Thank you Gaudi. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Spanish Morocco

Granada -  Arabic for pomegranate. The last Islamic city to fall to Catholic monarchs in Spain. Wherever you look up, you orientate yourself around the Al Hambra, (similar to Cape Town in that respect), the fortified Moorish palace. A city of contrast, narrow cobbled streets of the Moorish quarter, tall gothic spires nearby from the Christian one. People living in mountain caves, or fashionable apartments. Spa treatments, or natural hot springs. Artists, buskers, crafters, hippies, flamenco dancers, wanderers, lovers, all free spirits in one form or other congregate here, mesmerised. Granada, if it were up to me, I would have unpacked my bags and stayed. Not even because you have free tapas.

How lazily the sun goes down in Granada, it hides beneath the water, it conceals in the Alhambra. Ernest Hemingway

Picasso's palm trees

Sometimes I come across a region where it's beauty isn't as immediate to see. I try to focus on details that I find along the way, then slowly its charm unfolds. Picasso's birthplace, Malaga, at face value is splitting at the seams with Erasmus students, tangerine tans, shopping bags, a dirty harbour, gold chains and high rise apartments. But then I come across districts where fish is prepared on converted boat-braais, palm tree promenades, white-washed cottages and vw dingies and I start to enjoy its energy. When in doubt, head out of the city.

The Seville orange

Home to the largest wooden structure and Gothic cathedral in the world, flamenco, and the bitter orange, this city was ridiculously hot to wander around in. But ridiculously beautiful too. Moorish ornateness. Christian decadence. The distinct Mudéjar style is the result.What a romantic palette the sun-kissed combination is.

Polished stones and sardines

Oh Portugal, what a pleasant surprise you were. Grilled fish, azulejos (those amazingly intricate painted tiles all over every building facade), salt water, smiling faces, an Eiffel bridge, port wine, beach promenades to keep walking on. Exactly what I needed.

The pilgrimage in pictures - part 3

 

The pilgrimage in pictures - part 2