Back in 1970, a job was advertised for five girls to go and work in a bar in Ibiza, a place unheard of by me at the time. I was lucky enough to be selected for one of the positions. I thought I had landed in paradise, as it was just such a beautiful island. I made goods friends with one of the other girls and we decided that we would leave the Ibiza after five months and go and explore mainland Spain. We caught the ferry from Ibiza to Barcelona and then hitched a lift further up the coast, stopping at lots of small towns, each with their own distinct personalities (and each one with their own trademark fountain) ending up in Tossa del Mar. At this point we decided to go all the way back down the coast again, stopping once again at all the little towns and discovering more of the secret streets we missed the first time round. We met some really lovely people who were kind enough to stop and give us lifts. Every day was a sunny, happy day with lots of laughs and filled with the excitement of what was to come. We travelled ...

Antonio Gaudí is not someone I’ll forget easily. When I explored this wonderfully clean and vibrant city, I never knew quite where the artistic hand and unfettered genius of this remarkably gifted man would pop up. His architectural creations are, quite simply, unavoidable. Roaming around Las Ramblas, the city’s best-known landmark, inhaling the smell of tapas and paella, caught up in the strolling crowd, I stumbled across the Güell Palace. Designed by Gaudí for a rich industrialist and subdued by the architect’s standards, there is but a hint of what was to come from the pen of the great man. Pausing on the Passeig de Gràcia, my eye was deceived by Casa Batllo’s complete lack of edges and corners. At ground level, huge pillars resemble the feet of some giant elephant. The roof reminded me of the backbone of a gigantic dinosaur. Between the two, a number of small, elegantly curved balconies glue themselves to the front of the house like birds' nests on a cliff face. I was amazed at the colours and intricacy of the building; blues, golds and purples. Casa Mila – known as ‘The Quarry’ by Barcelonians – was even more astonishing. At least Gaudí acknowledged the straight line ...

As I tentatively stepped off the plane onto the runway I was hit by a surge of warm air. It was the height of summer and at just 17 I was going it alone! Unaccompanied, I had booked up a 2 week break in Barcelona to experience the dazzling lights and sounds of this amazing city for the first time. With only the first night’s accommodation booked, a funky hostel just off Las Ramblas, I made the journey by train into the city centre, weighed down by the contents of my wardrobe. I crashed into my dorm to be greeted by a lively group of friends who'd already settled on their chosen beds. We quickly got chatting and made plans to go out for food that night. We settled on a beautiful floating restaurant by the marina. The night was warm and the wine flowing as we sat and enjoyed our surroundings. It was my first introduction to paella, which has since become a favourite, a traditional Spanish meal famous in the region of Catalonia. As we hit the main drag back into town around midnight we watched before our eyes as the city began to wake from its slumber. People ...

How easy it was to linger away an afternoon over delicate plates of glistening chorizo and the free-flowing, mouth-filling juicy wine, and the architecture, oh, the architecture. I was in love. But on our 6th day together, I broke it off. He flew home, promising to be friends. I distracted myself for a few days with the Dali Museum in Figueres and long rambling scrawls in my journal from the rib-like tunnels of Parc Güell, before flying home and vowing to return. Which I did, with my next boyfriend. Perhaps my fatal flaw was that we did many of the same things I did the first time around, but when you're in Barcelona, how can you not hike to the haunting, gothic summit of La Sagrada Familia? Not ramble through Las Ramblas? Not sample pickled baby octopus at El Mercat de la Boqueria? Not spend your last romantic evening as the lights twinkle around you in the highest restaurant in the city, Torre D'Alta Mar? "Wouldn't it be romantic," I purred, in a drunken Rioja haze. "To move here? With the hills flanking you on one side and the beach flirting on the other? I want to do that one day." Apparently ...

Barcelona - My Favorite! It is one of the best tourist spots in Spain. Here are some of its highlights. The Cathedral of Barcelona is dedicated to the Saint Eulalia. It has beautiful carvings on the choir and on the tomb of Saint Eulalia that is housed in the crypt. There are street performers, many vendors and cafes around the cathedral. It took a very long time to build this religious structure. Work began in 1298 and went on till 1913 as civil wars and plague disrupted its construction. The National Museum of Catalonian Art (MNAC) is located near the Parc de Montjuic and has a beautiful collection of works from the Romanesque, Renaissance, Baroque, Gothic, Rococo and Modern periods. Lectures are also held to educate the tourists about art history. The museum is open to visitors from Tuesday to Saturday from 10am to 7pm and from 10am to 2:30pm on Sundays. The Picasso Museum is based in central Barcelona (in the historical Born district) and is easily reached by metro. Out of the five Picasso Museums in Europe, this one was the first to open (in 1963). It features the beautiful works of Picasso that were made by him in his ...