do you mind if i knit

Lovely floors.

The time we spent in Park Guell, has to be my fondest memory of our stay in Barcelona..............
And the little house Gaudi lived in, within the Park....................

................ Because of its beautiful floors!

Encaustic tiles are gorgeous............... I would love my floors to be covered in them..................

And this house was full of them.
The security guard must have thought I was a little odd................... all that furniture designed by Gaudi, and I was photographing my feet.
  That must have been what it looked like to him............... actually, I was taking photographs of the glorious tiles.................

That soft grey, combined with the dirty yellow.................. yum....................

...............A hint of Eau-de-Nil in these tiles is beautiful......................... and I like the contrasting orange of my summer dress, and red painted toe-nails.....................

The colours, the patterns, however subtle......................  were very exciting....................
I like the way different tones are created with texture, in these tiles...................
 
I have to admit, Gaudi's furniture did not interest me that much. There were a lot of uncomfortable, over-stuffed chairs, with ornate, gilded backs and legs, that looked more appropriate for the Palace of Versailles.
Some of the furniture was covered in fabric to complement the floors, as in this case. I'm not knowledgeable on the history of fabric design, but for the time in which Gaudi was alive, which was the early 1900's, this material looks very simple and contemporary.....................

I came out of the little house buzzing................. floors, floors, glorious floors!

But the best was yet to come.................... more of that tomorrow..................

The Barcelona heat drives us indoors.

The heat!
We're just not used to temperatures of 38 C.......................... living in the North of England, hot weather does not come as standard..................
But 38 C was what we had to walk around in, whilst we were visiting Barcelona.
I can't remember the name of this market, but it's the famous one off the Ramblas.
The relief of escaping the heat, and being confronted by colour that felt ............... cool............. was wonderful.
I stood and ate an ICE cream................. whilst staring at the ICE surrounding these fruit drinks................
............... Then we wandered round, staring at the fresh fruit, the gorgeous fresh, cool, plump fruit............
..................... The mouthwatering fruit.............. and the beautiful vegetables...................
..................... All piled high........................ taller than me.................
.............. We ambled around, marvelling at the abundance, untill I had finished my ice ream, and we had come full circle.
Then we shared a kiwi juice, which was very tasty....................
Next we took a deep breath................

And stepped back in to the wall of heat, ready to do some more sight seeing.................

Miro.

We love cafe culture................ which Spain has in abundance.................... So, each morning of our stay in Barcelona, we went out of the hotel for breakfast.................
............ Before our visit to the Miro Foundation, we stopped off at this trendy, rather retro, cafe, where they had gone to the trouble to decorate their napkin dispensers, (as in the top photo)............. I was taken with the knitted detail on the front of our dispenser...................
There were no photos allowed in the main part of the Miro Foundation, but in a room off to one side we discovered this.......................... white lego, which anyone could play with!........... And take photographs of...............
It was an extraordinary sight, the closest thing to a lego mountain I have ever seen.
Anyone could sit down and play, or construct to their heart's delight....................
Some people must have spent hours sitting, and building...................
This depiction of 9/11 I found quite disturbing, but awe-inspiring, in an art-appreciation kind of way...........

................After the uncomfortable portrayal in lego, of 9/11.................... I was glad to see someone had been hard at work, keeping love alive................

Gaudi's Cathedral.

When we arrived at our hotel in Barcelona, we thought we were very fortunate to have a fabulous view of Gaudi's Sagrada Familia, a few blocks away!
The first thing we did after having some Tapas for lunch, was to go and pay homage to Gaudi by visiting his extraordinary creation.................
Tragically, Gaudi died in a traffic accident in 1926. So he never got to see his creation reach completion.
It still isn't finished.......................
Hugo and I contemplated the implications of the cathedral being finished...............
Perhaps there might be something more mysterious............... and intriguing, about the building never being .................... quite.............. completed...................?

It was, after all, begun in 1882......................

We were allowed to walk around a small area inside, and it was magnificent................. the whole building is extraordinarily ambitious....................
We will have to return to visit, if it is ever finished in our lifetime.............

Fireworks and fire.

Yesterday I left you with the parade having ended, us returning to our supper .........................
Later on that evening.................. fireworks, followed by the 'Fallas'.....................
.............I think it was the best display of fireworks I have ever seen................. all set to dramatic music........

.............And they went on and on................
We thought they had stopped, everyone clapped wildly....................
.................Then they started again, with a different set of fireworks, to more music............ it was spectacular, and must have lasted for at least half an hour...............
............... But what everyone stayed up till one in the morning to see, was the burning of the figures.
They are made specially each year to express the gripes and grumbles of the village.....................
.................You can read more about it here, the article is about the Fallas in Valencia, which are a spectacular and famous event in Spain, the Javea Fallas are a similar thing, just on a smaller scale.
................
We left the scene, exhausted, ready to get some sleep, (it was to be an early start, to catch the train to Barcelona).
One remaining arm from a statue languidly waved us goodbye, before being engulfed by the flames of the fire....................

The last parade.

Our last day in Javea coincided with the final parade of the Fiestas ...................................The 'big' event. The participants are piled high on floats, wearing their costumes, and sit with baskets of sweets on their laps. They throw the sweets into the crowds lining the streets, and it's 'mostly' children scrabbling around picking them up.............. I say 'mostly' children, I mean 'children and my husband, Hugo'.....................

None of these parades would be half as much fun if it wasn't for the loyal and very patient bands...............The musicians take it very seriously, and the various bands accompanying the Fiestas, comprise of village bands from the surrounding area.
It must be quite an experience for the smaller members of the parade .......... To be up high, being admired by the crowds.......................

This is the last day the women wear their wonderful dresses............ I imagine there are mixed feelings about this ................. On the one hand, relief that they won't have to suffer the heat in their layers of cottons and silks.................... but then, on the other hand, the glamour and constant excitement of the Fiestas will have come to an end...............
Sweets were not the only things thrown into the crowds, if you were lucky................... you would be hit by a cloud of confetti............. only if you were lucky.................
The last of the floats laden with merry-makers slowly disappeared up the streets, the sounds of the bands wafting after them............. and we wandered back up the street to half emptied glasses of wine, and the rest of our 'last evening' meal.
Well, we thought, that was fantastic..................
But the revelry was not over................ no, no, there was the Grand finale to come.................
I'll show you that tomorrow................

Spanish doors.

Spanish doors ........................ these type of metal studded doors appear on churches all over Spain, and I think they're beautiful.
This door belongs to the church adjoining the convent, in Javea, and I like it's simplicity........................ some of these doors can be quite ornate, dates and intricate curled patterns created with studs.
This door is at the other end of the spectrum ........................ the humble entrance to someone's home, in a mountain village we visited .................. I do like the way the owner mimics the studded door of a church, by hammering holes into the metal............... even the area around the keyhole has been given a little pattern ........................ it's almost more splendid than the thing it's trying to copy............. a real little gem!

Old Spain.

My family like to explore.......................
"Oohhhh................ look at that track, I wonder where it goes..................? Shall we have a look?" Will be said by my Dad at least once during an outing....................
And I've inherited that curiosity!

In the mountains inland from Benidorm, tourism has not touched the villages and countryside, it's very much a place the Spanish live. There are ruined farm houses at every turn, the towns are sleepy and private........................... so these places are wonderful for wondering around.

I'm sure many of the townspeople would love to live in modern dwellings, with all the latest comforts, but they can't afford to. That is how these old places survive....................... Luckily for us admirers of old houses............................

Those dresses!

We were in Javea, Spain, at the exact time of the ten day long Fiestas.
I now understand the true meaning of endurance....................
Everyone in the town was woken up each morning by Blunderbusses being set off repeatedly for at least an hour.............. I think the idea was "You will wake up, and you will get out of bed, and join the party".
".................If you are a local, and taking part in the processions, you will put on the extraordinary costume that your parents took a mortgage out to pay for, you will adorn, primp and coif................. until you are ready to go out in the furnace-like heat................... and parade yourself, making your family very proud and happy".And that is exactly what the Javiensas did...............................
They proudly paraded, and they carried on partying from morning till night.
We were fortunate in that my parent's have double-glazing, and air-conditioning, so we could have the windows closed at night without baking alive.......................

The Fiestas were a wonderful bringing together of the community........................ it is these sort of occasions, with all their pomp and ceremony, that give the kids a reason to go on living and working in Javea......................

They grow up taking part in these processions, and it is very meaningful for them..................

I imagine it gives them a huge sense of identity.

Even though at times the participants looked thoroughly fed up..................
I can understand why the women looked particularly non-plussed at times.................. underneath their heavy outer layers they wear multiple garments to give the costume structure and body............... this is all worn with much grace, in stifling heat........................
Most would consider that their idea of hell...................

Still, for me, in my flimsy summer dress, the whole spectacle was hugely enjoyable!

....................... And those fabrics....................... Divine!
I'm so glad I was in Javea for the Fiestas.....................
Though todays post isn't quite the end of the Fiesta story...........................
More tomorrow.................

What have I been up to...................over the last two weeks...............

I thought I might get to the point with a hard-hitting photograph..........................
:) ................ :) ..........................
Hugo and I have spent the last two weeks in Spain.................. most of the time we were with my parents, the last few days we stayed in Barcelona.
Our time with my Mum and Dad was idyllic.................. breakfast and supper on the top terrace, in the cool breeze................... walks............... I love the Spanish landscape.................. ice cream, juicy fruit and delicious ripe vegetables............. freshly caught sea food..................
I'm not really a sun-worshipper, I plaster myself in factor 50, and wear a hat............. it's quite confusing for people when we return home.................. if you haven't got a tan............. well, you can't possibly have visited a hot country for your holiday............. can you?!
It was also the time of the Fiestas.....................

More about that tomorrow...............................