……….began with a pleasant morning walk through the city to try the ‘hop on, hop off bus’ recommended by Diane and Vic, our friends in Calgary, who were in Barcelona last year. Great way to start the day especially when the sun is shining and it’s 15 degrees and it’s only 9am(had to get that in there!). Anyway the tourist bus was an excellent way to get the ‘lay of the land’ so to speak and also to get an idea of where all the sites are so you can decide which ones you really want to take the time to visit. What was so surprising to us was how busy Barcelona is for early March and one of us was frequently saying “what is this place like in July?” as we all tried to take credit for having decided we should visit at this time of year. Fortunately we were able to find our way to the upper level of the bus so we could sit in the open air and the sunshine as we took in the beauty of the city. Before too long we knew there was just too much to do/see in a few days so we began to priorize and our first stop was the Museu Picasso. Most of you know that ‘appreciating the arts’ is not my forte but so glad I took the time here with Pablo. Born in Malaga, Spain in 1881 he lived to be 91 years young and his museum is one of Barcelona’s main attractions. For years I thought he was from France, as apparently did many others, and that’s because he moved to Paris in his early 20’s and although he did return to Spain  often, France became his home. What was truly amazing to me as we looked at his work was how talented he was at such a young age. When he was 16 he painted Science and Charity and you will have to google this as I cannot do it justice here to describe it, nor will google, but it might still be worth having a look to see what a sixteen year old boy is capable of. Staying with the theme of what 16 year old boys are capable of, many art historians believe he found inspiration for his work ‘Les Demoiselles d’Avignon’ (1906-7) among the prostitutes of Carrer d’Avinyo. The museum was well worth the visit and the 3000 piece collection shows mainly his early work.

Following our visit to Picasso’s work Marilyn and I were chatting about how our creativity was stilted, we believe, partly by the nuns who were quick to slap you on the hands if you coloured outside the lines.   Pablo’s fingers  would have been black and blue if he had gone to school with us but then again maybe his rebellion and creativity would have inspired us all.    Catch ya later………I am going to buy some crayons!