"A Fantasy Trip To Catalonia..."

...and beautiful Barcelona, Spain

was the inspiration

behind this "Fancy Full Heart" for today.

Barcelona is filled with rich historic footprints.

One legend

actually speaks of the founding of Barcelona

by the mythical Hercules

some 400 years

before the building of Rome itself!

Barcelona

is filled with deep Medieval influences as well.

Catalan modernisme architecture

(often known as Art Nouveau in the rest of Europe),

developed here between 1885 and 1950

and

left an important legacy in Barcelona.

A great number

of her buildings are World Heritage Sites.

Barcelona

is the showcase city of the architect Gaudi

and

his famous church Sagrada Família.

When I was little, one of my best friend's dad

was an architect in Chicago.

Among other things, he designed churches.

As a special treat

my friend and I would go with him to his office

on weekends.

I was a paradise to me.

It was filled with industrial sized drafting tables

and pencils and pens and fancy rulers.

Simply,

it was a luscious, lavish banquet of art supplies.

I decided then...

that I would be an architect when I grew up.

But...that was never to be.

Maybe that is why

I am so fascinated by Barcelona. ♥ :)

Barcelona is also a city of energetic night life.

I think

she would probably also suit me well

as I can

usually be found late night...

into in the wee hours of the morning...

sketching, painting, and unknowingly greeting

the next day.

I also love the evocative allure of

Barcelona's passionate flamenco dancers...

rose in hand...shoes beating wildly.

I love

her gentile mantilla clad ladies.

I love

her motherly nurturing

of Picasso as a young and talented artist

so much so, that it is said

he regarded her in times of sadness or nostalgia

as his true home.

Ahhh! What a city of legendary art, and artists,

and architecture...

what a lovely lasting gift and legacy.

May we each be so fortunate

to be so well loved,

so well regarded, and so well

remembered in the pages of history.

Maybe, we should each

start to refresh and refine and polish

our personal, family, and life legacies now.

♥

"The legacy we leave

is not just in our possessions,

but

in the quality of our lives.

What preparations should we be making now?

The greatest waste in all of our earth,

which

cannot be recycled or reclaimed,

is our waste of the time that God has given us

each day.”
~Billy Graham