1991 was a strange year for me. I quit my job in Chicago and moved to Ireland . I couldn’t find meaningful work in Dublin so I ended up going to London to stay with my friend Guy and look for work . I eventually took a job at OUP and one weekend I ended up going to Barcelona for a long weekend to visit friends who lived there. They were very much into the Catalan culture and took me to late night dinners, art displays and even to Pamplona for the running of the bulls. I became a bit addicted to the city and the area and started going for long weekends and vacations there whenever I could. I went to the Olympics there in 92, I spent summers wondering through streets and spending hours in cafes.

I took the train to Sitges to have beach days. I seriously thought about moving there but life as it often does interfered and I ended up taking a job in London and staying in the UK for the next 20 years off and on .

I still love Barcelona , I love the pace l, I love the food , I love the architecture full of Art Nouveau, Art Deco and of course the amazing Gaudi the founder of Barcelona Modernism and the architect of the still unfinished Sagrada Familia.

The first time I entered it there was no roof , no altar, no completed lighting. Funds had dried up and many thought it would never be finished. I’ve watched that change in the last 30 years as it now has a roof , the pigeons are gone and it’s actually a church. They say it will be finished in 2026. I’ll be back to see that

In the meantime I walk down the Ramblas repulsed to see both a Starbucks and Dunkin next to each other on the main shopping street. Chain coffee in Barcelona! Sacrilege!

I walk through the city market chasing images of my younger self and still loving this amazing city.