Smiling so much it hurts

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My facial muscles are sore from smiling so much! Modernista architecture is so playful and humorous.

Today we saw two more great examples: the Palau de Musica Catalana by Domenich i Montaner and Gaudi's landscaping masterpiece, Parc Guell.

The Palau, Barcelona's Arts Centre is a ridiculous confection governed. Y the aesthetic principle that more is more. It is filled with literally and figuratively dotty stained glass, oriental columns and colourful ceramic rosettes. not exactly my style but heaps of fun.

We loved Parc Guell, a huge park which includes a gorgeous monumental area designed by Gaudi. There are a couple of wacky gingerbread houses, a terrace edged in the most stunning mosaics, an amazing series of steps featuring a mosaic dragon and a huge cool (again literally and figuratively) covered portico with 86 columns. There is also a lovely walkway with stone arches and columns and a caryatid of an old washerwoman. Gaudi is so witty and his work can be read on so many levels.

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