In the summer of 2011, I was fortunate to study abroad in Barcelona. Our studies focused on learning from the city.

We visited the Roman ruins that lay beneath the gothic quarter in Barcelona — these remain from when the Romans settled a colony named, Barcino in the latest 1st century BC. We studied the Cerdà Plan, which developed a strategic militarized zone into the L’Eixample in the 19th and 20th. (not too different in scope to Haussmann’s Paris).

The art of Pablo Picasso, Joan Miro, and Antoni Tapies are displayed in respective museum’s in Barcelona. Repeat visits to these institutions offered insight into the lives and cultural forces that informed their creative work.

And of course Gaudí!

Yes, Antoni Gaudi is the best. So, we went to all of his works. Sagrada Familia is the most incredible space I have ever visited. Truly breathtaking.