Nightglow Window

A Gaudi Day

A long, but really productive day, neatly divided into two: work and fun.

The second day of Bread & Butter was equally productive on the work front. You’ll have to read about it through my day job, but a few (really random) notes for memory:

+ Low wall allows showgoers to look in each both. More open and welcoming.

+ Each hall has its own soundtrack chosen by BBB. This adds cohesion and diminishes the crazy wall of white noise that’s common at U.S. shows.

- Absolutely, sweating through your shirt, my god I’m dying, bloody hell hot in some parts of the trade show hall.

+ The streetweat and sportswear halls had a lot of traffic, but denim hall was packed too.

- Fashion: you either have it or you don’t. Felt like I had my finger stuck up my nose when I was walking around the high fashion hall. The beautiful people made me feel like the crazy country bumpkin with his face pressed against the window of the pastry shop.

+ Cullen’s idea that really high-end models aren’t human at all but some type of cyborg or alien.

+ The U.N. style translation devices at the BBB press conference and all the gorgeous high fashion editors from Elle and Vogue. Then there’s me and Cullen, figurative fingers up our noses, sitting in sweated out shirts.



Okay enough of that. It was a good show and we got a lot of solid interviews in the can. It was good to catch up with some of the industry types based in Europe like Steve V.

With my feet now full of blisters (in fact, blisters on top of blisters in some cases), I succumbed to the lure of the Metro, which was incredibly hot but easy. It also got me back to the hotel from BBB by midafternoon.

Christy had gone to the Picasso museum, which featured a temporary collection we had actually seen in Antibes. She says she had a great time and spent a few hours checking it all out. She was watching the Tour de France when I got back to the hotel, so I had a chance to take a shower—as cold as I could stand it, heart racing as skin finally cooled.

We ran out for a slice of pizza and then we went back underground, taking the Metro to the Park Güell, the Antonio Gaudi designed park. It was super hot 35°C and sunny when we came out of the Metro station.

The park was like two miles above our heads on this huge hill.

Not really, it just looked that way. Fortunately, the city had installed outdoor escalators up the steepest parts of the hill, but we were still hot and sweaty by the time we found the heart of the park.

What a work of art. There’s a park bench made of mosaic tiles that ran for more than 200 yards, beautiful the whole way. Underneath was a shaded grotto with more mosaic tiles on the ceiling, including several colorful flourishes that I took photos of by placing my camera on the ground and shooting straight up.

It was very crowded, but deserved the crush. We could have stayed longer, but didn't.

After walking about 1,200 meters down the hill again (my blisters hurting a bit), we stopped by a children’s clothing store and got Syd and Hannah some gifts.

Then it was off to the Temple de la Sagrada Familia, the Gaudi cathedral that began construction in 1883 and still has at least another 30 years until it’s done. It’s the Barcelona icon already—I can only imagine the pride the city will feel for it once it's complete.

The nave is a little like an Alan Lee image of Rivendell, or maybe it’s vicey versy. Perhaps it was Lee who was influenced by this incredible structure.

Anyway, we took the elevator up to the bell tower, and then climbed up the spiral staircase for wide views of the city. It’s easy to underestimate the scale of this building until we see one of the workers rapelling off one of the towers. Anyway, it was awe inspiring and spiritually stirring—even in its current half-complete form.

Now it’s 9:00 p.m. and we’re heading off to dinner.