Me and my girls, Em and Nols, just had a girls’ trip to ski the Alps and we had the best time. Lots of black and blue bruises and things we will never forget.

The bruises? Well, it was Emme and Nola’s first time skiing and they both did amazingly well, picking it up so quickly.

When our Ryanair flight dropped below the clouds over northwestern Spain, I was shocked to see the greenest of green rolling hills and pastures, covered in patches of evergreen forests. It looked like Ireland for a moment and I wondered if we had boarded the right plane.

Of all the tickets and tours we planned for our Barcelona trip, our tickets to a concert at the Palau de la Musíca was something I was so excited about and grateful for. Music is a big part of who I am and I have been missing playing in symphonies and hearing live concerts so much in recent years (thanks pandemic).

For Art Nouveau plus nature, plus the most incredible views of the city in a World Heritage Site, visit Park Güell in Barcelona. In the early 20th century there was a push for modernism in design that still honored tradition. It was in this push that architects and designers thrived in Barcelona. Eusebio Güell assigned Antoni Gaudi to develop this plot of land originally as an estate for wealthy families taking care to not block the views of the see or limit light for any resident.