Barcelona, Spain

Barcelona, Spain and Canary Islands

Stewart and I went to Barcelona to a conference held by the Quebec Labrador Foundation. While preparing for this trip I would mention to friends where we were going and those who have gone to Spain would say how much they loved it. After a 10 day visit I loved Spain, too.

After we dropped off our luggage in our hotel room we took off onto the streets looking for a place to have lunch. We hadn’t walked a block when Stewart sees some old friends that are a part of QLF. They were from Palestine, Egypt, Jordon and Israel. They were also looking to have lunch so off we went to a fun sidewalk cafe were we visited and laughed and became friends. This is were I met Vivien from Bethlehem, Palestine. She went to school in California and is now running a seed bank she started in Bethlehem. She has collected some ancient vegetable seeds. This is a great project and I’d love to go and work with her.

QLF did an excellent job scheduling the events in historical buildings and areas. The first night we went to the Museum Nacional d’Art de Catalunya, Montjuic Hill, we had a private tour of one area of the Museum and then we were escorted into a room for cocktails and dinner that overlooked one of the largest, most colorful water fountains I have ever seen. The ceiling was covered with mirrors. Sitting in this room was unique because when I looked up at the ceiling I could see myself and rest of the guest sitting and eating dinner. The dinner and service was tip top.

The second night for dinner we had a large assortment of tapas and wine. We all met at Casa Milia’ ‘La Pedrera’, which is an apartment building Gaudi designed and built. It has been a UNESCO Cultural World Heritage site since 1984. For years I have heard about Gaudi but, I had no idea what level of design he contributed to Barcelona. No straight lines. He was inspired by nature and in his work there was a natural movement to what ever he created. From the furniture he designed, to the cathedral, buildings and then Park Guell. I do not understand how one person could accomplish so much in one life time. It is an enormous gift to us all and a huge addition to the architecture community.

The participants of the QLF conference all work within some sort of capacity in environment and conservation. The purpose of the conference was to reunite 160 people from 36 countries and set goals for the future considering the global challenges we all face. To be around all these people with like minds working for a healthier environment was an inspiration. I was fortunate to meet Aida Al Jabri, who is a Specialist of Marine Environment Marine Conservation Department Department Marine Environment Section. The Directorate General of Nature Conservation Ministry of Environment and Climate Affairs Acting Head Section of Marine Environment in Muscat, Oman. Stewart and David have been working with her on and off for the past 8 years in Muscat. I really enjoyed meeting Aida and started talking to her about our upcoming visit to Muscat. I will be writing about Aida a number of times when I begin to write about our stay in Muscat. I also have to mention that at the LaPedrera I met a gentlemen his name is Costa Mansour who lives outside of Haifa Israel. I asked him if he had ever gone to the Bahai’ temple in Haifa. He smiled at me and explained that he takes teenagers to the temple and gives tours. I was so touched when hearing this and explained to him that my mother was a Bahai’ and that she had gone to the temple in Haifa. We talked for awhile about the faith and we both had tears in our eyes and were over whelmed with our connection. At the end of the evening we hugged one another and during rest of the conference we would chat.I felt very close to my mother at that moment, realizing how much I do miss her.