Barcelona, Spain, Nov. 2016

The day after the U.S. election, I flew to Barcelona for a team meetup. It was a bittersweet trip; on one hand, I was happy to have the distraction of travel, for the opportunity to escape to a foreign city and immerse myself in something that wasn’t U.S. politics.

On the other, I wanted to be with my family. I wanted to go home, curl up under a blanket and hide.

The election results were a frequent topic of conversation throughout the meetup, but we didn’t let it completely overshadow our fun. Besides, the trip itself threw its own interesting obstacles our way; lost (then found) wallets, viruses, a stolen laptop bag, and only one fluent Spanish speaker in the group, which made for some unique exchanges.

Hotel Praktik Bakery

Casa Sera, our home away from home for the week.

View from my room.

It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s a…oh, right, it’s a bird.

Meetup snax.

The obligatory “We really do work on these trips” picture.

Local color

Wavy building

Barcelona’s architecture brings its A-game.

Tiles

Tasty pizza

Catalonia Sq.

Catalonia Sq. at night

Casa Gaudi

La Sagrada Familia

Cathedral windows lit by the sun.

I could get into church if it involved this many rainbows.

Ceiling or alien spaceship? You decide.

Gaudi was a busy guy.

View from the Nativity Tower.

Park views.

Park Guell

Walking in the park.

Blooms.

The tile mosaics in Park Guell are my favorite thing.

Views of Barcelona from Park Guell.

The cool kids.

So much color!

Park Guell.

Gaudi knows how to dress up a ceiling.

Gothic Quarter

Arcoiris

Shop window.

Gothic Quarter

Undecided lobster.

It wasn’t an easy trip, but as always, the people and the city made it worthwhile. Until next time, Theam!