Barcelona welcomed us with sun, song, and the sparkle of Catalan creativity. Our first stop was Casa Batlló, one of Antoni Gaudí’s most imaginative works. Its rippling façade of glass and tile looks like a dragon’s scales shimmering in the Mediterranean light. Inside, the curves and colors seem to flow like water—Gaudí famously said there are no straight lines in nature, and his architecture lives by that rule.

We then toured the Palau de la Música Catalana, an architectural masterpiece built in 1908. The audio-guided Music Hall tour revealed mosaics, stained glass, and sculptures that seemed to burst into melody even in silence. The hall was designed for the Orfeó Català, a symbol of Catalan identity during times when the language and culture were suppressed.

Before lunch, we paused at Plaça de Catalunya, where the kids’ favorite moment wasn’t a monument or museum—but the pigeons. They laughed as flocks swirled and landed around them, a simple joy at the city’s bustling heart.

At lunch, we toasted our first day with glasses of Cava, Catalonia’s sparkling wine. Cava was developed in the 1870s as Spain’s answer to Champagne, and today, it’s central to celebrations across the region.