The old friend I met for lunch today said it was officially the first day of summer. I felt it too. Something in the air, beyond the scent of linden blossoms or the ease of wearing a sundress. There was suddenly a certain freedom to just walking around, a certain lightness to everything. It’s like the sunshine has infiltrated even the darkest corners of the Gothic Quarter, has hidden unicorns among the gargoyles, and healed the tallest palm tree in the city – safeguarded in an ancient courtyard, and propped up by a metal corset – of its many ailments. Much as I sometimes see it as a city of perpetually closed doors, Barcelona, especially in the summer, tends to be easy, free floating. It invites you to shed all kinds of layers, to take things lightly, to just be. Perhaps it’s not my forte, but sometimes even I can do that.
