ARCHITECTURAL TREASURES ... IN BARCELONA

If you're into architecture, Barcelona is the place for you. Like many European cities, Barcelona is steeped in history and you see that reflected in its buildings. But, unlike anywhere else, Barcelona was also the birthplace of an architectural revolution -- the "modernist" movement in the early 20th Century -- which paved the way for the Art Deco movement in the 1920s. Architects in this period began to experiment with space, turning buildings into works of art. The best known modernist was Antoni Gaudí, who took what he saw in nature and translated it into his designs. His masterwork (pictured above), the Sagrada Família, a Catholic Church that Gaudi began in 1882, rises above Barcelona like a series of giant, graceful tree trunks. It's the most amazing building I've ever seen -- complete with colorful, religious imagery throughout -- and it's still under construction. Gaudi knew he would never live to see it finished. When asked about the unusually long construction process, he said, "My client is not in a hurry."

One client who was in a hurry, however, was Pere Mila -- a wealthy developer who commissioned Gaudi to build the apartment complex pictured above, now called Casa Milà. I toured Casa Mila, taking-in one of the apartments, the attic and a rooftop patio and it was amazing.

Walking around the building was almost like being inside a giant beehive. Each space flowed naturally to the next, with one room leading almost organically to another. The patio, pictured above, featured air vents that looked like a collection of hives. Today, the building is World Heritage Site.

Everyone associates Gaudi with the best of Barcelona architecture, but in my opinion, one of the nicest buildings in town was designed by one of his competitors, Lluis Domenech i Montaner. The Palau de la Música -- a concert hall -- is one of the best-kept secrets in Barcelona from an architectural perspective. It doesn't get the same attention in all the guidebooks as Gaudi's work and that's a shame. I think it's a victim of its location: The Palau is hidden away from public view on a virtually unmarked street in the old section of town, where the streets are narrow and the buildings are huddled practically on top of each other. But that's also what makes Domenech i Montaner's work so striking. He surrounded the concert hall with colored glass, bathing it in light and giving it the appearance of an indoor garden. The walls are covered with mosaic flowers and sculptures; pillars -- also covered in mosaics -- resemble trees and the ceiling features a bright gold, stained glass sun in the shape of an inverted cupola. Unfortunately, the Palau doesn't allow visitors to take photographs and a pesky security guard was watching me like a hawk. But here's a link I found on Trip Advisor to a whole series of photos from someone who got a little luckier than I did: Forbidden Photos of the Palau de la Musica.

Naturally, I popped-in to another Starbucks -- this one near the Palau de la Musica -- to torture yet another unsuspecting Barista. This one listened closely as I ordered a Grande Half Caff, asked me to repeat my order twice, then gave me an Americano without blinking. I think they're getting wise to me ...!