Gaudi’s Fruitcups
Background image taken at Park Güell
Antonio Gaudi’s gloriously colourful and imaginative architecture epitomises Barcelona for me. Who could fail to gasp at the Sagrada Familia, or be delighted by the whimsical mosaics snaking around the perimeter of Park Güell? Meandering through the giftshops of several monuments to his genius, I looked in vain for suitable mementoes of my visit. It was all ugly, touristy and tacky, I decided, unworthy of my euro (not to mention my miserly baggage allowance).
Background image taken at Casa Batlló
In tandem with this goal was my desire to find some traditional Spanish costumes to feature in this Foreign Exchange section on SNAP. But I had not anticipated that traditional costumes would not be easy to unearth in Barcelona. I had found an antique white lace blouse, and also a vintage fan, but that was all. On my last day I found some nasty polyester flamenco dresses in an out-of-the-way costume shop, but they too I deemed unworthy of my tourist dollar.
On the other hand (literally), I had been delighted to purchase some lovely ceramic jewellery, and it dawned on me that the two chunky ceramic rings reminded me of nothing so much as some of Gaudi’s architectural devices, namely those bonbon-like fruitcups soaring high above Sagrada Familia. They would be a fair reminder of Gaudi and this magical city Barcelona, I decided.
Fruitcup spire on Gaudi’s Sagrada Familia
Fruitcup spire on Gaudi’s Sagrada Familia
And in the few minutes before my departure, I found something else quite by chance. I had already browsed through Custo Barcelona and had seen nothing I particularly liked. I was all too gaudy for me. I really tried though, because after all, the label is named after the city. Killing time, I walked into a duty-free store at the airport, and there on a table I found some sequinned tank tops. One took my fancy: colourful and fragmented, catching and refracting the light, it too reminded me of Gaudi’s mosaics. But it’s particularly the rings that remind me of Barcelona: whenever I wear one of them I smile – the mark of a good souvenir.
Background image taken at Park Güell