Seventeen students and three teachers touched down in Barcelona, eager to uncover some of the cultural, artistic and archetectural treasures of this diverse and spectacular city. The first evening's visit to a Flamenco Tablau just off Las Ramblas soon had their heads filled with dancers, hauntingly beautiful voices and resplendent outfits.

Catalonian Curves

Account by Grace McCloud

La Sagrada Familia, Antoni Gaudi’s unfinished masterpiece and 'Cathedral of the Poor', had our jaws dropping and pencils scribbling for over an hour; some of our more intrepid artisits braved the height of the bridge behind the Tree of Life to sketch dramatic vistas of the city.

La Pedrera is another Gaudi building, magnificent in its sculptural embellishment. From the roof terrace, we drew giant chimney stacks that stand up like historical warriors. The museum below exhibits some of Gaudi’s natural forms, models of his architecture and examples of his other work.

The Picasso Museum, set in the beautiful Gothic quarter, surprised us with some of the artist's early works (he moved to Barcelona when only 14). Huge oil paintings hang next to tiny traditional landscapes, the subjects almost unrecognizable in their exploratory, cubist forms.

Figueres, outside Barcelona, is the birthplace of the surrealist artist, Salvador Dalí. The Teatre-Museu Gala Salvador Dalí immersed us in the weird and wacky world of a man whose sanity, at first glance, comes into question. We left struck by the obvious genius of a highly skilled draughtsman.

From there, we followed the river to Gerona, Catalonia’s answer to Venice, with its winding cobbled streets and crooked houses leaning creakily over the river.

Parc Guell proved the undisputed highlight of the trip. Gaudi’s exceptionally beautiful jewel-like mosaic sculptures, created from shards of broken crockery, had us mesmerised. Palm trees, gorgeus cave-like stone arches and parakeets were just a small part of what we saw. Gaudi’s own house, transformed into a museum, is situated within the park.

In glorious sunshine, we visited the Joan Miro Foundation, sited on the top of the mountain of Montjuic. Tapestries, paintings and Catalan sculptures rubbed shoulders with pieces by some of China’s most cutting edge, contemporary craftsmen.

We enjoyed two under-water adventures - at the iMax Cinema and the city's aquarium; we strolled down Las Ramblas, admired views of the city from on high, ate well and enjoyed an evening of soul and funk at the Harlem Jazz club.

A final afternoon of shopping gave way to the inevitable and rather emotional trip back to the airport, compensated, however, by souvenirs and memories galore.