I dreamed of you a thousand times, dear Barcelona. Many more times than you can imagine. I waited for you eagerly. I researched everything about you that I could. I knew you long before you knew me. Until one September day, we finally met.
I could see it all. I had it all to myself. Whole afternoons of walking with my eyes up. My head held high to discover something new. And a pencil in hand to always take away a memory in sketches.
What I never imagined was that getting to know you like this would make me fall even more in love with you. Walking down the street without making eye contact with so many people allowed me to make eye contact with all of your history. Your architecture in its purest form. Your art, your nature, your modernity.
If I told you that you turned out just as I imagined, I'd be lying. I found you with emptier streets and less intense tourism. I found you fighting and surviving something stronger than all of us. I discovered you strong, united, resilient.
So, dear Barcelona: thank you. Keep surprising me and giving me reasons to come back again and again.