And the Tale Continues

There is so much to tell about my experiences in Reus. The last week was filled with magic as I became more inspired and kept to my promise of writing every morning. The afternoons were filled with field trips in and around Reus where I saw some of the most incredible buildings I had ever seen. Carles had a wonderful way of explaining things to me and of getting in touch with people so I could see these spectacular places. One of the most awesome places was Casa Navas, owned by Mr. Quim who gave us a personal tour of the mansion/labriynth. He was an aristrocrat from a family that extended far back to the 12th century, or so he says and I believe him. The tour lasted for hours, the house was enormous and as I think back to it, it was a blur of rooms, an incredible collection of furniture dated to as far back as the 18th century, dark rooms and a cellar with both a room where the Dianes (a cult) sang to whatever it is they believed in and a war bunker that led to the center of the plaza during the civil war! It was breathtaking, mesmerizing, and frightening to feel all the history around me.
It is clear that my camera could not do justice to this home. Every room was carved with a different type of wood. This where the family and it's many hosts sat after dinner to sip on Cognac and smoke. Every corner was filled with art, whether it was wood carvings, stained glass or curving flowers cut into the walls and ceilings. The bathroom alone was a masterpiece, one of the many many bathrooms. I lost count of all the rooms. A house that breathed on it's own.


It had a small cafe of its own on the very top floor, my favorite room, where the sun played with the marble tables and an old piano. Everything was color ladden. It was Alice in wonderland, me being Alice, Quim the Mad Hatter and Carles Chester the cat as he grinned watching my eyes sparkle with amazement.And nothing beat the bunker where cobwebs tangled in your hair and
the temperature dropped to a chilling degree. Quim told us stories of when he was a child and remembered having to rush downstairs, sitting on the ground and feeling the vibrations of the bombs on his bottom, how you felt the vibrations first and then a few seconds later heard the bombs. He explained how the adults breathed fear and the children were fearless, a game, innocence. I was silent, taking in all the history surrounding me and listening to Quim speak.