About Barbara Anne Hough

It’s been a month since my last post.  A month of wonderful travel.  Barcelona for a staff member’s wedding.  London for a week of work meetings.  Then several days in Chicago for work meetings.  Lovely weather, too – so nice opportunities to get away.  I’d not been to Spain before and Barcelona was my city of choice if I had the chance.   It’s also been a month of a good deal of no-travel work, time with family and friends, and a look to the fall, and hopefully weather that will move into crisp days and beautiful leaves.  I hope your summer has been great so far as it winds down to its final weeks.  So, let me take you with me for a bit.  Antonio Gaudi was a famous Barcelona architect who died in the mid 1920s, but not before putting his stamp on his home city.  The first picture is at Casa Batllo, a house he designed and where the wedding reception was held.  His most famous work is in the next two pictures, the Sagrada Familia or Holy family cathedral.  It has basically never been finished.  The detail of the outside and the light in the inside are both breathtaking.  Gaudi also designed the unsuccessful Parc Guell, which was to be “homes of the rich and famous” away from the water up a BIG hill overlooking the city.  People didn’t want to be that far away, so after several homes were built, it fell into disarray and eventually became a tourist destination.  The next picture is of the Old City in Barcelona.  I took a walking tour which was fantastic.  I couldn’t resist the next one of our Board members during our London meeting taking a picture from the glass elevators at the 40th floor when we went to Sushi Samba for dinner.  Lovely view up there, but funny watching everyone take out their iPhones.  Finally, a picture of my beloved son and the sweet new  puppy, Cosmo (who was born on Mother’s Day this year) – both appropriately dressed for the start of Ravens football season.   I hope you are enjoying these last days of summer.   Love, Laura