BARCELONA, Spain - So eccentric is the work of Spanish master architect Antoni Gaudi that it makes a 21st-century traveler wish she could share some late-night tapas and sangria-fueled conversation with him.
SHE: So, tell me, Antoni, where did you get the idea for these crazy, colorful chimneys on the Casa Batllo?
HE: The legend of St. George and the Dragon. Do you know the story? You skimmed the dragon's back as you touched the banister on your way down the stairs.
SHE: I don't know that story and I avoided the handrails. Germs, you know. But I have read Jules Verne's "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea," which I thought of as I walked from room to room. It felt like I was looking out on Passeig de Gracia from a submarine's portholes.
HE: Yes, I find inspiration in nature, but I haven't read the Frenchman's work. I am too busy on my masterpiece, the Sagrada Familia.
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