A pharmacy in Ramblas de Catalunya in Barcelona. It always amazes me how different pharmacies are elsewhere in Europe.

I stumbled across this beautiful little pharmacy on my way to a viewing studio. A viewing studio is a place where two adjacent rooms have a two-way mirror between them where you can go and watch other people talking without them remembering that you are there.....there's nothing sinister in it, they know you are there but we hope they forget and behave completely normally so we can find out their honest opinions and views (rather than the ones they think you want to hear) - it also means that you can't interact with them if you forget to stay silent. So this shop is symbolic of my working life, I'm paid to research the views and opinions of pharmacists across Europe about all sorts of subjects.

So, Roman pharmacists yesterday and Catalan ones today, sharing their views on a particular subject with a moderator while I watched with an interpreter(no, I can't say what subject). Today, in Barcelona, I had a client with me from England watching too.

Anyone reading my diary regularly will know the home bit of me (a sentimental, middle-aged fool, gushing with love for David and my dogs) but I rarely post much about what I actually do so here's a bit more of that!

Barcelona and Roma share something - they are both cities with beautiful architecture, even though something like two thousand years separate the two styles. I have now visited Barcelona twice and my second visit has increased my admiration for the architectural style of the place. I keep saying how much I like the quirky, odd things of life and this city is truly that. It's as though the architectural rule book was thrown away and each building was designed to be more outrageous and more strange. The whole city is full of windows that are not rectangular, walls that are not at ninety degrees to the floor, doors that defy convention and all painted or glazed in a rainbow of colour.

Wonderful.