Palau Guell, Barcelona

I went to Palau Guell, the city townhouse of the Guell family, about eight or nine years ago when it was being restored and only the stables in the cellar and the roof were open to visitors. Restoration is complete and the whole mansion is open to view. I like the Guell family for their close association with Señor Antoni Gaudi and his great park in the north of Barcelona is named after them (Parc Guell).  I had no idea what to expect of the restored mansion but it was better than my dreams.

As with other tourist attractions, the Palau has discovered the beauty of the timed ticket for entry to control the flow of visitors and give us a better experience than being in an over-crowded place and not able to properly experience the mansion. Our tickets were for entry an hour after I bought them so that gave us plenty of time to walk up to the little cafe in the old hospital (now a medical school, I think) for a sit down and drink while we waited. A short stroll back down Las Ramblas and we were there just in time for the gates to open so we could go in, pick up the free audio-guide and set off on a great adventure.

The tour starts in the basement stables for the horses that were the only means of transport when the mansion was built. It uses the best of the natural light and ventilation that Gaudi could design and he created a lovely open space out of bricks and stones for the floors to create an atmospheric space for the horses and the grooms and drivers. Ventilation shafts up to the street to catch the breezes and a light well cut through the whole house to bring light not just to the rooms of the house but all the way down to the stable. Nothing is left to chance with Sr Gaudi.

We then go into the mansion proper up a majestic stairway with a red floral carpet that leads to the first floor and the public rooms of the mansions, used to entertain and impress the people of Barcelona. And they certainly impressed me. It's all about space and comfort, privacy when needed and public display of wealth and taste. The rooms are covered in beautifully carved and panelled wood, shining with polishing, with mirrors reflecting light and with interior windows to let the available light flood through the house. It's all mighty impressive and elegant in its simplicity.

Carved wooden ceilings and panelled walls just itching to be stroked and felt, and the rooms all empty except for one. The feeling of space and light was astonishing - how did Gaudi do that? To walk into that mansion after it was built and take ownership must have been an impressive feeling, for Sr Guell to think 'all this is mine' and make it his family home. I can only imagine.

We go up and up through the floors of the house, through the magnificent public rooms used to entertain and dazzle - and usually with a private area that the Guell's could use to watch their guests unseen - and higher we go. The woodwork is highly polished and decorative, a beautiful sheen on everything and we come to the main 'party' room with a musicians gallery where they could play music to dance to out of the way of the guests. This room also doubled as a shrine with holy paintings on the doors of the shrine. Such an impressive space.

Higher up we find the personal areas of the mansion, the bedrooms and bathrooms, less ornate but, I suspect, they would've been more lavish and the walls would have been covered in embroidered cloth and rooms full of comfy furniture. We, of course, see them bare of any adornments other than the stained glass windows.

Up another level takes us to the servants quarters which are laid out with a small exhibition about the mansion and the restoration. Beyond that is the roof and what wonders it holds!

Up on the sloping roof is a collection of chimneys, the best chimneys in the world. How could they be other when they were designed by Sr Gaudi? I can't begin to explain the sheer joy and glory of seeing these mundane artefacts made into art at the whim of the great artist Gaudi. What caught his imagination and made him design a mere chimney like this? Where did the original idea come from? Who knows, but it leaves us with a magnificent sight that is also full of fun and joy. I want a chimney like these on my house!

What a wonderful space that roof is and how marvellous its population of chimneys and all the details (such as the little lizard crawling down one of them). The restoration of this building is nothing short of magnificent and everyone who goes to Barcelona should go to see it. It really is a wonder to behold. The play of light and space is something to experience and the sheer joy of the chimneys at the end of the tour is great fun. If you get the chance then visit the mansion - you won't regret it.

The Secret Pedrera, Barcelona

I love Señor Gaudi's La Pedrera in Barcelona. It's really the roof I like, with its chimneys in the shapes of jousting knights and water tanks as swirling masses of fractured ceramics and the floor undulates like a wave crashing on the shores of Barcelona. It's a magical space that I return to every time I go to Barcelona and I never get tired of it.

The last time I went we queued for over an hour (refreshed by an ice cream) to get into the building.  I paid little attention to the trip through the show flat that demonstrates what the flats in the building looked like when the building first opened, or the displays in the attic - I headed straight for the roof to exult in the majesty of the knights, clambering up and down the floor to visit my favourite knights and take the same photos again and again. Some things are important.

I've only ever visited La Pedrera in the daytime, almost always the afternoon to enjoy the blue on blue skies over the building and looking over to La Sagrada Familia, the massive cathedral designed by Sr Gaudi and still being built. But, what would it be like at night? And that's just what the new tour allows you to see - the Secret Pedrera. Tours are hourly in different languages, small groups of about 20 people and a guide. Naturally, I had to go.

Our tour started at 9:15pm and began in the large courtyard with the guide telling us about the building and projections of the building shown on the floor of the courtyard before we headed up the stairs to the show-flat on the fourth floor which is furnished like it would have been back in the day. The flats are all quite large with rooms flowing into each other, some designed to be opened up to create larger rooms for parties and such. They're all very organic with a lack of straight lines wherever possible. This was all very interesting, seeing the beds and couches, the kitchen, the maid's room and uniform, the children's toys and bedroom and all that. But I wanted the roof.

Then up another flight of stairs to the attic and the displays of the building. The most interesting thing about the attic is the brickwork in the shape of a giant skeleton - I think the guide referred to a whale but I prefer to think of a dragon's skeleton and ribcage as the model for the attic. Sr Gaudi liked dragons and depicts them in many of his amazing works. The attic undulates and twists with brick arches drawing you in and the space is used to show objects and models of the building to help to explain its design and construction. I've been round the attic displays on each visit - that's how you get to the roof, after all - but it wasn't the attic I wanted to see. I wanted the roof.

At last I was let off the leash as we were invited to climb the spiral stairs to the roof and I didn't need to be asked twice. I was first to reach the roof and marvel at the knights lit by spotlights and glowing  under the starlight.

It was a magical sight to behold. The knights all a-glow with their magic and the ceramic coatings of the water towers shining in the spotlights. It was night, of course, so we had to be careful on the steps up and down the undulating floor of the roof but that distraction was a small price to pay for the vision in front of us. I immediately started snapping photos, most of which were out of focus but who cares? The guide told us about the construction of the roof but I was focused on the sights ahead of me.

After a wander round the roof we sat on the steps to watch a short show projected onto the side of one of the Big Lads - the water-tower at the corner of the building looking out towards Sagrada. That's the busiest with everyone wanting their photo taken there in day-time. The projection showed images of other Gaudi works, of the natural and organic elements that influenced Gaudi, of the sea and streams and flowers and, at one point the smiling head of Sr Gaudi's friend (and everyone's friend), the water-dragon at Parc Guell. That was great fun and a bit of a thrill to see him slowly creeping onto the side of the tank.

And then it was all over and we got the lift to the ground floor (I'd had enough stairs for the evening) and a glass of cava and nibbles before leaving. I toasted the bust of Sr Gaudi in thanks for yet more magic in that marvellous building. The guide mentioned that three of the flats are occupied but, when they're emptied, the building will become a museum and gallery to Gaudi.

The Secret Pedrera has opened my eyes to another side of the building. I shall go back again. And again.

Thank you, Señor Gaudi!