La Sagrada Familia Church, The Magic Fountain, The Picasso Museum — all made the list: The Top Ten tourist attractions in the city of Barcelona, Spain. All definitely worth seeing.
But “Mila” and her sister “Lua” did not make the list — yet they will remain one of the sweetest travel images I take home with me. They are two little girls I happened to encounter in the Raval pharmacy section of Barcelona near the Museum of Contemporary Art.
They took me by surprise when I happened to be photographing some radical street art in the neighborhood and found them playing fearlessly on these bike racks: tossing their tiny frames up and over, around and through. They didn’t mug for the camera, nor did they seek praise. They just played.
At the end, Mila took her arch position pose (above) and just chilled. Self-posssesed and lovely, she shared a Mona Lisa smile.