The past week for the Sydney Children’s Choir can only be described as a whirlwind. On Tuesday the choir gave a farewell lunchtime concert at the City Recital Hall providing that all-important confirmation that we were indeed ready to go.

As soon as the final round of warm applause had dissipated, we made our way down to the Sydney Opera House where we had the honour of appearing at the memorial concert for Hazel Hawke, singing to no fewer than five Australian prime ministers, all within the hour!

After a slight lull in the whirlwind to check that everything was in fact in the suitcase, including our assortment of percussion instruments, the choir arrived at Sydney airport with palpable excitement. The trip afforded opportunities for catching up on the latest films, knotting friendship bracelets, sketching and the composition of the odd symphony.

After the torrential rain of Sydney in the recent weeks, the choir was delighted to step off the plane into the Barcelona summer. To stave off the jetlag as much as possible, we headed for the Castel at Montjuic offering panoramic views of the city against the azure backdrop of the Mediterranean. The highlight of the sight-seeing was the world-renowned Sagrada Familia Cathedral, described by one of the choristers as "the greatest quotation of Gaudi’s mind" – (Emma, 13). The extraordinary detail of the exterior was balanced the clean lines within, with clever stained glass allowing just the right amount of light into the massive space. In the end, we abandoned our malfunctioning audio guides to take in the aura of the building on its own terms (a case of technology not necessarily meaning progress!)

Over the course of three days, the choir gave five performances: the focus was a set of three short recitals in the Palau de la Musica, a magnificent concert hall built by a choral society between 1905 and 1908. A fine example of the modernista style, the building was listed as a World Heritage Site in 1997, and you'd be hard-pressed to find a more stunning combination of vibrant colour and precise detail.

Our performances formed part of the program of an open day at the Palau, allowing residents and tourists alike to experience the visual and aural opulence of the space at no cost. On Sunday we weaved our way through the passages of the city’s Gothic quarter to sing at the Catalan mass in Barcelona’s cathedral. Whilst having our lunch in the cathedral square, we met a conductor of a choir from Valencia: the choristers didn’t need much encouragement to offer an impromptu rendition of Ruth McCall’s Waltzing Matilda, adding another layer to the polyphony of Barcelona, a "city of charm and a magical place" – (Emma).