Gaudi Immersion
Trip Start
Aug 11, 2007
1
47
51
Trip End
Dec 22, 2007
Barcelona,
Spain
Saturday, December 8, 2007
I am currently in Barcelona and have about an hour to kill before we head to the bus station so I figured I would take advantage of the free internet. :)
This weekend was Barcelona weekend and our last hurrah on the traveling front. We visited the Gothis Neighborhood and learned about Barcelona history. We saw part of a temple that was built 100 years before christ. As well as what was the old jewish quarter. It was all quite fascinating though our tour was led by a german in english who has lived in Barcelona for years :) So at times the english was rather rudimentary...
We of course hit up the Sagrada Familia, Gaudi´s church that they are still trying to finish. It is very impressive and the façades are incredible the details that are carved into the stone and all knowck your socks off. We of course also went to Casa Milá which is his famous apartment building. That came with a free audio guide and the apartmetn was actually set up as it would have been years ago which was cool to see all the antiques and such. I especially enjoy the old toys :) That place is very well designed to avoid high temperatures and freezing out the residences depending on the time of year which was impressive. It also has two bid patios in the center so the only rooms without natural light are the servants rooms.
We also saw the other gaudi building (whose name I can´t remember)... it is big and colorful. We didn´t go in that one because the entry fees is outrageous :)
We wondered down the ramblas one morning because we were told that is a must to in Barcelona. I saw spanish rabbits for sale... Though technically they were netherland dwarfs not spanish... It was a lovely walk and the street statue people were all dressed in very cool costumes but it was nothing to write home about in my opinion.
We checked out the port of the medeteranian which was very cool and also wondered to the olympic village and park. Our first tourist location in Germany was the olympic park so I figured it was fitting to end with an olympic park :) We have come full circle both starting and ending in olympic towns.
Next we took the metro to Park Güell which was actually a bit of a let down. There were a TON of people and it was a very gloomy day which kinda zapped all the color out of the tiles and such. It was cool to see some of the arcitectural design of the walkways and such but is really not kept up veryw ell.
We ended the second day with a trip to the picasso museum and then wondering through the streets to the magic fountain which was turned off for construction. Though because of that we did see a way cool choir perform in the subway station. It was great to hear them sing English songs because sometimes the words were incorrect and often the words were bababababalalalala in tune :) This morning I visited the Cathedral and went to mass in Catalan... I had no idea what they were saying :) and then I wondered through the Christmas fair again. This is basically boooooths and boooths and boooths of nativity scene pieces. they even sell the moss to put it on and little pieces of trees and such. The figures are very very very expensive but it is a big thing here. They also have little christmas trees for sale. I never bothered to ask how mucht they were but I am sure expensive.
Well that is the summary of Barcelona. This may actually be the last entry from Spain seeing as I am down to 13 days and have 3 tests, 2 research papers, a Flamenco Performance and many sites I still want to see in Granada. I will definitely do a final entry when I am home if I do not get another chance from Spain. Happy December to you all! Enjoy the Christmas Festivities and I will see you all soon!
