Barcelona

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This is a post that I wrote about a month ago but for some reason it never posted:

So this is another old post to show off my pretty pictures! I went to Barcelona about a month ago with 3 of my friends from the trip (you have probably already seen their faces before, they are the people I hang out with the most) and met up with Sarah. I didn't find Barcelona all that amazing. It was very touristy, in my opinion much more so than Madrid, but that might have just been the places that we visited. Everyone spoke English, which at this point is a little disappointing because I spend so much time speaking English with my American friends that I want to speak Spanish with Spaniards!!!! The city was very pretty, and it was fun to just explore/relax by the water (I can now say I've seen the Mediterranean!) but what I found most amazing was Gaudi's architecture. He only designed buildings in Barcelona, so it is worth traveling there just to see his work. He has one building with balconies that look like fish skulls and another with huge circular spires on the top of the building. His cathedral Sagrada Familia is AMAZING - it has been in progress for the past ~80 years and probably won't be finished for another 30 or so. There is a huge christmas tree on the front, spires that are multi-colored and look like berries, mosaic crosses on the top, etc. Basically, just look at the pictures!

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Photos

Gaudi Building #1
Really Awesome/Scary. It looks like the balconies are fish skeletons!

Gaudi Building #2
Looks at the spires on the roof! You can get a tour of the roof, apparently there is some really amazing architecture up there, but we didn't do it.

Closeup Gaudi Building #2
I think the balconies are supposed to look like seaweed?

Pretty Bridge
There is really nothing special about this shot except for a thought it was a pretty view down one of the old barcelona streets.

Umbrella Factory
I believe this is an old umbrella factory, but the building is pretty cool. There is dragon hanging on the right side of the building that I really like.

Arielle and I at the Beach
It was too cold to swim and I was the only one who brought a swim suit, but it was still really nice to sit in the sand!

A Parade with fireworks?
When we went back to our hostel the 2nd day, there was just this huge parade using sparklers, flame-throwing dragons, marching bands. It was crazy.

Another parade?
Then when we left the hotel that night, there was another parade. It was sooo loud and there were sparks flying everywhere! I'm not sure how that's allowed because it seemed pretty dangerous.

Pretty Fountain in front of the art museum
I couldn't get a good shot of the museum because it was dark, but the fountain was pretty neat and kept changing colors.

Sagrada Familia!
AMAZING! note the construction :)

Passion Scene of Sagrada Familia
This side of the cathedral has pillars that are shaped like human bones and very harsh, severe statues that look very Soviet. The sculptures were actually pretty scarey, I'm amazed they would be sculpted on the outside of a cathedral!

Inside the Cathedral
The pillars are made to look like trees. They were also apparently building according to some certain law of Physics that ensures that they will never fall. I don't really understand.

The Ceiling!!!
The ceiling is really cool, it's made to look like a forest canopy.

Gaudi's Park Guell
There is this huge park in the outskirts of Barcelona with all of these Gaudi mosaic statues, a huge mosaic bench that wraps around a square, and then tons of empty space to walk around with lots of cacti. The park is on a hill and in order to get there you have to go up like 7 escalators.