The walking tour of fine Barce!

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Day 2

Let me give you a heads up, this blog will be LONG. (at least with all the pictures I plan to post)

What you will find in this episode of the Barcelona Excursion:

• Random walking through the town
  
• La Sagrada Familia
  
• Parq Guell
  
• Catalan
  

First, random walking

Well, I went to bed late enough without a siesta that I was able to sleep like a rock for the entire night. That was wonderful. Allison woke me up with a “Its 10am, lets go!”. At 1130 we headed out for breakfast. 😊We started our journey at the Plaza Catalunya. Our plan was to make it to the Sagrada Familia, and crazy Allison learned what that means with me….we walk…all...over…the…city.

I am a fan of walking through the cities because you really get to see the city. We walked down a street towards the Arch de Triunfe and stopped at a random café for some Café con leche and Tostada con tomate (a typical Andalucian breakfast - it wasn’t on the menu here at Catalonia, but they humored us!).

Then we ran into the Arc. It was immaculate!! So very worth walking to and seeing. I love how this country just has random things to see everywhere. Last night when we asked a local what to do they said “There really isn’t much to do during the day, just at night.” Little did he know he was talking to Spanish teachers that are total nerds for culture and things that we just don’t have readily in the states.

Behind the Arc is a park that is totally worth seeing. There is a neat fountain and even a bunch of ping-pong tables. There is a zoo at the end of this park, but we decided not to go there. We then headed our way to….

Second, La Sagrada Familia

This cathedral is so very worth seeing. It costs about 12euro, but is worth it. We were there for about four hours. If I could do it again, I would have gone earlier in the day…but alas hindsight is twenty-twenty. We purchased one audioguide to share between us. This was a good idea because it forced one of us to stay slow and soak it in while the other listened.

Gaudi is now one of my favorite people. He is ingenious in his architecture. I am going to leave the photos and let them tell all that he actually did with the Cathedral. What is really neat is there is no way to not get the gospel message, albeit with a Catholic focus, but still, you can’t help but wonder about Christ, how awesome is that.

Gaudi started it in the late 1800’s and it is not projected to be finished until about 2016. Gaudi is dead obviously, and is buried at the Cathedral, but the architects are maintaining Gaudi’s original plans. When it is finished it will be the largest in the world. I will say the construction part is sort of neat to see, but inside of the cathedral there can be a lot of dust if they are sanding anything. My eyes started to burn.

There are to facades that are complete right now: The Nativity and the Passion of Christ. These are where the two entrances lie. We entered on the Passion side, which is the newer side and the more popular to start with. It lies on the western side, while the Nativity is on the eastern. Neat little tid-bit: the Cathedral was purposefully planned - it is in the exact center of the city and in a sense of Catalonia. Gaudi had a purpose for EVERYTHING in that cathedral, even to the minute details of which animals and fruits you see in the structures.

Upon entering the main gate there was a 1 hour wait to get on the elevator to go up - I was not for it at all, so we didn’t. We walked through the entire cathedral (which is really just a big loop around the construction - but oh my goodness there was so much to look at. The curves and everything were incredible), and came to the Nativity side. This is the only side that Gaudi ever saw nearly complete. On this side however, you can go up the towers as well, and guess what….NO LINES! We then decided to pay the 2.5euros up the elevator to go up into the towers. That in itself was pretty neat. You walk all the way down. If you are afraid of small spaces though I wouldn’t recommend it. You go down spiral staircases which when you look down is a fractal, like a conch shell. Check out the picture. There are some railings, but not always. You get to see some of the construction here as well.

We thought we were almost finished, but then there is a museum underneath with what is left of Gaudi’s original work that was not destroyed during the Civil war - this took a while too - but I was so exhausted I didn’t get to really continue to enjoy it. Also there is a parish school that is built in Gaudi fashion - lots of curves etc.

Then we grabbed the metro to….

Third, Parc Guell

This is a park made by Gaudi and there is his house and what is now a museum. The park was awesome to walk around. There are all sorts of paths and a Mirador (lookout) above the city. The main part of the park is really near his house though. There is the longest public bench in the world. It is made up of random colored tiles that look like they were broken and put together in organized chaos, which you KNOW I love (that is for you Erin and Derek - did you note the fractal comment from the Sagrada Familia - duh!) There were also beautiful plants, and what is crazy is that the plants are set up in the same manner as his architecture, full of planes and lines. It was amazing. Hopefully the pictures will do it justice, if not - I am so very sorry, but you are going to have to come here by yourself! 

Fourth, Catalan

The language spoken here is not typical Spanish (know as Castilian here). Catalan is the typical language in Catalonia. Catalan is similar in writing to Spanish. It is sort of like seeing a language that is very similar to English, and getting the basic idea without knowing how to say what you are reading. For instance: Carrer San Pere - is really Calle San Pedro - Saint Pedro Street. Rebaixa (Catalan), Rebajo (Castilian), Sale - it is interesting. If you ever come to Barcelona, just be aware. Everyone can speak Castilian, and many can speak English. It is a very tourist friendly area.

And to sum it up: can you walk all around Barcelona and get some of the highlights? Yes. Can you enjoy it? Yes. Will you be tired? Yes. Is it worth it? ABSOLUTELY.

fyi i have so many other pictures I would love to post, but i might just have to post them in a Highlights blog... enjoy! (keep scrolling down, even if it looks like the page has ended -- there is more!)

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Photos

walk down the street
this was Ronda Sant Pere. It leads straight to the Arc. We ate along this road.

Random architecture
I just think it is neat how old and detailed everything is.

Motorcycles
everyone has them.

Bike light
you can actually rent bikes in the city "Bicing", makes me laugh there are lights specifically for it.

Arc de Triunfe
I am there, somewhere...

Park behind Arc
I have no idea what the statues are, but I liked them.

the lake in the park
sooo beautiful. there is greenery growing everywhere. The plants were gorgeous

still the park
allison wanted this photo. We are pretty sure that is pure gold.

bird poop
the bird poop is in very delicate places...made me laugh.

wow.
i want this to be my backyard

flowers
i have an obsession with flowers...anywhere i go

gardens
i am not sure what the building is, but it is gorgeous.

weeping woman
i just thought it was a neat statue.

ping pong!
can you imagine speed pong here TLBC youth???

Market
all the instructions are in Catalan.

Torero
a bullfighting ring.

building
it has the feel of Gaudi

random path
it is neat to me the random alleys with trees.

La Sagrada Familia
the start of seeing it. We were still a few blocks away.

:(
Not everyone is rooting for Spain...errrrg.

Comments

[Kelly]

loved the pictures
Leah, Absolutely loved the pictures of La Sagrada Familia. I studied this cathedral a number of times while working on my design degree. Your pictures really gave me a inside view of the building...brought back some old memories. Definitely have to put Barcelona on my bucket list now!