The train to Valencia left at 8:42. Unfortunately I didn’t have my reservations and missed it. Which makes me an idiot.
There was another train, with an empty seat, leaving at 7pm, so I have a ticket for that. Not going to miss that one, ten hours late is enough.
On the bright side: free time! (kind of)
This morning I escorted my parents and grandparents to the airport on their way to Paris, Rome and Austria. They were sad to go, but excited to see elsewhere.
And this evening a few of us decided to go down to the I-MAX theater to catch a show. The double feature tonight was Wild Ocean and Egypt: Secrets of the Mummies. They were both in spanish, but I was able to catch all the important parts (and it was in 3D, so that was neat).
Tomorrow is Almudena in Madrid (a holiday honoring Madrid’s matron saint) so we will have the day to further explore and work on our projects.
A few of us went in search of some dramatic night shots. Few were as dramatic as when The Mother tried to eat me!
A scupture behind the Guggenheim
We explored the West side today. Nice town. Definitely my favorite so far (besides Switzerland…). People aren’t so rushed and busy here.
We arrived in Bilbao fairly late. Just in time to catch a kebab shop before close. Another long train ride over! Looking forward to exploring this little town.
Brian and I took the train about an hour and a half out of Barcelona to see the Montserrat abbey (serrated mountain). To get up, we could either walk (didn’t have time), drive (didn’t have car) take a cog train (took too long) or take a gondola. We took the gondola. That is 90 years old if I remember correctly, but we had no problems.
It was fun to get out of the city and do a bit of hiking.
Designed by Mies van der Rohe for the 1929 International Exposition, it stands as one of the most elegant buildings ever contrived. It is just so simple, yet at the same time brimming with complexity. This is one of those buildings you are unable to fully ‘get’ until you stand in it.
But enough babbling:
Unfortunately I was foolish and didn’t snap any from the front…
When looking for the Pavilion, we walked passed a huge fountain, and saw that every Friday and Saturday night there was a show. So we made plans to go. And it was quite nice. The fountain danced and lit up to music. There were hundreds and hundreds of people there to watch, which was almost as much fun as the fountain itself!
It drizzled most of the day today, nothing too unbearable. We visited the Barcelona Cathedral, a nice church with a beautiful cloister (courtyard) off to the side. It was one of the quieter cathedrals we have visited, which I really enjoied. When there are lots and lots of people talking, it is extremely distracting, especially in such spiritual and beautiful spaces.
Cloister of the Barcelona Cathedral
After some of the daze wore off from Sagrada Familia we went inside Casa Batillo. Everything was just absolutely… exquisite. One of the rooms has an amber chandelier and the ceiling looks like a sheet that has been twisted up. Reminded me of one of the rooms in Casper, the Friendly Ghost. A lot of the woodwork matches the facade and undulates unlike what you would expect wood to do.
Later in the day we headed up to Park Guell for this beautiful view of the city. Sagrada Familia at center right, Torre Agbar is center left. Oh, and that blue thing in the background is the beautiful Medeteranian Sea.
Barcelona from Park Guell
Today we woke up really early to get down to Sagrada Familia and got in line to go in. Since we got there early, and the weather looked like rain we got in pretty quickly.
It is absolutely breathtaking. The way the columns are fluted and rise to a knot and lean out to support the side isles or lean in and branch off into yet more columns to support the nave ceiling… If I work my entire life to create something a minute fraction as beautiful I will be satisfied.
The crew in charge of finishing construction say they will be done in 20 years. Almost everybody else says 50 is more realistic. The eight towers currently finished are the smallest towers planned. The main entry (now across the street from a block of apartments that will be torn down) towers will be a bit taller and the main tower over the alter will be the tallest (and become the tallest structure in Barcelona).
Looking at the faces of my classmates when visiting this building you would think we were kids seeing Disnyworld for the first time. I’m glad we haven’t grown out of being so enchanted!
