Paper Cups Spell Disaster

When we were finished with the tour, we divided the city into more managable parts, then broke into small groups to explore our section.  My group headed to the Southeast.  We found some neat parks and walked towards the newer district with some interesting skyscrapers.  After walking our section, we headed to the beach (which was the southern border of what we were supposed to explore anyway) and got our feet a little wet

The first order of business today was getting a huge continental breakfast at the hotel.  Absolutely glorious!  Too much of this could spoil a guy…

After stuffing our faces, our tour guide showed up at latin 10:30 (almost 11).  He took us around to a lot of Antoni Gaudi’s projects.  First up was  Sagrada Familia (this time the sun was out and we could actually see things).  We didn’t go inside, but plan to soon.

After that we went to Casa Mila and Casa Batillo.  Again, didn’t go inside, but now we know where they are so we can visit them later.

Nearby there was an interesting market that had fairly recently been reimagined with a really cool undulating roof.  During construction they found Roman ruins, so they dedicated a corner of the market (the one in the picture) to preserving and showing it.

After about seven hours on a train, we finally made it to Barcelona!

Being well after dinner time, we ventured out in search of food. Suddenly we noticed looming shadows a few blocks down. As we got closer, a haunting sight unfolded before us. Walking through a park, we stole little glimpses of Barcelona’s jewel, the Sagrada Familia.

Really the only way to describe Sagrada Familia that night is haunting. The only light was residual from streetlights and the occasional passing car (being after midnight, all the dramatic lighting was off). Not so much haunting in a scary or horrified way, but there was an indescribable feeling looking up at the dark, unfinished mass. We all felt it consume us for what seemed like hours.

Within moments, the few of us that were there vowed to take a 30-40-50-whatever year reunion to come back when construction was complete.

We did eventually find food, and ate in near silence.

Welcome to Barcelona.

Five weeks went entirely too fast…  It seems like only yesterday (or maybe the day before) we were sitting down for grecs in the late afternoon after almost 8 hours in an airplane and at least as long walking around Paris on day one.

But here we are, packing our things and saying goodbye to our temporary home.

I think we gave Paris a proper farewell… Open skating, gelatos and back to the grec stand for our ‘final’ meal.  This time tomorrow, we will all be passed out face down in Barcelona.  The train leaves at 11:30, giving us a little time to run our absolute last minute errands in the morning (my ‘free’ pair of glasses is ready, for instance).

Should be exciting!

Goodbye, Paris.

I shall return.

Since we were yelled at the first time at the le Corbusier Foundation, we decided to make an appointment and get in.  Which was nice, because the outside is quite… Corbu-esque (plain and white).  So here are a few shots of the apartment:

There were some very interesting elements, my favorites being the ramp (on the top) and the little balcony poking into the three floor void that served as the main entry (on the bottom).

This morning, Dennis laid out what he wants us to accomplish before Friday (our ‘last’ day in Paris, we leave for Barcelona on Monday, but he was kind enough to give us the weekend for packing).  And we have a lot to do.  For the ‘Our Paris’ book we will be putting together, he wants all the hand work on paper and ready for scanning and editing.

After telling us this, he sent us out to descend upon the city.  I headed toward St. George’s School (one of my buildings) and was able to arrange a personal tour with the English teacher.  Being that it is a school (and a private one at that) I figured it would be off-limits to some stranger from the U.S. but everyone was very nice and helpful.  Unfortunately, the building is not quite as nice from the inside as the outside, but it does the job, and above all, that is what it is supposed to do.

Tomorrow, more Corbu!

We have been back in Paris for almost a day and a half now.  It is nice to have a place to leave my things where I know they are safe (and not having to worry about carrying everything as well).

There are only four students from Milwaukee back in Paris (some of them are returning today, the rest tomorrow) so it is nice for a little down time.

I got replacement glasses ordered, and they will be ready Monday afternoon.  I have been using my prescription sunglasses when I absolutely need to see, but got some interesting (and a few scared) glances in the Metro.  The lady at Grand Optical was very nice and thought it was a little weird I was wearing sunglasses in the store before I told her why.  Then she just thought I was crazy.

We left Interlaken this morning, on a train towards Bern.  From Bern, we go to Geneva and from Geneva to Paris.

Because we could, we decided to spend a little time in Bern (we had to switch trains anyway, so as long as we are on the train to Geneva by midnight, everything will be swell).  And so far, it is my favorite city in Europe.  It would be nice to spend a few days here, but that will have to wait for ‘next time’ whenever that happens to be…

Before we left, it seemed like a good deal to book a package deal consisting of two nights in a hostel and a canyon jump.  So last night we checked into the hostel we had reserved (though we liked the other one better) and this morning got in a van with strangers to take us up to Grindelwald.

A canyon jump is essentially a huge swing.  There is a cable anchored on either side of the canyon and a rope tied between the cable and anybody silly enough to jump off.  We were silly enough to jump off.  And it was a blast!

Before pushing play, please be aware this is a video of me jumping off a perfectly good platform attached to a 260′ rope and swinging through a canyon.

If you can hear me say “That’s not good.”  near the end of the first time through the canyon, that would be the moment I realized I had been wearing my glasses when I left the platform, and no longer was.  That was a very stupid thing to do.  I guess prescription sunglasses will have to do until we get back to Paris.

Even factoring in the loss of precise vision until I can get a replacement pair of glasses, it was worth it!

Because we got in at night, we had no idea what the world really looked like from Interlaken.  Once we finally woke up and ventured outside, we were stunned.  The entire place is surrounded by mountains.  There are really only three reasons you wouldn’t see a mountain if you were anywhere in Interlaken, 1) it is night  2) you are inside with no windows  3) eyes are closed.

We decided to go for a hike, and headed towards the mountain closest to town.  Someone directed us toward the trail and we started our ascent.

Trail to Harder Kulm

We weren’t really sure which way to go (there were three options) so we picked the one that seemed to go ‘up’ the most.  Luckily we were right, and after about three hours, we were at the top.  But not before getting some amazing views:

Interlaken from above

Jungfrau - The Tope of Europe

As expected, the restaurant at the top cost an arm and a leg, but we brought some fruit, so that held us over until we were able to get back down and find some proper dinner.