Barcelona

Monday morning we took an early train to Barcelona, since there weren't any on Tuesday, being Christmas and all. We spent nearly a week in Barcelona in total, and I think we covered almost everything a tourist could want.

Our first hotel, before the tour started, was by the beach, and we took a couple walks down there. I'll always remember Christmas morning, walking down the beach in Spain collecting shells. Because the shells are everywhere! They just sort of stayed in huge patches, washed up by the waves. And a number of them already had holes drilled into them too, perhaps by some sea creature who ate the animal inside.

Mom put her feet in the Mediterranean, which actually wasn't as horribly cold as I assumed it would be. Definitely not as cold as the northern California ocean during winter.

As most things were closed for Christmas, we decided that it was a good day to see Guell Park, one of the famous works by Gaudi, the architect who is well-known in Barcelona not only for the park, but for several other famous buildings inside the city (more on them later). Guadi's style is very reminiscent of Dr. Seuss to me, with the rounded curves (he wanted nothing to have straight lines). It's definitely something that needs to be seen rather than explained, so I'll add some pictures later for sure. But let's just say it was a bit like going through a mosaic-covered Whoville. And we saw the famous Dragon lizard at the front, too.

The next day had us catching the citybus tour, jumping on and off one of the red tourist buses that I like to laugh at in San Francisco. But at least they tell you what to see! We hopped off at the main city museum near the magic fountain and explored around there for a while. Another night we came back to watch the magic fountain in action. On Friday and Saturday nights, the fountain performs a show to music (sometimes to Christmas music around this time) and changes colors and sizes and streams. I took a ton of pictures, but we'll see what turns out the best. The square where the fountain is also holds the old bull ring of Barcelona, which has been converted into a shopping mall, but is still a rather iconic ring-shaped building. Barcelona actually banned bullfighting last year, so the new ring isn't in service either.

Other days, we wandered around the Ciutadella park, seeing the amazing fountain (my mom is having new thoughts about the backyard) and mammoth, as well as rambling down La Rambla, the famous market street. They had a cool street person statue of Galileo who my dad and I took a picture with. And lots of things to buy, of course. We also had lunch on one of the patios, getting giant sangrias and watching the people go by. Another time, we stopped by the famous market and saw the fresh butcher's meat hanging from the ceiling, as well as the colorful fruit and peppers.

Michael took several hyperlapses of some of the views, including the unlit Arc de Triumf and the magic fountain. He also took a number during our day trip to Montserrat, where one of the famous basilicas housing a black madonna is perched high on some oddly formed mountains. We went up on a tram and took several funiculars to different sites on the mountain, and he got some pretty cool shots from that. The views were spectacular, of course, and it was a beautifully clear if chilly day.

Another day, we took a cruise around the Mediterranean to see the skyline and to get out on the ocean, and saw a couple old styles sailing ships tied up at the dock. We also went to the Picasso museum and enjoyed watching as his style evolved in front of our eyes as he grew up and experimented.

The other highlight, once we finally started our official company sponsored tour was Gaudi's most famous piece of architecture, the Sangrada Familia Church, which is still not finished to this day. Their projected end date is in the year 2026. Like most of Gaudi's work, it's a bit bizarre, but fantastical. Again, pictures needed. Only one side of this church was actually finished by Gaudi himself, though the design today's modern architects are using to complete it is based on the plans he created. I say based on, because after Gaudi's death, his workshop was destroyed during the Spanish civil war and most of the plans for the church along with it. They reconstructed the plans based on models and discussions with the people Gaudi had worked with.

Regardless, the structure speaks for itself. The inside is amazing too. I especially liked the pillars shaped like tree branches. Gaudi meant for the building to be like a forest inside, and it kind of is. Pics to come!