We were surprised to find out that, after not hearing from us in only a couple of days, people were beginning to wonder where we were. Rebecca's mother informed us that she was even getting phone calls: "Where are the kids? We haven't seen anything from them in a while...". Allow us to apologize for any concern, and also for appearing to be slackers. We came to realize upon our arrival in Paris (don't worry, you will be updated by the next post), that not only were our days busy busy but so were our evenings. Apparently there are many demands when it comes to being an extended traveller. There are calls to make/receive via skype (which is about the most amazing invention of all time). There are pictures/videos from the day to upload into our computer, and then to upload into our blog, and into our youtube. There is the blog to update, and of course we want it to be more than just a brief run-through. On top of that, and finally, we need to decide where we are heading from our current location. So we are in the process of learning how to juggle these things, but it looks like we will be doing some slowing down. If we don't, at the rate we're going, we will have seen Europe in its entirety within the next month.
Our time in Barcelona was good, but deliberate. We knew what we wanted to see, and there was no point in lingering. We had heard conflicting things about Barcelona. Some said it was dirty, even skanky, and some professed their undying love. We were interested in finding out for ourselves. One thing we will say, still noncommittal, is that the hardest thing about Barcelona was ordering food. Spain is famous for its certain cuisine called 'tapas'. They are small bite-sized portions to be eaten with a toothpick, or with a fork. Other than that, it is hard pressed to find anything else. There are still cafes on every corner, and next to one another, all down the road, but mainly stuffed with sandwiches and pastries. To get a real-deal meal was a fight. Which made the microwave in our hostel the most infinite of blessings. By the way: we finally ate tapas on our last day in Barcelona, and they are nothing to write home about. Perhaps if we had a native to lead us along. We found them to be small and ill-prepared (so maybe if we were in a better restaurant, too).
Our first real day in Barcelona was a nice full one. The city was the most industriliazed and modern that we had seen, and was indeed dirty. But what big city isn't? The swarms of people were almost overwhelming, and sometimes just that. The weather was nice and mild, sunny and calm, and Barcelona is a hot spot for those that love the arts.
It goes to show that as soon as we got off the metro, heading for Gaudi's Parc Guill, we remembered to remind ourselves to go in the opposite direction than we would have originally chosen. However, it did not coincide with our gut instinct, and we started climbing a vast hill true to hunch. We had not gone too far (just far enough to be winded and slightly exerted), when we realized that we had to turn around.
Parc Guill was a park started by Gaudi (an architect who used theories relating to nature for his work) upon request and funding by his good friend named Guill. However, after about four years of work the economy of the plan fell through and the project was disbanded. The city bought the land a few years later and opened it as a park. Feel free to Wikipedia/Google any and all information we provide, as it stands a good chance of being pieced together by interpretation of foreign materials. One thing is for certain: the park was created by Gaudi. His style was definitely apparent. Another certain thing: there is about a ninety degree incline, about half a mile up, to get to this park.
While we enjoyed the almost psychodelic touches of the park, work of Gaudi's heart possessed by an obsession with the natural realm, the amounts of people began to wear on us quickly. They were everywhere! We had been spoiled thus far, used to being able to spread our arms and twirl around should we so desire, and the mob frenzy we waded through that day was too much.
We went from there to the Temple Sagrada Familia, which is Gaudi's most crowning accomplishment (and possibly of any and all architects). This temple was designed by Gaudi over a hundred years ago, and they have been working on it ever since. The city of Barcelona has literally been built around this one building, and deservedly so. This has to be one of the coolest things we have ever seen. (Rebecca holds it second to the Grand Canyon). The Temple Sagrada Familia is the truest form of art. Every spire, every column, every window, represents either a mosaic bundle of fruit, a reaching tree trunk spanning into a canopy of leaves, or a flower. There was a small room off to the side set up to show how Gaudi incorporated physics into his studies of nature, and was able to use that to develop techniques for his buildings. The height of the structure is nothing short of near-celestial. Up the front of the building is a sequence of events depicting Christ's life through sculptures, ending in His ascension back to heaven. There is an elaborate nativity scene spread out above/across the entrance doors. Beneath the temple is a small museum showing all of the models they built in preparation, and much of the original plans and some original sculptures that had to be replaced over the period of the hundred years. Please check out these pictures, as only they can tell the real story.
The church is still unfinished, and there are cranes and construction workers all over. The price was a little extreme, as there is nothing more than hiking through the cathedral and going down to the small museum below. One could pay about 2.50 euros to take the lift some way up, but the lines for that were pretty long.
Right across from the Temple Sagrada Familia is a KFC. Rebecca saw it as soon as we got off the metro. We were both beyond ready to eat, but since the temple was only going to be open a few more hours we ran to do that first. We have been getting used to saying 'no' to hunger. By the time we sat down with our eight piece chicken and pure patatas and sodas, it seemed no meal had ever been more glorious. We polished off most of the food, and threw the rest in a plastic bag to take back to our room for the evening.
Michael has been the man as far as doing the laundry goes. He can rig up the most ingenious clothes lines, and manages to keep them out of the way (this is quite a feat, considering the size of the rooms!).
First things first on the second day in Barcelona, we walked back to the train station and got set up for transportation to Paris. Grudgingly, we signed up for the fifteen hour bus ride, as it was half the price of the 11 hour train ride. We dropped our stuff off at the lockers, and headed out for our last string of sight-seeing. Believe it or not, the weather was intense enough to keep us from being out too long. We are unsure of how it manages, but the wind snakes between the tall buildings with brutal force and chilly to boot. We saw some more of Gaudi's buildings, which are random throughout the city, and finally decided to high-tail it back to the train station.
At 9 PM we boarded the bus for Paris. "Maybe there won't be that many people"; "I can't imagine anyone going out of town on a Thursday night". The bus was definitely full enough, and we even made another stop a few hours down the road to fill up the last few seats. We were able to sit together, and we threw the headphones in as fast as we could. We rocked out until early in the morning, until the generic blue pills pushed us over into dreamland, and still we kept waking up. As soon as we hit France, Michael tapped Rebecca and pointed out the window. Groggy, and through the haze of the earliest morning, snow covered the ground...
