Right! Where were we? Right the bus ride, and then you went home and slept while everyone else went out... And the next morning you were the first one up and ready for La Sagrada Familia!
Wow! This was my favorite part of the trip most definitely! (Besides the night we found a real Mexican restaurant (not Spanish tapas!) and Jen split a salsa verde enchilada with me!)
We arrived to buy our tickets an hour before they opened, and what we first thought to be two lines, was one line, wrapped around the entirety of the cathedral twice. So we waited... and we waited. And Jen took lots of awesome pictures of the outside!
The cathedral was amazing, and had two different stylized sides, plus the sections that aren't even finished. Jen liked the back, which portrays the crucifixion and was very clean cut, but I preferred the front, the nativity side, because it's all inspired by nature and every inch was covered in some detail from the flora and fauna, which Gaudi spent decades researching as he designed La Sagrada Familia.
Jen thought it looked like it was melting...
Once inside, after almost two hours in line, it was completely unexpected. The interior of the cathedral was absolutely breathtaking with stained glass windows and huge support columns that stretched up to create a stone canopy. Everything was clean cut, like the crucifixion side, but the touches of color softened the sharp edges.
There is really no way to describe the cathedral because there was so much to see, but every little corner was captivating. I think visiting La Sagrada Familia was my favorite part of our whole trip to Barcelona, because it was so beautiful and inspiring.
But we had plenty of more stops along the way. Including, the garden that Gaudi designed, and a few buildings. Notice a theme for Barcelona yet?
Just a few blocks from the Cathedral was a building that Gaudi designed which is now a museum.
For a long time, people actually lived in the house! Jen and I agreed that the balconies under the windows look like masks. It was such a colorful building! So different from the grey stone cathedral.
I decided I liked the mosaic tiles the best, which was great because the next stop was a garden that was a mixture of both the stone carvings and the mosaic tiling.
The garden that Gaudi designed was another favorite because there were his mosaic patterns everywhere and Jen said it reminded her of a project when she lived in the country and her sister and her made stepping stones with mosaic tiles.
I just liked all the pretty colors. The sad part was it was almost dark when we got to the garden, and Jen was hungry and grouchy so we didn't get to see much before it was too dark to see anything at all and Jen voted we leave. She was really grouchy...
That was the Halloween night and Jen was so tired she just wanted to sleep, which didn't happen until after 3am because everyone else wanted to go out. I felt really bad for her :(
Still, you can't stop Jen when her mind is set on something, a fact we all know to be true at this point, and the next morning her mind was set to "W."
The "W" Barcelona. Luckily for Jen, her friend Jovanni was looking to visit Camp Nou, home of FC Barcelona, so she was willing to tag along and make it one big trip. I think visiting this hotel was Jen's favorite part of the whole weekend in Barcelona. She was practically skipping up the steps after a mile and half trek down the boardwalk, through the rain, with no umbrella. I wasn't as happy a camper, but was grateful for being brought along.
We only saw the lobby, and Jovanni and I spent most of the time testing out the lounge chairs while Jen hopped around taking photos, and begging the front desk for a pen. Though, I have to say, the best part was when we were leaving the parking lot, and a paper envelope caught my eye. I pointed it out and Jen snatched it up, keeping an eye out for parking attendants. It was a bit of a Willy Wonka moment when she realized she held a long-lost room key to the "W" Barcelona. Definitely her favorite souvenir!
Next, we hopped on the metro and it was Jovanni's turn to be excited as the three of us headed to the other side of the city and emerged in the shadow of FC Barcelona's stadium!
Now, I can't say I entirely knew what was going on, and Jen isn't a Barca fan, but we were able to take some really cool pictures.
And everyone got in the spirit of the team!
Even if she is a Manchester United fan. So that was it, the last day in Barcelona, spent chasing down hotel desk clerks and posing with life size cardboard cutouts of soccer players. I was pretty glad that Jen invited me along for the ride. Now it's time to settle down for the holidays (and the end of the semester) and countdown until our trip to Strasbourg and the largest Christmas market in France.
Adios Amigos!
-Frederick
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