Barcelona!

Barcelona

On the way to Barcelona we stopped at Zaragoza. Couldn’t enjoy it because it was the height of my sinus infection. I felt so awful. Even though I still felt like hell in Barcelona, I enjoyed it a lot more than Madrid. It’s hard to explain why. I felt like Barcelona was somehow more welcoming and easier to navigate. In Madrid it seemed like Spaniards were annoyed with us when we tried to use Spanish. They didn’t seem to appreciate it and wanted to speak English. In Barcelona they were more accommodating. When I made mistakes they didn’t seem irritated but instead usually smiled and tried to help. The commotion of Madrid was overwhelming. It seemed just as crowded and busy in Barcelona but somehow more relaxed.
The first day in Barcelona, we went on a tour. We saw a “panoramic” view of the city with a concentration on Gaudi’s work. We visited the park where he lived (I think he lived there at least). It was amazingly beautiful. Patterned tile everywhere. My favorite part was the benches and had an eclectic mix of tiled mosaics on the back. I will post my pictures on facebook. We saw the outside of La Sagrada Familia from across the street. I went back there the next day with a few Smithies to see it up close and on the inside. My favorite church by far. It’s more impressive to me just by the fact that it’s modern. It isn’t even finished yet and won’t be for 30 years. It’s amazing that to me that people still want to build churches when there are so many incredible ones that are hundreds of years old (I don’t really know how to fully explain this thought). I love the style of the church. It’s plainer on the inside with gorgeous stained glass windows. I was honestly sick of seeing cathedrals filled with marble and gold. It seems less pretentious that the others. Also no graphic depictions of Jesus’ death! Once again I will post pictures on facebook when I get better wireless.
We used the metro to get to La Sagrada familia and the bus to get to the beach. Public transportation there is amazing. Super clean and the lines are simple. Barcelona is now one of my favorite cities solely for that.
The beach was lovely. The sand was clean and soft; lacking the rough rocks that populate the beaches at home. People actually pick up after themselves and there are recycling can next to the trash cans. The water was a beautiful, vivid blue. And it wasn’t freezing. I only dipped my feet in because my bathing suit was in my big suitcase in Córdoba. I can’t wait to go to another Spanish beach and go in for real. I realized that the reason I’m not that fond of going in the water at beaches at home is because it’s always freezing and seems dirty. The beach was also tops optional which wasn’t as weird for me as I thought it would be. It didn’t seem all that foreign to me after spending so much time at Smith college.
Unfortunately, the last day there was kind of a lost day. We had the whole day free but the PRESHCO people neglected to tell us that it was a catalunya holiday so everything besides restaurants was closed. I had planned on going shopping so I was disappointed. Kelly and I desperately wanted to go to a book store so we could find our favorite books in Catalan. I really want to find a Dr. Suess book in Catalan. If I can’t, I’ll settle for a Harry Potter. We ended up walking around aimlessly and getting lost. On the opposite end of the city. Luckily, we found our way back to the hotel. We probably walked about five miles the whole day. At least we got our exercise.