I’m getting the hang of things. I’m almost beginning to feel a bit comfortable…well, maybe that is a bit strong of a word…my stomach has calmed when I'm out anyway. This weekend went well. Friday night I went out on my own. I put some cute heels on, curled my hair and went in search of…well, somewhere that I could hang out with a drink and make conversation. I walked to Pg. de Gracia…busy street (great for shopping, btw) and walked and walked and walked. It wasn’t that there weren’t places to go…none of them felt right. And then I remembered that might be because I’m not really a bar girl. I don’t go hang out in bars at home- why would it be different here? So I went to a café. I chatted a bit with the waiter and waitress and enjoyed some hot chocolate and a sweet waffle…I know, I’m a crazy girl. More important than what I did though, was that I didn’t bring a bag…meaning, I didn’t bring my map, or my Spanish dictionary. I brought my ID, some money, chapstick, keys and my phone. It’s almost like I live here…no map!
Saturday morning, I let myself sleep in…generally I try to stay out of the way of the morning routine with the kiddos so as to not disrupt what they have going on. I went over to do the Sagrada Familia (which means Holy Family, by the way). Now I am sure you are tired of hearing about this place…so feel free to skip the next paragraph because I am totally obsessed with it, and learned a lot on my tour.
They have been working on this thing for over 100 yrs…Gaudi spent over half of his life on this project and only got to see a very small portion finished. He left tons of plans for the continued development, but much of his work was destroyed in a vandalism fire…so they pieced together what they could find, combined with help from other architects Gaudi had worked with and trained and went from there. There are 4 corners that, when viewed from above, look like a cross. One is an entrance and the other three are for the birth, death and resurrection of Jesus. The only part Gaudi saw through was the birth. The death scene is finished now, but was done by another architect…it is a very different style than Gaudi’s, but also is meant to be that way-darker and sad. Earlier I said there will be 12 towers for each of the apostles- there is actually going to be 18 in total. 12 for the apostles, 4 for the evangelists (Mark, Matthew, Luke and John) a taller one for Mary and right in the center, much higher than the rest is Jesus. People asked Gaudi why he was putting so much detail into something so high up- no one will be able to see it. He said the angels will see it and that’s more important. The inside is supposed to look like a “concrete forest” the buttresses are the tree
branches and the ceiling looks like leaves. It is so beautiful. There is going to be a lot of natural light coming in through the “leaves” in the ceiling. It isn’t scheduled to be finished for another twenty years…so I guess I’ll have to return for that. It will be the tallest church in the world (the guide thought...wasn't totally sure), which was what Gaudi was going for- closer to Heaven. Someone asked how much money has been spent in building so far and the guide said it's impossible to know (imposible is a very common word here!)...but that in the past few years they have been averaging about 6 million/year! And it is all paid for through private donations and tourists visiting- the government has nothing to do with it.
Okay, okay…thanks for humoring me...moving on. I came back to the apartment and changed into work out clothes, and took the train to the beach. There is this whole outside restaurant/shopping area on the beach. I decided to go see a movie- I know, a little lame...but it sounded nice. This particular theater shows movies in their original language (aka English!) with spanish subtitles...I saw the stupid Cameron Diaz/Ashton Kutcher movie "Algo Pasa en Las Vegas"...not a stellar movie, but totally gave me my America fix. Then I came out and went for a run along the beach...the sun was setting, it was such a nice temperature to run. Such a great night.
They have been working on this thing for over 100 yrs…Gaudi spent over half of his life on this project and only got to see a very small portion finished. He left tons of plans for the continued development, but much of his work was destroyed in a vandalism fire…so they pieced together what they could find, combined with help from other architects Gaudi had worked with and trained and went from there. There are 4 corners that, when viewed from above, look like a cross. One is an entrance and the other three are for the birth, death and resurrection of Jesus. The only part Gaudi saw through was the birth. The death scene is finished now, but was done by another architect…it is a very different style than Gaudi’s, but also is meant to be that way-darker and sad. Earlier I said there will be 12 towers for each of the apostles- there is actually going to be 18 in total. 12 for the apostles, 4 for the evangelists (Mark, Matthew, Luke and John) a taller one for Mary and right in the center, much higher than the rest is Jesus. People asked Gaudi why he was putting so much detail into something so high up- no one will be able to see it. He said the angels will see it and that’s more important. The inside is supposed to look like a “concrete forest” the buttresses are the tree
branches and the ceiling looks like leaves. It is so beautiful. There is going to be a lot of natural light coming in through the “leaves” in the ceiling. It isn’t scheduled to be finished for another twenty years…so I guess I’ll have to return for that. It will be the tallest church in the world (the guide thought...wasn't totally sure), which was what Gaudi was going for- closer to Heaven. Someone asked how much money has been spent in building so far and the guide said it's impossible to know (imposible is a very common word here!)...but that in the past few years they have been averaging about 6 million/year! And it is all paid for through private donations and tourists visiting- the government has nothing to do with it.Okay, okay…thanks for humoring me...moving on. I came back to the apartment and changed into work out clothes, and took the train to the beach. There is this whole outside restaurant/shopping area on the beach. I decided to go see a movie- I know, a little lame...but it sounded nice. This particular theater shows movies in their original language (aka English!) with spanish subtitles...I saw the stupid Cameron Diaz/Ashton Kutcher movie "Algo Pasa en Las Vegas"...not a stellar movie, but totally gave me my America fix. Then I came out and went for a run along the beach...the sun was setting, it was such a nice temperature to run. Such a great night.
I got back home and the fellas were making some rabbit for dinner. They made sure it didn't actually LOOK like the animal (like the last time when they brought a full chicken home...) They made it with a nice red wine, mushrooms, potatoes, etc...delish. We chatted for awhile...had a little competition- who has met the most famous people...you might think I would win with all the bands and NBA people...but they aren't into sports or music, so my meetings weren't impressive. :-)
This morning I woke and went to church...yes, that's right, I actually made it. They are holding services in La Sagrada Familia, in a tiny little portion that is covered. It was in Spanish, but the beauty of Catholic mass is that it is EXACTLY the same every time...so it was easy to follow along.
Then I hopped on a train to Tibidabo. It's this amusement park that is way up on top of a hill above the
city. You have to take a tram after the train, and then the "funicular" which is another tram-like car that takes you all the way up to the top. There was a huge church right there (it was kind of random...all these kids yelling, rides going, random clown-like people singing...and this huge church right there.) I walked around the park, but couldn't bring myself to pay the 24 euros to actually ride the dumb rides...they were like county fair rides...a smaller Enchanted Village. I took the funicular back down and had lunch at a restaurant at the bottom. I have to say- customer service does not seem to be much of a priority in Barcelona. You literally have to call out to the waiter/waitress to get them to bring a menu, take your order, bring your bill, get your change, etc...the whole process takes FOREVER! And is especially hard for me, because I'm not overly forward...so I usually end up sitting for quite awhile.
city. You have to take a tram after the train, and then the "funicular" which is another tram-like car that takes you all the way up to the top. There was a huge church right there (it was kind of random...all these kids yelling, rides going, random clown-like people singing...and this huge church right there.) I walked around the park, but couldn't bring myself to pay the 24 euros to actually ride the dumb rides...they were like county fair rides...a smaller Enchanted Village. I took the funicular back down and had lunch at a restaurant at the bottom. I have to say- customer service does not seem to be much of a priority in Barcelona. You literally have to call out to the waiter/waitress to get them to bring a menu, take your order, bring your bill, get your change, etc...the whole process takes FOREVER! And is especially hard for me, because I'm not overly forward...so I usually end up sitting for quite awhile. Now I'm home...contemplating dinner options. Mentally preparing for the week ahead. We are going to southern Spain for a week on Thursday...so our schedule will be a bit different.
Hope things are well with you...don't forget to send me emails updating me on your live
