As the half way point turned, we received a whole week off for Spring Break. Wanting to travel somewhere that offered both relaxation and sight-seeing, we opted for Barcelona, Spain. It was a great decision. We spent the week sleeping, relaxing and touring. It was perfect.
The first day we arrived, we walked around for a bit. Right down the street from us were some great Gaudi buildings, including the Casa Battllo (pictured).
These were absolutely stunning buildings. They're very unique in design, but I guess that's what makes Gaudi's work so famous. We pretty much spent the day working our way around the town, trying to familiarize ourselves with the locations. We ended the day with a nice, long, Spanish style dinner (complete with tapas and sangria!). It was delicious, and the perfect way to spend our first night.
These were absolutely stunning buildings. They're very unique in design, but I guess that's what makes Gaudi's work so famous. We pretty much spent the day working our way around the town, trying to familiarize ourselves with the locations. We ended the day with a nice, long, Spanish style dinner (complete with tapas and sangria!). It was delicious, and the perfect way to spend our first night. The next day, we were able to see the Sagrada Familia. It is a gorgeous church designed, once again, by Gaudi. While the outside is stunning itself, the interior is beautiful too. The whole structure is like one giant piece of art. It is currently still under construction, and probably won't be finished for another 15 to 20 years. I would love to go back to Barcelona someday and see it after it is completed.
The picture above shows five of the six girls jumping, and the picture below is a look up at the ceiling from the ground level. It's so cool looking. Everything is modeled after something in nature, and there are lots of different lines and curves. It makes it look really cool, and very different than a lot of other architecture around the world.
Over the next couple of days, we were able to go to the beach again, visit the Picasso Museum, visit Casa Batllo, eat plenty of Spanish food and sleep in. During one of the days, we headed to a square in front of the Cathedral in town. There was a huge market there that day, and we browsed through it for a while. Though I didn't buy anything, I saw a couple of things that reminded me of people at home. Namely, these plates. Mom has a huge collection of them hanging in the kitchen at home, and I was surprised to see them at the market in Spain. (Mom has a better collection, this dude only had 4).
The picture above shows five of the six girls jumping, and the picture below is a look up at the ceiling from the ground level. It's so cool looking. Everything is modeled after something in nature, and there are lots of different lines and curves. It makes it look really cool, and very different than a lot of other architecture around the world.That evening, we were able to head to Sitges, Spain, which is just about ten miles outside of Barcelona. It's supposedly one of the best places to experience Carnivale in all of Spain. And indeed, for us, it was. We got there pretty late at night, seeing as when we first arrived at the train station, we missed the memo that you're supposed to dress up for Carnivale (in retrospect, we probably should have known!). We quickly ran home from the train station to get changed into any kind of costume we could find. All six of us ended up with 'superhero' themed costumes (tying scarves around our necks, etc.) as we didn't have much else packed in our suitcases! That night turned out to be one of the best during our whole week. We ran into some of the other boys on our program who were also in Spain and we caught the parade. My favorite float was one of Peter Pan. It's definitely one of my favorite childhood movies.
The next day, we were able to hit the beach. Though it wasn't hot out, it was warm enough to lay down on a blanket and bask in the sun. I was wearing capri yoga pants and a hoodie jacket, but it was SO nice to get a little bit of sun. We soaked it up for most of the day. After this, we decided to head up to Park Guell, which is one of the most beautiful parks I have ever been to. The view of the city is absolutely gorgeous, and the park itself (designed by Gaudi), is art in itself.
Over the next couple of days, we were able to go to the beach again, visit the Picasso Museum, visit Casa Batllo, eat plenty of Spanish food and sleep in. During one of the days, we headed to a square in front of the Cathedral in town. There was a huge market there that day, and we browsed through it for a while. Though I didn't buy anything, I saw a couple of things that reminded me of people at home. Namely, these plates. Mom has a huge collection of them hanging in the kitchen at home, and I was surprised to see them at the market in Spain. (Mom has a better collection, this dude only had 4). Overall, it was a wonderful week in Spain, but when we got back, I was ready to sleep in my quaint apartment and head into work for a couple of days. It was nice getting back to work, as I was able to write a couple more articles this week. I also registered for class for the fall semester. There's nothing to remind you that you have to go back to school quite like registering for classes...
Luckily, tomorrow evening, we leave for Paris. Hard life we live here, in Europe!
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