#13: Canigou and Le Petit Train Jaune

Friday morning we had a super early breakfast and were all on the bus by a quarter to 7am.  During our time in Europe, each member of the class has had to give a presentation on a topic we picked before the class started and researched during the Christmas break.  My topic was Canigou, a mountain in the Pyrenees range (the mountain chain that splits Spain and France most of the way).  I gave some facts and figures about the mountain, some historical and artistic facts about it, and read part of a poem, all to illustrate how Canigou is the spiritual home of Catalans.  I was hoping that everyone on the bus would be asleep and wouldn't pay much attention, but it was just the opposite--at barely seven in the morning, my audience was alert and lively.

Our reason for getting up that early?  Le Petit Train Jaune, which means "the little yellow train".  It's a trail that goes through the mountains, the same route it's taken for the past 100 years.  There was SUCH beautiful scenery as we passed through the French countryside!!

The train ride took 3 leisurely hours, and the bus driver had already made it to the station about an hour and a half before we did.  When we disembarked at the station, there were literally 4 people there:  a young woman and her two kids, and the woman working the newspapers and snacks kiosk.    Patrice found a local man to ask him where would be a good place to lunch.  He directed us to La Tour de Carol, a small village about 15 mins up the road by foot.  (As we learned before, the bus was too big for some of the narrow hamlet streets.)

We arrived into La Tour de Carol and it was deserted!  Few cars, no people, no talking except for our noisy chatter.  We found the only restaurant in town but it was closed for lunch as well.  We decided to go to a pastry shop instead, where (again? geez) almost all of the 27 of us got something to eat and nearly wiped then straight out.  We hiked back to town and the bus drove us across the border to Puigcerdá (pooje-cer-DAH), Spain.  After unpacking and relaxing for a few in the new hotel, Lindsey, Ellen and I met some other friends from class and went to the Tip Stop restaurant.  The food was quite scrumptious!  On the way out after payment we asked the restaurant owner where the nearest ATM machine was, and he pointed left and said "it's about 30 meters after the footbridge."

Imagine my surprise when, walking for maybe 4 mintutes, we were back in France!  Apparently the town of Puigcerdá backs up into the French town of Bourg Madame.  We explored for a little bit, then took pictures of ourselves on the border so we could be in two places at once (AND two countries at once? So awesome!).

The rest of the day was spent at our leisure, with dinner at the hotel that night (artichoke soup, catalonian salad or pasta for appetizer; fried fish with the face still on & mixed veggies or fried veal and french fries;  and flan, yogurt or chocolate cake for dessert).  After dinner, we watched part of a movie (L'auberge espagnole, or The Spanish Apartment) but after the mandatory section, I went back to my room and got some sleep.

#12: Perpignan and the Bressola Schools

On Thursday morning I woke up and went to breakfast.  The hotel breakfast in France was MUCH more filling, like the breakfast at the 1st hotel in Barcelona.  (The hotels in between had been pretty skimpy.)  I was very excited to see Bonne Maman preserves on the buffet line.  It's my favorite type of fruit spread--I had it for the first time in high school when my French teacher brought some in for the class.

On the itinerary that day we visited the Bressola schools, which are Catalan-language immersion schools.  Basically, the Catalan language was banned in France by King Louis the 14th in 1700.  People still spoke it at home, but it started to die.  By the 1960s, the French Catalans had actually been taught to believe that children who spoke Catalan at home would have behavior problems at school and possible learning setbacks.  The goal of the Bressola schools was to help preserve the Catalan language, culture and identity by proving that with a fresh generation, success was possible for Catalan speakers.

For the past 30 years, the Bressola schools have faced difficulty on several fronts.  First, there wasn't any funding from the French government, because the French constitution states that French is the only language of France and the Bressola school was in direct violation of that.  (By the way, Catalan is still not recognized by the French government on the national level, but was only recognized regionally in 2008.)  Then, most of the people who wanted to send their kids there didn't have the money to pay for high tuition costs.  Finally, there was the challenge of creating a curriculum from scratch and hoping to succeed.

Today the Bressola schools have two levels, elementary (ages 2-11) and upper (ages 12-15).  Unfortunately, there's no Bressola school for high school students, so the kids choose to go to a high school of their choice and hopefully maintain their interest in Catalan later in life.   The elementary school was so cute!  The kids flocked around us and we had third graders as tour guides.  My tour guide was a little girl who was of Gypsy parentage.  (Interesting fact:  the Bressola schools are surprisingly racially diverse, because Catalans are open to anyone who wants to learn the language and join the culture.)  According to the director of the school, most Gypsy families never sent their kids to school so they always spoke Catalan (and sometimes not even French as well).   My little girl was the same way because she didn't understand French or English (students in the elementary school start French around the 1st or 2nd grade and English in 3rd or 4th, with an additional Spanish option as well).

We got to observe the classrooms and the teaching methods.  The kids were having a snack in one of the rooms I entered.  The teacher explained that every day, the parents take turns donating healthy snacks (fruits, bread, finger sandwiches and the like) to the entire class.  This helps to foster the sense of community within the students.  They have typical reading, writing, basic math and science classes along with art, nutrition and hygiene, and history classes.  Some of the teachers at the elementary school actually moved from Spain to France because they believe in the cause and wanted to do their part to save their language.

in this class, some of the kids knew their numbers in English and were excited to demonstrate.

even from childhood, Catalans are very proud!  what a lovely senyera!

the older kids having shared snacktime (they offered us oranges)

me and my tourguide!

The second half of our visit, we went to the suburbs outside of Perpignan to visit the upper level Bressola school.  There was only one upper level school, to which all 5 elementary schools matriculated.  It wasn't very crowded because after the elementary years, some students decide not to pursue Catalan, or their parents can't afford to keep sending them (although tuition is prorated according to income).  The junior high students, who spoke excellent english, said that they made the decision to keep attending the Bressola school, and were willing to sacrifice other things to help with tuition.  I was very impressed!

The upper level school is only 3 years old, so the facilities were very nice.  After the tour, all of us agreed that we would have liked to have gone to a Bressola language immersion school, especially with such great amenities.  Their science lab rivaled the ones at our college!

One of the most interesting things from that visit, I learned by asking a question:  I asked the director of the Bressola School if he thought of himself as a French man of Catalan heritage or a Catalan man living in France.  "I am a Catalan living in Catalonia," he said.  No matter what the political maps say, the people of Catalonia still think of it as one nation.

After our tour of the secondary school, the class wanted lunch.  We rolled off the tour bus and into a tiny French village.  A brief look around main street revealed only one available sandwich shop.  Most of us all crammed inside and ordered our sandwiches, which completely overwhelmed the one owner/chef and  his friend who had come to hang out during the slow lunch.  It was kind of funny, but in the end we all had a filling lunch and the owner probably had made a week's worth of business from our appearance!

Directly after lunch, we went to Cazes, a certified organic wine company.  We drove vineyard and had a tour of the vines, then a tour of the grounds and finally, a sampling session of 6 different bottles.  It was a lovely experience, even though I'm not particularly fond of wine, and I learned a lot.

Finally, we got back on the bus and went to the hotel.  Lindsey and I took the class back to the Visca shop to meet the shopkeeper and buy more of her stuff (and we bought a lot--again, probably giving her a week's worth of business in 30 mins).  Some of us stopped at a local bakery and bought croque monsieurs (toasted sandwiches with a layer of baked cheese on top) and pastries for dinner.  We had to be on the bus super early the next morning (6:45am!) so I retired early.

#11: A Day in Girona

On Wednesday we left Sabadell and went to Girona, which was another nice city not far from the French border.  I really liked Girona a lot!  The tour guide took us to a centuries old statue of what looked like some sort of polecat with a smushed face.  Supposedly it was a lion (obviously the artist had never seen a real one) and legend says that if you climb up the pole and kiss the lion, you'll return to Girona someday.  Since then, the city was kind enough to build some stairs to help you ascend.  Most of the class took turns kissing the lion--Genny's son M went first!  I was a little freaked out because there was no wet nap or sanitizer dispenser for me to wipe off the lion before I kissed it, but I lived, so I guess it's a good sign.

Julie right before she kissed the lion.  (She had been to Girona before anyway.)

As we walked around the city, I became very glad that I had taken my chances and smooched the statue!  Girona is very old and very beautiful.  It looks like a typical European city, or I guess what TV always showed us.  We visited the cathedral there and the museum (where I got in trouble for taking pictures).  The main thing to see in Girona is their fascinating collection of medieval artifacts like books, paintings, and jewelry.  The biggest attraction is the Tapestry of Creation, which was made in the 11th century and is remarkably well-preserved (again, no pictures--sorry!).  The tapestry was in its own room separated from the viewing area by a thick glass wall and minimal light (there's something called photodegrading, which is when an object loses color or decays over time because of harsh light exposure.  This process can be exacerbated by camera flash).

On the bridge, looking downriver.  (I think this pic makes me look very European.)

After the tour, we were free to explore the city on our own.  Our guide recommended that we go to the Independence Plaza to find the best restaurants.  Lindsey, Ellen and I went to a german restaurant with a delicious menu.  I had a frankfurter with bacon and cheese and some patatas bravas (a spanish tapas dish--seasoned, diced potatoes covered in a thick, creamy, tangy sauce).  The patatas bravas were some of the best I've ever had!  I also ordered cider to drink, thinking it would be a mug of apple cider.  It was hard cider--pretty much beer made from apples.  It wasn't bad, but I wasn't crazy about it.

We also found a shop that sells caganers!  Remember, the caganer was the guy pooping in the Catalonian nativity scene.  Well, this shop had all sorts of famous people as caganers.  I should have bought one.

 American politicians make very popular caganers.  This shop had President Obama, Hillary Clinton, Sarah Palin, former President Bush, Dick Cheney, and for some odd reason, Elvis. 

On the walk back to the bus Ellen and I decided to use the restroom because we weren't sure how long it would be to France.  Most shops in small towns don't have public restrooms, or if they do, you have to buy something first (and they won't let you grab something off the discount rack, let me tell you!).  Instead we went to the city public restrooms, under an overpass.  That was... an experience.  Basically, as soon as you walk in, there are the stalls to your right and the sinks to your left.  The end!

Ellen is staring into the men's bathroom next door.  AWKWARD TURTLE!

We drove across the border into France and stayed in the city of Perpignan.  According to Patrice (Julie's husband, and another professor at our college), Perpignan is pretty but compared to other french cities, it's ugly.  I liked it.  The hotel was very stylish and modern on the inside.  It was also conveniently located near the commercial center of town, so it was a quick walk to just about anything.  Lindsey, Bethany and I put down our stuff and walked around the neighborhood.  We found a great little shop called Visca (which means Viva in Catalan), that sold TONS of Catalonian merchandise.  I bought a really cool poster of a map of all the Catalonian regions (ignoring the political boundaries of France, Spain and Andorra).  We also asked questions to the shopkeeper that dealt with some of the topics we've been discussing in class, and she provided great answers.  The only downside (for the rest of the class!) is that I'm the only person who speaks French in the class (so do Julie and Patrice, but they're professors).  There are maybe 3 other people who have studied it, but they didn't progress to a level where they could speak without much trouble.  At Visca, Lindsey and Bethany asked questions in English and I translated them to French, then translated the answers back.  I had so much fun!  Translation and interpretation is really what I'm cut out to do for a living.

That night we went to a restaurant down the block from the hotel.  The food was good but a little odd.  First course was a spinach salad with a half-cooked egg on top as dressing.  I'm weird about not having food fully cooked (salmonella, anyone?) so I didn't try it.  Second course was a fish (cod, i believe) stuffed with something tasty with rizotto on the side.  Unfortunately, something in the fish or stuffing gave me a horrible allergic reaction, and I left right after dessert (chocolate truffle).  I crashed for the entire night.

If you're interested in the next set of pictures, you can view them here.  Remember, the album is open to the public so you don't need to log into facebook (or create one if don't have an account) to view them.

#10: Last day in Lleida

Tuesday morning one of the students in our class who was formerly an exchange student at the Universitat de Lleida took us for a walking tour around the city.  I won't lie,  I wasn't fond of Lleida at first.  It's small and sort of industrial, and everything seems to close at 10pm--if you're out at say, midnight, the streets are silent and there's no one else around.  But it grew on me.

The walking tour was pretty intense.  We went to La Seu Vella, which was a cathedral that was turned into a military barracks for 200 years.  The cathedral has a belltower with 268 stairs to the top.  I know this well because we all decided to go for a great view of the city.

That belltower is what my nightmares are made of, no joke.  It was a 600 year old stone tower with narrow steps that went up into a circle.  It was sucky at first, but maybe about a third of the way up the tower got smaller...  and there were less windows... and the angle of the spiral got tighter.  I actually started to get dizzy from climbing the stairs!  AND THEN THEY GOT EVEN SMALLER.  I'm talking my shoulder width plus 10 inches (5 on either side).  I haven't been claustrophobic since I was a little kid, but I started to have a panic attack inside the tower.  The worst part was that I was so close to the top that I had to force myself to keep going because it was too far to the bottom.

I will say that the view was spectacular and i got some great pictures.  Unfortunately, the only way down is by the same method.  I actually think going down may have been worse because it was then that I noticed that the height of the steps were uneven, so I couldn't put one foot down and then the other without being extra careful--with the narrow ledge on each step and the uneven drops, i could have easily slipped and tumbled down the rest of the way.  I don't think I was ever so happy to be back on stable ground as when I finally exited the tower.

 Finally! Made it to the top!

Did you think I was joking when I said it was narrow? Keep in mind that his arms are touching BOTH WALLS AT THE SAME TIME.

We looked around the cathedral, which had been stripped bare due to its military repurposing.  I actually liked this cathedral more than the others we've visited (with the obvious exception being La Sagrada Familia) because with all of the fluttering angels and gilded pillars taken away, I could appreciate the beauty of the architecture more fully.  I really noticed the stone arches, the size of the area and the dimensions--just how huge it is.

After La Seu Vella we also went to see part of the Universitat de Lleida.  It was a brief 5 min walk around one of the buildings, and then we went to our real destination:  lunch.  We had reservations at a nice restaurant, and the order of the day were SNAILS.  Well, cargols in spanish (just like escargot in french).  We had a brief appetizer of meats and finger foods, and then the cargols.  They were piled on a huge plate with a side of aioli (a mayonnaise-based garlic and butter sauce).  The owner of the restaurant and our professor Julie gave us a demonstration.  In order to eat the cargols, you take a wooden pick (which looks like a fat toothpick) and sort of poke the meat inside the shell.  Once you get a good grip on it, you have to pull and twist the meat out.  It takes a bit of practice, but what freaked me out is that once the meat gives, it just sort of... plops out of the shell.  It was too much for me to handle!  I ate two and found them to be very tasty, but I can't pull them out.  I'd rather eat them in a soup or de-shelled in another type of dish.  The texture was sort of squishy, sort of chewy, but you didn't want to chew them for long because then they got slimy in your mouth.  The flavor wasn't anything serious--really it tasted like the aioli sauce with a little bit more seasoning behind it.  I can't believe I ate snails--and liked them!

mmm... big ole plate of cargols!  (these were sea snails.) 

hank's offering you one... would you try it?

The rest of lunch was amazing, with a steak and fries and then crema catalana (sort of like a custard meets creme brulee) for dessert.  Pleasantly stuffed, we waddled to the bus (where we had already packed our stuff that morning before leaving) and went to the Monastery of Poblet.  Poblet was out in the Spanish countryside.  It's been around for centuries, of course and the monks there make their own wine, which is very popular.  We had a tour of the place (sort of creepy, to be honest) and then we went to the gift shop to look at the various types of wines for sale.  We never saw the monks, and we had to leave before they said evening prayers.

We overnighted in a city called Sabadell, which is pretty much on the outskirts of Barcelona and therefore just like Barcelona.  Some of the class and I ventured out to McDonalds (although I made it very clear that I was going to make cross-cultural comparisons, and not as a fatass American).

MickeyD's is not very much different here, but at the same time it's different enough.  There's a combo menu, but some of the items are different (such as the CBO, chicken bacon onion sandwich, that we don't have).  There are no sizes--everything is medium. You can order regular fries or "deluxe" fries, which are mini potato wedges.   There are no free drink refills, and the drink selection is limited:  Coke, Coke light (we call it Coke Zero in the states), Sprite, orange Fanta, water and maybe one other choice.  There's a EuroMenu, like our dollar menu, but I actually think the food on it is more expensive than our dollar menu in the states.  For dessert, you can buy a McFlurry or a donut.  The McFlurry is one size as well, and you can get a choice of caramel or chocolate topping and oreo, kitkat or M&Ms for sprinkles.  The McFlurry doesn't have a mixing machine--they pour the toppings on and you mix it yourself.  Some of the guys in the group swore by the caramel/kitkat combo.

 Keeping in mind that the euro was about $1.40 that day, the combo meals are much more expensive in Europe.

 Not that you can see it very well, but the "Unx Un" menu is only 1 euro per item..  The selections are a couple burgers/sandwiches, the McFlurry, a fry or a donut.  Next to it is the CBO, which appears to be all the rage right now.

Mocking the stereotypically happy Americans leaving McD's in the ad.  For this group date, my boyfriend was an imaginary container of fries.

Some of the classmates were scandalized by the sight of a woman breastfeeding in McDonald's.  She didn't even have a blanket thrown over herself or the baby.  I pointed out that just like us, the baby had to eat too and taking your newborn to a public bathroom to feed was exposing the baby to unimaginable levels of germs, and most people agreed and left it at that.  One of my peers, however, was visibly disgusted:  "She should only do that at home."

After the McDo venture, we all headed back to the hotel, but I took a detour into El Corte Ingles (a department store) and bought a new pair of headphones.  This was the first time I had trouble buying anything, because I didn't know the word for headphones in spanish!  I went to the cashier and asked where I could find "the things that play music in your ears" and she gave me the craziest look, until i pulled out my broken pair and she said, "Cascos!  In electronics on so and so aisle."  I have no idea what the root of cascos is, because I've never heard of that word or anything similar to it, but now I have something to add to my vocabulary.

#9: The Olive Oil Plant

On Monday, in Lleida, we went to a local olive oil pressing plant--the largest industry/company in town.  Borges, the name of the company, was very interesting.  Unfortunately I couldn't take pictures inside the factory for privacy purposes.

We drove into the parking lot and Julie and Genny got off the bus and presented identification.  We had two official guides from the plant take us around.  We went to a small conference room where we all had to put on lab coats and hairnets, just in case.  We saw the warehouse where the product is stored, then the vats  where the oil is held until use, and the bottling line.  All of the olive oil pressed at Borges is used for food purposes--no cosmetics--and most of it is sold commercially to restaurants and other food businesses.  A small portion of the oil is exported to the United States, under the brand names Star or Borges.  Most importantly, we all learned the differences in the types of olive oil by quality:  extra virgin, refinado, regular and a "crude" level (for which i've forgotten the name).

At the end of the tour, we all received a sample bottle of extra virgin olive oil and balsamic viniagrette to take back with us.

For lunch that day, my roommates and I went into town in Lleida and went to a local grocery store to buy food.  We each bought a baguette, split some meat and cheese, and each brought an individual snack.  I paid 3.37 euros total for a box of cookies, my cheese, a can of soda and my baguette, and it was quite filling!  We all felt so European.

The hotel in Lleida, which was also the city train station (in back)

The entrance to the Borges olive oil plant

Me in my factory gear, holding my olive oil

Our plant guides

Today is Saturday and I'm about to depart from Spain to Andorra.  I thought I'd have more time to catch up totally on the blog but I guess not!  I'll try to update from Andorra this weekend, if there's internet, and if not, then when we return to Barcelona next week.

#8: Welcome to Lleida!

Finally, I'm caught up on my blogging!  What a great start to this week.

Today we left Barcelona by bus and drove to Lleida, (yay-ee-da) which is at the far western end of the Catalonian region.  It's a very old town as well--possibly as early as 300BCE--with a lot of industrial-type locations.  We drove to the Monastery of Montserrat, which is located at the base(? was still very far from the valley floor) of the mountain Montserrat, which means "jagged mountain" in old Spanish.  The monastery was really more of a city with a cafeteria, a zipper train to take you up the mountain, a few funicular systems (those pods that ride on cables above the city) and most importantly, the cathedral.

We arrived around 11 this morning.  The drive was very scenic, but the road up there--two lanes, hundred foot drop-off and a big shaky bus--was, um, nerve-wracking to say the least.  Genny (one of my professors), her two kids I and M, Bethany and I hiked up Montserrat.  It. Was. Daunting.  For one thing, the paved path was very steep in some places.  The air really does get thinner at that elevation--your heart starts pumping faster to try to take in as much oxygen as possible to feed your muscles, which are climbing at a hard incline.  There's something called the tree line, which is basically a point where even trees stop growing and it's just bare rock until the top of the mountain.  Not even they can live in the thin air.  There are no bugs, no birds...  just the crunch of your shoes on the gravel and your own breathing.  People passed me coming up and going down, so you could hear them chattering for a ways, and then quiet again.  Very serene.

I didn't make it to the top of Montserrat.  I made it up about 900meters (roughly 2700 feet, or half a mile) in elevation... no clue how far in distance i hiked.  I had to stop and wait for the others to go up (which they didn't reach the top either, not enough time) and come back because the air was just so thin.  I could literally feel my sinuses contracting as i tried to take breaths.  It was like no matter how much air i sucked into my lungs, it just wasn't enough.  In hindsight, I did really well considering that I've never hiked before, or been at such a high elevation.  I was wearing a basic pair of mary jane shoes--fine for walking around town, but not suitable for hiking--and i didn't have any equipment like a walking stick or rappelling gear or anything.  Not to mention I was born and raised below sea level!  Someday, I'd like to go back and finish that hike, but with an easier pace and better shoes.  The pictures I have from the overlooks are gorgeous, but I bet the view from the top is spectacular.

Genny, the kids, Bethany and I powerwalked down the mountain to get back to the monastery in time to see the Boys' Choir perform with the rest of the class, but they were on vacation.  Instead, we went to Mass and then Bethany and I took a walking tour inside the cathedral to see La Moreneta, or the Black Virgin of Montserrat--the patroness of Catalonia.  We went through chambers in the church with other saints before reaching the Virgin's sanctuary at the top of the stairs.  She and the Christ Child were encased in a plastic box but her hand was sticking out so you could touch it.  The entire thing was a very beautiful, very impressive event, both because of the experience and the amazing ornate decorations in the church, dating from the 13th century.

After a quiz (what?! who gives quizzes on the vacation of a lifetime?  Centre College, that's who) and lunch, we headed back to the bus and drove to Lleida.  The city is nice but not nearly as cool (to me) as Barcelona.  There's no metro, just buses and I think they stop running at a certain time, so most of the time we'll walk.  The hotel is very awesome, very grand and beautiful--and in the back is the train station!  Luckily the trains are very quiet (they're electric--boogie woogie oogie!) and they don't disturb us at all.

A couple of students from Centre were/are exchange students at the Universidad de Lleida, so we met with them and one of them brought a local friend along to have a Q&A session.  After, we all went out for tapas (I had "tigres", which were mussels mixed into a stuffing-like batter and put back into the shells and fried potato circles covered in a red and white sauce) and some of the group went further into town to party, but a few of us returned to the hotel, which is where I am now.

I should explain some customs here, revolving around the Spanish and their leisure time.  First of all, there's a little thing called siesta--it's a 2-3 hour period each day where people go home for lunch, take naps and spend a little time with their families.  (Family is VERY big in Spain.)  For tourists, this makes things difficult if you want to go to a local store or a bank at 1pm, and the place is locked up until 3 or even 4pm.  On Fridays, many businesses take a half-day at siesta time and don't come back.  Next, the Spanish have to have an extended day to make up for siesta time.  Around 7 or 8 when most people get off work, they meet with friends or family and go to a tapas bar (not topless, thank you very much) for appetizer-like snacks and wine or drinks.  After tapas, then the group will go to a real restaurant for dinner, or back to someone's house to cook.  This means that most people have dinner around 9-11pm, so lunch (at siesta time!) is the most important meal of the day.  For young(er) people, after dinner you hop on the metro and go to a bar or discotheque.  Some of the clubs here don't open until 2am!  The nightlife is very vibrant and very much acceptable here.

So, that's that!  As usual, comments and questions go to the comments section--I know I haven't answered any of them personally but I have read them all and appreciate your messages!  I'm glad to be caught up because this week we'll be hotel hopping and I'll have to present on my topic as well, so in case I get backed up again there will be a lot to read and even more pictures to enjoy.

#7: Barcelona, Day 4

Yesterday, Saturday, we did Friday's itinerary.  We went to the Museu d'Historia de Catalunya (which was okay--mostly exhibits from the Roman era to modern day) to learn about Catalonia's history as as culture and province.  It wasn't the best museum I've been to, so I didn't take any pictures.

However, we did go to the Park Guell, which is an AMAZING place.  It was designed by Gaudí (the artist I talked about in my last entry) to honor his patron, Eusebi Guell.  The park uses a lot of art nouveau styles, barely any right angles, lots of curves and mosaics and incorporation of nature itself into the art.  It was AWESOME.  Bethany and I explored the entire park, including hiking up to the top of a (very small) mountain that gave an amazing overview to the city.  (Lots more pictures of course!)  We ended up on a different trail when descending, which got us turned around, but we found some people from the class and followed them back to the main trails around the park.  The architecture there is just as impressive as his work on the city buildings.  His art reminds you of something from a dream world... I wonder what Gaudí's dreams looked like?  Probably something more fantastic than any of us could possibly imagine.  Again, not much to say--just look at the pictures and you'll understand.  (Here's the link.)

#6: Barcelona, Day 3

On Friday we had a change of plans and did Saturday's itinerary schedule.  We went to La Sagrada Familia (the Sacred Family) church.  This church is...  my words can't do it justice.  It was started in 1882, and most of the work was done by Antoni Gaudí, a very famous Catalonian architect (we talk about him a lot during presentations and class sessions).  Sagrada Familia isn't finished yet, but hopefully by 2026 it will be complete.  The front facade is done in the gothic style, with thousands of carved figures outlining the doorway. The front is also textured to sort of look like coral, with lots of native species of animals as decoration as well.  That side faces east and represents Christ's birth.  The back is done in a choppy modern style (think Picasso but in sculpture) to look like skeletons--it represents the crucifixion.  At the top, there are currently 8 spires (18 total planned) that sort of pierce the skyline and give it a very distinctive look.

But the inside.  Once again, words fail me.  All I'll say is that the ceiling and columns are designed to look like a rainforest canopy, with tons of windows to let in light.  The windows in now will all be replaced with crystal stained glass--a few of these have been made as prototypes already.  It's absolutely breathtaking.  I don't even think pictures are enough--you should fly to Spain tomorrow and see it for yourself.  The best part is that despite the work going on in the church, it's still open for mass and weddings.  I'd love to get married there, someday.

The reason why the church isn't complete is because Gaudí died in 1926, but he handpicked architects and left complex plans behind to maintain progress.  He made elaborate 3D models, sketches and even a very unique model of little bags of sand tied to a chandelier-like frame.  The frame is actually supposed to be hung upside-down, in which case it shows the to-scale elevations of the church.  Unfortunately, the Spanish Civil War started in 1935, so many of his amazing plans were lost or destroyed.  Enough of Gaudí's ideas were relocated and restored so that the modern architects can still follow his plans, but it's been slow work.

We also went into the city and looked at a couple more of Gaudí's architectural works, like Casa Milà and Casa Batlló, both residences commissioned by wealthy families.  In the words of Josep:  "Gaudí is 60% Barcelona and Barcelona is 60% Gaudí.  Barcelona is the only city in Europe, only one in the world to have works by the famous artist Gaudí.  No other city can claim our beautiful buildings and our talented artist.  Barcelona is the top city for modern architecture, top top.  What a fabulous city."

That afternoon we walked back to Old Barcelona, which dates back 2000-odd years to the Roman conquest era.  It was so fascinating to walk down streets that two millenia ago, someone my age had also walked down on their way to work, or market.  We stopped to look at Palau de la Música Catalana but we didn't go in--that was a 12E visit.  After taking some pictures, we were free to leave and get lunch and head back to the hotel at our own leisure.

Good news, readership!  I've made a public photo album on Facebook that I will link to here whenever I have new pictures uploaded--right now I have the first 125 pics off the camera and into the album.  I figure I'll update one or two days at a time so it doesn't get too confusing.  I was going to use Photobucket, but the site took too long to load and the photos weren't of good quality for some reason.  Here's the link for Days 1 and 2:  http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2036446&id=59301832&l=7bbd42249c

#5: Barcelona, Day 2

Thursday was part of the epiphany holiday, so most places around town were closed.  We had breakfast at the hotel and then free time until 3:30.

We went to a tiny town called Cordoba de Llobregat (yo-bra-got) not far for Barcelona.  They are famous (and i use that term loosely) for their Pessebre Vivant, which is basically a Living Nativity pagaent.  Cordoba is over 1000 years old, and many of the people in the town have lived there for generations.  It's small and quaint--like the typical European towns you see in movies--so the streets are old and narrow.  So narrow, in fact, that the bus got stuck going up a hill--the driver dropped the clutch trying to back out of the tight spot, we all got off, and then watched Cordoba's only traffic jam occur from the 3 cars trying to go up the same street the bus was squeezing out of.

Josep (that's how you spell his name, apparently) showed us a famous cliff in the town.  It looked like long red fingers of rock reaching up to the sky.  The people of Cordoba lived in the cliffs in the rocks for hundreds of years, eventually carving their town out of the side of the cliff.   Their pageant had a little town built with legit houses just like the ones their ancestors lived in.  Part of the "town" was Bethlehem and part of it was Catalonia.  Pretty much every person in the town was in the Pessebre Vivant as an actor, a stagehand, or a guide.  There was someone to play the Holy Family, the archangels, the shepherds, the wise men... everyone.  What made it unique was that they also showed scenes of life in the Catalonian countryside--women weaving or cooking in the home, men herding sheep in the mountains or chopping wood for a fire--and they wove it into the nativity story.  According to the people of Cordoba, the shepherds that greeted Jesus were Catalans and they brought their sheep over to look at the new holy baby.  They even had a young lady dressed as a angel being launched off the top of the cliff--55 feet in the air!--announcing Christ's birth.  Of course I took lots of pictures.

The best part is that Josep told some of the residents that we were Americans interested in their culture.  After the Pessebre, they whisked us to a little building where we sat down and they answered all our questions.  Apparently, we were the first Americans to ever visit their town for the Nativity pageant.  Then they pulled out the Golden Book and asked us to sign it.  Basically, the town has a book that has been signed by famous celebrities, government officials, and now us--to be kept for future generations.  We signed just a few pages away from Salvador Dali!  What an honor.