Guided Tour Of The Sagrada Familia And BarcelonaAug 30, 2006
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| my friend eric and i are staying in a hostel which is located at a walking distance of la sagrada familia. today eric and i had a fantastic day! I got him up early, (i can not believe that he would rather sleep that explore barcelona--he is twenty four years old) meaning 8am, to be at the entrance of the sagrada familia early. they open the gates at 9am. we took the guided tour for 11 euroes and it was awesome. before the tour, i have to be honest the only thing that impressed me about the church was its sheer size but after listening to the lecture about how and why the church has been constructed this way, i am a convert. Antonio Gaudi stamp is everywhere in barcelona. i have a different apprecition of his work and of the genial thinking of this man now. he was an architect way ahead of his time who thought first on building differently making use of organic architecture. organic architecture meaning copyng nature and understanding that buildings have to be like nature, they have to have roots. only knowing this can you understand why the church design and construction is the way it is. also all four facades of the church tell a biblical story about the holy famly. well, i can go on and on about this church and Guadi and how everything in this church has been well thought out. i kept reapeting how amazingly excited i was to be here and my friend eric kept reminding me that i had already said how amazed i was. i just could get over this. the church construction keeps on going and i do not know if the church will ever be completed. the construction began in 1882 and there is not end in sight. they are working still the design left by Gaudi so till the end it will be this man's design. later we took a bus tour of the city in a double decker that covered the whole city in three routes: north, west and the beach or what catalans call the forum. We got off at "les rambles" were we took a lot of pictures. we pretty much saw the whole city by bus. we made a stop at one of the best restaurants in the city where according to a local they serve the best paella. eric and i decided to go all the way and ate at this wonderful restaurant and the paella was to die for. i also had a lobster consume and a glass of white wine. that is it for the fine dining for me in spain. the rest of the time i go across the street were we are staying and walk into the local supermarket where i can get wonderful bread for only .50 which is really all i need. my friend eric just loves mcdonalds and i just can not make myself it there. all in all it was an absolutely perfect day. the weather was perfect and seeing the city from the bus was a lot nicer than walking endlessly and sometimes without knowing were we are going. the metro system here is efficient and easy to understand. we bought a tram pass for four days so we pretty much can go wherever we want with this pass. it was amazing that we did not have a problem finding our way back home in a completely brand new place for both of us. on our way back we sat for a while in one of the benches facing la sagrada family waiting for the lights of the church to be turned on. it is an wonderful sight to see that humongous building lit up. i stroke a conversation with a local seventy year old man. that is one of the most wonderful things about being in spain, that i am again "finally in control." For those of us who truly know me you know how imporant it is for me to feel i am in control of situations. it has been so easy to find our way, enjoying this place due to the fact that i can speak the language and strike conversations with just about anyone. this morning we even stroke a conversation with a fifty year old italian man and got to practice my choppy italian. choppy and all, i do not want to forget the little that i have learned. we spoke of bush and bush's politics. he asked me if all americans like bush and if all americans support his policies. why he asked aren't americans stopping bush. the answer of course is: no not all americans agree with mr bush and the only think that can stop bush is the next election, after all we are a democratic country or the saying goes. well, all in all it has been a wonderful day, i will try to send pictures tomorrow. this internet site is on my way to the hostel and is one euro per hour. tomorrow i am going to upload all my pictures on a cd and upload some into this website for you guys to see. i have not been this pressure free in such a long time that even though i am tired of walking and i exhilarated with the fact that i no longer have test to study for, papers to write. i do not even have to juggle work, home and school work anymore. i feel so free and happy for a change. nothing that is worth anything in life comes easy. ciao amice and alla prossima volta! |
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