Spain part 2

DAY 5: Not a very exciting day. We took a train to Barcelona that night, and it rained pretty steadily most of the day. Dad and I went to a bookstore to get books to read....I had bought New Moon (the second in the Twilight series) the day prior, but was up all night and read the whole thing! I am so addicted to that silly series! We spent the rest of the day at the bus stop, reading and hanging out. I tried to do lunges up and down the halls while we were there for a little exercise :) Then we took our 6 hr bus ride to Barcelona and got in aroudn midnight. Was still feeling pretty sick. Blah.

DAY 6: I am soooo in LOVE with Barcelona! Our first day here we spent in the Gothic District where our hostel (Hostal Fontanella) is located. We went and visted some interesting government buildings, and then went to the music hall (Palau de la Musica Catalana), which was constructed over a century ago. It has the most amazing and ornate stained glass and tile work. It was simply beautiful. We went back later that night for a guitar concert by Xavier Coll. He was very good, but the most incredible part came at the end (second encore) when his 10 yr old daughter came out and played the cello. She was sensational!! During the day, after the music hall, we vistied the cathedral of Barcelona, which was built in the 13th century. It was very beautiful and reminded me of the cathedrals I had visited in France. We then visited the history museum (Museu d´ Historia de Barcelona), which was fascinating. Under the museum are the remains of Barcino, the original Roman city. Finally, that night (prior to the concert) we went to the Rambla, a very busy street with a large central pedestrian area and trees lining both sides of the street. It runs from the central area of the city down to the waterfront (which we will visit today). The street was full of booths selling flowers, birds and food, and street performers were located about every 20 feet. I would NOT recommend getting food at one of the central booths though, especially if it says its a ¨special.¨It will end up being quite expensive and NOT good. I think it is targeted at silly tourists (like us) who don´t know any better :)

DAY 7: We toured more of Barcelona, especially the areas considered the City of Gaudi. Gaudi was an amazing architect, so for anyone who is not familiar with his work, I highly suggest Google searching him! Although nothing really compares to seeing everything in person. First we went to Casa Batllo, one of two homes I toured that Gaudi had constructed for families on request. The house reminded me of a strange hobbit house, but much bigger and with more light. Every room was strangley rounded and curved in different directions, from the walls to the doors to the ceiling in Modernist style. The roof had odd shaped chimneys and looked like some sort of scaled creature, like a dragon. There is a fabulous courtyard with tiles that become more blue as they reach the sky and an amazing use of light! I also went to Casa Mila (also known as La Pedera). The entire building was rounded around a corner block in what looked like waves. The roof was the most amazing part because it had a variable surface (almost looked like a maze of stairs) and sculptural chimneys which were spiral, pointed, etc..all in an abstract style. I cannot even explain how amazing it is unless someone is there themselves. Finally went to the Temple of the Sagrada Familia, which is shaped like a giant cross. It is a cathedral that Gaudi spent 40 yrs working on until his death. Much of it was destroyed during the Spanish Civil War and is still under construction to this day. It was difficult to see b/c of the construction, but the inside was amazing and looks like giant trees. Got amazing food yesterday: fresh orange juice and croissant for breakfast, mussels and olives for lunch, and tapas for dinner, with tomato/basil salad, vinegar octopus, and chocolate ¨sin¨dessert, with orange and lemon sauce. Mmmmmm.... I haven´t gotten any runs in, but have walked around many hrs per day and walked a TON of stairs, so hopefully that counts for something as far as workout is concerned! Today is Day 8 (will write about it later, still morning), and we are off to Seville tomorrow!