Gaudi… Wow that’s so Gaudy (not sure if the two are actually related)

Tuesday February 22, Day 4

 We slept in this morning till 10 figuring that our bodies needed to recover. We then went and grabbed some stuff for a picnic at the market again – I told you that I loved the market. I tried another juice this time raspberry banana they are so delicious and refreshing. We then hopped on the metro to La Sagrada Familia. I really had no idea or concept of Gaudi architecture and therefore didn’t know what to expect. The cathedral is absolutely amazing and huge. People had recommended that we go inside, as the stain glass is incredibly beautiful. Unfortunately the line wrapped around two sides of the cathedral and we decided that we didn’t have time or want to wait to go inside. 

Sagrada Familia, Gaudi's most famous design, still under construction scheduled to be finished in 2026. Barcelona Spain.

 I originally thought that the cathedral was under major reconstruction / renovations. However I realized /earned later that the cathedral is still under construction and hasn’t been completed yet. Only 8 of the 18 towers are completed which is why there were 4 massive cranes. They are planning on completing the cathedral by 2026 (125 years after beginning). It was somewhat interesting – when you tour cathedrals, the Vatican they all took over a century to build but is weird to consider the intervening period while they were being building. It is cool when I consider that I am witnessing the construction of a landmark that tourists will probably visit for centuries.

Gaudi architecture can be a little bit over the top /over kill but it can also look magical and beautiful. We then went to Parc Guell, which was also designed by Gaudi. The park was originally designed / landed in the early 20^th century to be an exclusive community for the wealthy Barcelonans. However because of a financial crisis the park was never completed and was eventually purchased y the city as a large public park. 

Parc Guell, Gaudi Park over looking the city the perimeter is all covered in beautiful mosaics.

Caroline and Me in front of some of the beautiful mosaics in Parc Guell

One of the houses built in Parc Guell in the Gaudi Style - kind of looks like candy-land.

 The park is an interesting combination as the winding paths, stone bridges, tunnels, caves, mosaics are obviously designed and planned and yet they fit so well into the slopping hills of the park that in a strange way it actually works. Parc Guell sits onto of a steep hill on the western side of the city looking out towards the ocean. It is here that I absolutely feel in love with Gaudi architecture / style the colors and designs are whimsical and add cheerfulness to anything. I have decided that when I have a house some day I will decorate a small bathroom in the style.

By the time we finished shopping for postcards we realized (and by we I mean Megan remembered) that Parc Guel was actually the site of an America’s Next Top Model finale was located! 

Parc Guell Barcelona Spain, Site of an America's Next Top Model Finale.

 On our way back to the hostel we stopped at a restaurant and tried chocolate churros which are exactly like regular churros except that they are served with a type of thick hot chocolate that you dunk the churro into. They were delicious but I mean how can something friend with sugar dunked into chocolate be bad? As it was already late afternoon we went back to the hostel grabbed our bags and headed to the train station.

            After some confusion on whether or not we needed reservations (we did) we were on our way to Madrid. Spanish train stations are more like airports they are new and you even have to go through security and have identification checked. This is probably a result of the 2004 terrorist attack in Spain but I kind of agree with their logic. It takes a couple seconds to scan a passport and run it through the international programs (they then asked me for my residency papers) its not fool proof but its better than nothing. After going through security you go down to the tracks where you greeted by a very friendly man who checked your ticket for our seat assignment and will take you there. When he realized we were English speakers unlike the French who make you play charades he got the designated English speaking seat assigner finder who was very friendly, asked about our journey, where we were headed… such a more enjoyable way to travel. Once on the train there was a movie playing and they even gave us free headphones. We later learned from someone in Madrid that the high-speed train between Barcelona and Madrid is brand new and is the model for train travel in the future. However it is extremely expensive and the ticket are priced more like airline tickets 300 euro which basically means that this one train covered what I spent on my Euro rail. The train ride was an enjoyable nonstop and 3 hours later we arrived in Madrid at 20:45.

After checking into our hostel, which is nice but not, as nice as Barcelona we went out for dinner. We went to a restaurant that the guy at the hostel had recommended. We struggled with the menu and I reserved myself for picking something at random. When the waiter came back and we asked him a couple of questions, “what is in this” etc hi goes “you know that there is an English menu in the back” which subsequently made ordering drastically easier. 

Delicious restaurant in Madrid Spain and our great waiter who helped us find the English menu.

 I had (I think) some form of a traditional Spanish omelets, eggs, potatoes, ham and delicious sangria (with large chunks of fruit and ICE CUBES!!!) After dinner we went back to the hostel we figured that we would explore / go out tomorrow night when we had our bearing, it was also after 12:30 and w were exhausted after a whirlwind experience and 36 hours in Barcelona.