Backing up to March 14, I managed to submit my final college application (yes!!! *crosses fingers*); shoved about 10 pounds of snacks into a backpack; experienced problems with a delayed métro; met with travel buddies at Port Maillot; waited an hour for a bus shuttle to drag us out to Beauvais (which should NOT be advertised as Paris, as it is in the middle of NOWHERE...it is also essentially one giant parking lot where they launch planes from); found out Ryan Air is equivalent to a flying crazy Megabus/party bus full of crying babies, children on the loose, and rowdy drunk 40 year old men having a bachelor party (in the row behind us, wahoo); Ryan Air is also the airlines known not for its exceptional service, but being completely average. Their redeeming quality is they are cheap and they try their hardest to be on time. When they do arrive on time, they play a little cheer over the speakers and everyone shouts "olé!" regardless of which country they land in (I thought it was just Spain, but no, it's everywhere). It's also an Irish company, so I was thrown off by the fact that everyone was speaking English and I was understanding nothing. Their menu also amused me, with their 5 euro hot dogs, squeeze soup, bowls of milk and cereal, boxes of chips, and odd ratatouille combinations.
Upon arrival, we immediately got lost. We took a bus and the metro in search of our hostel. Being immersed in complicated Spanish (Catalan) and unfamiliar surroundings was slightly jarring, but it made me realize how comfortable I've become in Paris and with the French language. Traveling to Spain also forced me to brush up on my Spanish skills, as one of the few who could limitedly communicate in our group. I'm estimating, but I think I'm 70% literate in French and maybe hovering around 35% in Spanish. Maybe more will come back when I go home. After confusing a waiter who asked about where we were traveling from (different parts of California, Pennsylvania, and Florida, but also New York and Paris?) he easily shifted from Spanish to French to English. I need these magical language chameleon skills that everyone here seems to possess.
Barcelona has a much different feeling to it than Paris despite seemingly large French influences (parallels to the Champs Élysées, Arc de Triumph, Montmartre, opera house). Barcelona seems to be the Las Vegas of Europe. We encountered more drunk people than you'd ever seen in Paris, where public drunkenness is illegal. There were a lot of bachelor parties going on.
We appreciated the fun colors and crazy architecture of Barcelona. It was such a change from Paris's even yellow houses, gray cobblestones, and perfectly square trees. Haussmann would probably freak out if he saw the wild buildings, especially the Block of Discord.
This is what happens when the wealthiest people of Barcelona decided to try to out-do each other by hiring different architects and holding insane competitions.
This is basically Willy Wonka's house. If you look more closely at the details, there are bunnies stirring pots of chocolate and monkeys gathering cocoa beans.
I don't understand how anyone let Gaudí build anything either. He's a crazy genius, but he seemed to enjoy messing with people and starting impossible projects. In the building above, Gaudí nearly got the commission taken away from him because he would not concede to add a piano room, the single request by the family who asked him to build their house. In the end, there was a piano room, but it was exactly the shape of the grand piano. Gaudí then bought the piano from them.
Gaudí also designed this complex pattern to be chiseled by hand into all the tiles along the main road when the king decided to visit Barcelona. Obviously it was impossible to finish in time, so they built a red brick Arc de Trompf to distract the king from the dirt road that he had to travel down. Eventually, the tile pattern was finished. Gaudí based it on the golden ratio and God. Everything was this complicated with him, it seems. He's awesome.
He also designed and began construction on the incredibly detailed Sagrada Familia Cathedral. However, he calculated that it would take 700 years to finish. As you can see, it's still under construction. Gaudí's plans were also lost, so they've hired someone else to finish the backside of the church. He changed up the style completely, so the front looks like a drip sandcastle and the back sharply contrasts with its harsh cubist style and fruit turrets.
We had dinner outside. These pictures do not accurately capture the insanity of that first day of travel.
The hostel was funky and eclectic
Day two of the trip went much better than the first. We hiked up mountains (i.e. rode escalators between boulders) to get to Parc Güell, containing more of Gaudí's mosaics and architecture.
Had some fun with panorama shots
With the sun and the palm trees, it felt like I was back in Miami.
Britto merchandise was even on sale in the gift shops
Yes, these are eyeballs!
This weekend trip was fun, and now I'm even more eager for spring break to get here!
