Unfortunately Juan could only stay Friday evening and Saturday. So we said our good byes and it was back to work for Juan. Thanks for everything Juan and I'm sure I will see you in the states.
So I booked the hostel one more night and headed off to finally see the sagrada familia with the room mates from Brazil. We purchased the tickets online to prevent any lines.
When we got there the church was just as breath taking as it was at night. I've already seen a few churches at this point but the Segradia Familia is like no other church I've seen. It has a very Gothic feel on the opposite side of the entrance, a modern feel by the entrance, and a forest feel on the inside. But it is not just the looks of this church that are interesting and different.
Unlike other churches the Segradia Familia was not just planned out, built, and finished. Its actually far from that. The Segrada Familia began construction in 1882 and has Gaudi's signature work all over it. Gaudi was 30 when he was employed for the project. At about 1910 the generous donations slowed significantly and construction speed on the church decreased significantly as well. To keep things moving, Gaudi moved his shop on-site so he could work next to his great masterpiece. 16 years later Gaudi died right outside the church by a brutal death by tram. It is said that Gaudi liked to dress very casual and looked almost as if he was poor. And in 1926 he was hit by a tram and supposedly everyone thought he was a homeless bum and decided to just leave him there. It was not till after his death that everyone realized that the famous Antoni Gaudi had passed away. After his death everything went downhill for the church. Construction was stopped all together and civil war broke out followed by people raiding Gaudi's tomb in 1936. All the plaster molds were smashed, documents destroyed, and his shop was set on fire :'( Construction had continued based on reconstructed models and has definitely took a turn from Gaudi's original vision. It is planned to be completed in 2036 and if projects are anything like they are in the united states, I'm sure it will take longer.
After visiting the sagrada familia we headed to the castle of Montjuic. In Catalan, montjuic means " mountain of the jews" after the old cemetery that used to be there. The castle was not anything to write home to your mom about but the panoramic views of the city and the ocean definitely were.
On a side note, I'm heading to Interlaken Switzerland from Florence Italy on a train and completely forgot to validate my ticket. Whoooops. There is a nice 40 euro charge that goes with that.
After we visited the castle we headed back to the hostel for a nice cat nap. And oh yeah, I'm on the regional train to Interlaken now and I didn't have to pay the fine. I was talking to an older gentlemen who could only speak Italian about where I was going and what I graduated with and so on and so forth. Its nice that Italian and Spanish are so close. Anyways, he talked to the ticket guy and said something about me being an american and the ticket guy said it won't be a problem just next time!
So after we all took a cat nap, we went outside to figure out where to go that night. After talking with a local girl she recommended a nice salsa dancing place. We all looked at each other and decided to go for it. So the three of us and the local girl set off to go salsa dancing. The place was very small and not that crowded but had a great vibe to it. Not to flatter myself but I am a pretty good dancer and can pop lock and drop it when some Usher or Michael Jackson comes on. When it came to salsa dancing it was back to the basics for me. The music was a mix of both salsa and some type of funky jazz. I must have been either looking good in my button down shirt or looking like I had two left feet and needed some help. I think it might have been a little more of the second choice but what ever the reason was a girl came over and took both my hands and started showing me the basic steps and where to put my hips. I might have been the most sober person there but by the end I was having a blast.
. . . .This is soooo rough. I usually just type up my blog on the train from place to place but that is not possible in Switzerland. I'm on the regional train and there are snowy mountains everywhere. I am moving from one side of the train to the other looking out the windows. I think the locals are looking at me like I'm crazy but I'm sure they get this a lot hahaha. I am sooooooo sooooo anxious to get to my hostel. Whoooop. Whoop.
So back to finishing up the day back in Barcelona almost a week ago . . . quickly. I later walked the girl back to her hostel and dropped her off, weird piercings, may or may not have had the police called on me, strange hookers on Las Ramblas street, beautiful solo walk on the beach at 7am watching the sunset, late night/early morning snack at the hostel ( all you can eat all day everyday remember :-) , and then off to bed.
(I love taking pictures of everyone else taking pictures. I get some funny looks and it really cracks me up for some reason)
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