Barcelona

HOLA TODOS :)

I apologize for not visiting this blog over the past few weeks, but things have been kind of busy here.

This past weekend we went to Barcelona! It was awesome! Honestly, I didn't know what to expect. I wondered if I would like it because it's a big city, and well... I'm a country girl. :) But I had an awesome time. I saw many beautiful things, including the mountains, the ocean, Parque Güell, La Sagrada Familia, and a Barcelona Soccer game. We were only there for 2 nights and 1 1/2 days but it was well worth the 5 hour drive to get there. Here are some pics:

The view on the way to Barcelona. We had mountains on one side of the bus and the sea on the other.

Laura being her special self :) Greg's creepin' in the background.

Pandora.

el mar!

Our posh hotel room!

The port in Barcelona at night. This was a 15 min walk from our hotel.

Christopher Columbus' Monument. He's pointing towards the ocean.

Our posh bathroom in our posh hotel :)

A little silliness with the mirror that magnifies your face x 10

Laura, Grace, and Leah

Laura with the "swanky" hotel bar

The most delicious food I've had since I've been in Spain. We went to an all-you-can eat Italian buffet. Oh my gosh- real salad greens with real pizza and frozen chocolate yogurt. I felt so ministered to. I had forgotten how good other food is.

joy in a cup :)

View of Barcelona from a park that we visited on our bus tour

dancing with the locals...

Gaudí's House of Bones. It's called that because it appears to made of bones- stunning.

We saw lots of Gaudí's works while we were in Barce. These pics are from Parque Güell- a park that he designed. Some of it looks like candy land. So beautiful. :)

One of the many street performers: headless man.

I found a friend. I don't think he was very happy that I took his picture though...

funny sign. NO ONE picks up their dog's poop in Valencia.

Laura Jones, Diego, Mary Claire

My cute friend Stockton

The little boy to my right was so cute. He wanted to play in the fountain water so bad.

My trying to pick up a huge boulder that was cemented to the ground

weird tile canine fountain

Ms. Laura Jones

Ms. Ashley

After the parque, we visited the Sagrada Familia. This place absolutely floored me. Gaudí Started it in the late 1800's knowing he would not be able to complete it in his lifetime. He died in 1926 and the construction continued until 10 years later when the Spanish civil war began. Some of the original plans and models were destroyed during the war but have since been reconstructed. Construction of this temple was continued sometime in the 1940's, I believe and it is still under construction. It won't be finished for AT LEAST another 20-30 years. It is the most stunning building I've ever seen. Gaudí's detailed plans fascinate me. Each detail has a meaning. It has three sides with stories from Christ's life built into them. Only two of these sides are finished. The first is the nativity scene with a magnificently glorified sculpture of "la sagraga famila" (the sacred family- Joseph, Mary, and Jesus) surrounded by stories from the time that Jesus was born (like Herod killing the babies and the angels singing about Jesus' birth.) The other completed side tells the story of Jesus' Crucifixion. I loved this side. It's much more boxy and chiseled in appearance than the nativity story but I learned that Gaudí did this to make sure that the story didn't get lost in fancy details. He wanted the death of Jesus to be accurately portrayed. I love that. Although he did not oversee the building of the second side, he was still a part of the planning process and I think he did a beautiful job designing the sculptures to portray the emotions of the stories surrounding Jesus' death.

The inside of the building is meant to be like a "bosque" (forest.) Every column is built to be like a tree, with branches that reach to the ceiling. There are also stunning stained glass windows inside.

A view of the crucifixion facade

a model of the sanctuary, with the tree-like columns

scenes from the crucifixion

Stained glass inside the sanctuary

a distant view of the nativity facade

windows in the sanctuary, allowing sunshine to illuminate the "arboles" (trees.)

Tree colums in "el bosque"

a closer up view of "la sagrada familia" scene

View from one of the towers

Stained glass from outside

Me with a turtle at the base of one of the outdoor columns. :)

Later on that night, I was able to go to a Barcelona Soccer game!! I didn't know if I was going to be able to get tickets, but it turns out that my room mate Laura and I were able to find some for decent prices. They were playing Malaga (a less fortunate team) and so the tickets were cheaper (yay for us!) We had a great time. I have been surprised by how much I enjoy soccer games. I've never really been in the habit of watching sports, but I have discovered that I actually like going to games. Must be a Morgan thing. :) It was a good game. I don't think Barcelona played as well as they could have, but that's probably because they didn't have to. They were playing Malaga. They waited until the end to show off their skills, ending the game with a score of 2-1. No me importa- I had a great time.

This is their new stadium- it's the biggest in Spain.

Laura and I at the partido (game.)

okay.... there it is. A little (long) update for ya'll. :) I hope you enjoyed it!

Mucho love! I am enjoying Spain a lot, but I am still counting down the days until when I get to hug the necks of the people dearest to me.