Good Gaudi!

the view from the steeple

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Well after a harrowing flight we arrived in Spain!  We couldn´t check into our hotel for another 4 hours so we slept in the baggage claim for a few hours, grabbed some breakfast and jumped on the train.  We found our hotel, handed off our laundry and went to bed.  We slept all day long.  In the evening we went out and celebrated ´Three Kings´by eating bocadillos (spanish sandwiches stuffed with tortilla de patata - potato and egg caserole)  We wandered around our fancy pants neighborhood and caught a glimpse of the big parade. 

The next day we strolled around the main plaza and then walked to the Picasso museum.  I, Shannon, am a huge Picasso fan and would you believe that the only thing in the whole world that I am deathly afraid of is...clowns (Jeff D can attest to this..Vegas parking garage...clown...shannon under a car...enough said).  Guess what the special Picasso exhibit was?  Picasso and the Carnival!  I had no idea that man loved him some clowns!  It was exciting to see so many of his works and drawings and ceramics.  I only ran away from 2 pieces...scary clowns are the worst.  The building that the museum is housed in is spectacular and was worth the trip in and of itself.  We grabbed some delicious Italian food and headed home.

carrie, shannon and jesus christ

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The great thing about Spain is how slow everything moves...so the next day we were like Spanish snails...slugging around town, having a beer at a street cafe, walked the boardwalk at the Olympic village-port.  Then, we went to see the movie Dejavu with Denzel Washington...great movie we give it two thumbs up. 

Today, we bought some books and a dictionary because I can´t remember how to say fork.  Then, we headed to the Gaudi church, Sagrada Familia.  This church is amazing and far from complete although much progress has been made in the past few years.  It was Gaudi´s masterpiece, he worked on it for 40 years and died while working on it and hence is interred in it.  The first brick was laid in 1882 and it is still very much a work in progress but they now have a museum opened and you can now go inside the church and see the work, as well as, ride the elevator up the steaples and have a look around.  All of the work is done based on donations and volunteer labor who are committed to Gaudi´s mission.  It is stunning. 

carrie and the asian tour group enjoying the view

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We finished off our day with some damn good Mexican food, which we haven´t had since China.  We got some snacks for the journey that lay ahead...tomorrow we head by bus to Madrid since we can´t afford the train.  DAMN this place is expensive since they jumped on the Euro bandwagon.  One Euro is worth 1.36 dollars...grr...Tony Blair.   We plan to do more sightseeing in Barcelona on our return.  We spent these past few days soaking up the Spanishness of it all and enjoying the fact that crossing the street is oh so easy!