Buenas tardes a todos!
The last you’d heard from us, we were just two tired little Americans hoping to rest up for another day of sightseeing in Barcelona. At 8:51 p.m. on Monday, I can safely report that Maddy and I are now two completely exhausted and adequately housed Americans (emphasis on exhausted, today was endless). Read on:
After our 8:30 a.m. wakeup call this morning followed by an interesting buffet breakfast (apparently hot dogs are breakfast buffet fare?), we had a long lecture about Gaudi, the modernist architect. We then began our tour, but prior to doing so, Maddy fell in love with the (attractive) hotel concierge, who offered to give us a lot of information about a bunch of discotecas in town, which we’re hoping to take advantage of rather soon. Apparently there’s a bar here called Dow Jones that works like the stock market in regards to supply and demand—the best time to order your drink is when it’s the cheapest price, but it’s always fluctuating, and there’s another bar called chupitas that serves only chupitas—shots. We’re itching to go out, so hopefully we can make our way to one of those a bit later.
Anyway, Gaudi! We walked around downtown Barcelona and admired a bunch of Gaudi’s work—we saw “La Manzana de la Discordia,” Gaudi’s self-designed apartment located next door to that of one of his rival architect’s, and we also saw an apartment building known as La Pedrera. Gaudi’s modernist style was initially scoffed at by younger architects who preferred sleeker designs, and they literally called his beautiful building a pile of stones, or “la pedrera”. I really admire Gaudi’s style. He has a way of making inorganic, cold materials like iron look organic and beautiful.
After La Pedrera we saw La Sagrada Familia, a cathedral that is probably known as Gaudi’s best work, though he only finished part of it in his lifetime. The city commissioned another architect to finish the building, though as our adorable tour guide Ricardo said, this other architect’s style is the very antithesis of Gaudi—hard, angular lines and figures. I much preferred Gaudi’s work on the cathedral, though the entire building is breathtaking.
After a real seafood lunch (Paella! Octopus! Croquettes!) on the shore, we visited Palau de la musica, a musical venue in modernist style in the city, and finished out the day with a trip to Park Guell, a park with untouched nature that sits atop the oldest part of the city. It was a long day, but the view overlooking the city made it all worth it.
Finally, Maddy and I found out who are host family is during a meeting with the housing director! We’re ecstatic—we’re living just outside the city in a house, not an apartment, which is generally rare. We’re living with a family—Tito Perez, the father; Visi Perez, the mother (and apparently an amazing cook); and Vita Perez, the university-attending daughter—and we have our own room and a basement and bathroom to ourselves. The family has a pool that we’re welcome to use as well as fast WiFi, an open kitchen, and the freedom to invite over our friends, according to one former student’s review. I’m just so excited to meet our family in the next week and move in and start classes. I’m dying for a routine that doesn’t involve translating Catalan menus for lunch and guarding my purse like a hawk whenever I walk down La Rambla.
It’s 9:30 and Maddy and I are starved for dinner, so I’m going to go, but we’ll post some pictures and another update again soon! Missing you just a little bit, America.
Two Syracuse Broads Abroad 