Day #20 - The day of Gaudi

Another amazing day in Barcelona...so many fun things to talk about. :) We slept in a bit this morning, and then took the Metro to the Sagrada Familia (Sacred Family) church, which is this crazy ornate church designed by Gaudi. Gaudi was an architect from Barcelona who died in 1926, and his buildings are everywhere throughout the city. His style is just so unique and artistic, with lots of curves, mosaics, and fun shapes. His plans for the church were so high-reaching that the church still isn´t completed, and probably won´t be for another 50 years. After seeing all these massive cathedrals all over Europe, it was cool to see one still under construction and to realize just what a huge commitment building one is. The church had a spire to climb, of course, for yet another city view, and cool exhibits comparing Gaudi´s architectural elements to things found in nature, like trees, seashells, and ocean waves.

We didn´t get done at the Sagrada Familia until 3 or so, since the lines there had been sooo long. We were just starting to get hungry for lunch (we´ve adjusted nicely to the Spanish times), so we found a recommended restaurant from Rick Steves with a cheap menu del dia (menu of the day). Menus are definitely one of the fun things about Spain - you get 3 courses, of usually salad, meat, and dessert, plus bread and a drink for only €8-10. This place we went to was even more amazing because it was so popular with the locals - at 3:30 it was packed with a 20 minute wait! For our 3 courses we split everything in half so we could try a little bit of everything...we got peas and ham and a salad for the 1st course, steak and fries and pork and fries for the second course, and cake and creme caramel for dessert. It was so good...everything but the pork that is, which seemed like 90% fat and 10% meat. Maybe that´s how they like it here though...who knows.

Next we headed to Casa Mila, which is another building by Gaudi, but this time an apartment. We got to tour the cool rooftop, which has swirly designs that look like ice cream, and the attic, with special <> arches that he invented. (Fun fact of the day: << >> these are quotes in Spanish and German). There was also a tour of the insides of the apartments, as they would have looked 100 years ago. The whole museum was really fun because of all the interactive videos and the free audioguide...helped me appreciate Gaudí's genius that much more.

For our final Gaudi creation of the day, we walked a few blocks to the Block of Discord. It was called that because three different architects all built highly ornate houses on the same street - so it´s a total clash of styles. We didn´t go in, but I´d love to go back someday and see Casa Battlo from the inside.

By then it was 6 or so, so we headed back to the hostel and got some free dinner again. Tonight, it was tri-color pasta with tomatoes and peppers, and roast chicken. Again, awesome considering it was free! We also met more people tonight, this time 3 nice guys from Austrailia. I told them how I can never tell British and Austrailian accents apart, which they thought was funny. I did notice that they say "heaps and heaps" instead of the British "loads and loads", or the American "lots and lots". That´s all I´ve figured out for now...

We had fun hanging out tonight with the Austrailians. We also finally talked and got to know our our roommates tonight, which was good (we´re staying in a 6 person dorm). They're all from France and go to med school there, it was really interesting talking to them. It was a good night. :)