Espania!!

June 24, 2010

Well, it's official. We've docked in Espania! It is absolutely beautiful. I have to say we're all very excited to be on solid land now after about a week at sea for the students and practically two-weeks at sea for the staff (minus a short stint in Halifax, Canada to pick-up the students). Also, very few people can say that they're traveling in Spain for their birthday. Not too shabby. Now, how will any other birthday top this?!

Barcelona is a city that is just filled with color and excitement at every corner. Gaudi's influence and art is seen all-over. It's so interesting. At first, when I saw Gaudi's art, I thought it was chaotic and didn't make much sense. Now that I've seen the art in person, I realize just how much of a genius he was. The salamander to the left is one of his most famous pieces found in Park Guell.

There are also churches around every corner in Spain. We were walking around Barcelona, getting lost in all the small side streets, and we came upon the Barcelona Cathedral. It was absolutely breathtaking! You can just see the amazing details of every part of this building. It's situated in a very cute square, with lots of different shops and eateries. Definitely checkout my Picasa folders for more pictures. Absolutely beautiful!!

Next, we made our way to another of Gaudi's famous pieces of work, and probably his most famous, La Sagrada Familia. It could possibly be deemed the most famous cathedral in the world. Gaudi began working on the cathedral in 1883 and died before the project was completed. It is still under construction and isn't expected to be completed until sometime between 2017-2026! Unfortunately, we got there during their siesta time, so it was closed. Note: if you're going to Barcelona, remember that things close from 2-5ish on most days (except Sunday when most things are closed all-day). Thankfully I was able to go another day, so you'll have to wait for that update. But I'll leave you with one of the pictures I took from the gates. :)

One of the best parts of Barcelona is "Siesta". I love how they take breaks during the day to rest, go share a meal with family, and then they go back to work. For me it's the best time for a nice nap, because Barcelona has their meals really late in the day and also doesn't go to sleep until very late at night or early in the morning (depending on how you look at it). The clubs do not start getting busy until about 2am, and do not close until about 8am. If you know me, you know much of a clubber I am. Needless-to-say, I was in my cozy bed by 1am.

However, I would do my first night in Barcelona an injustice if I didn't speak about the yummy tapas that I had with friends. I went out with some staff and faculty out onto Las Ramblas, the major walk path (and tourist-trap) and had tapas and drinks at a place called Amaya. The tapas were very good. They came out on these lazy-susan contraption. It was quite tasty! We had tapas at around 7pm, which is meant to be a snack with dinner being served around 10-11pm. The meal times is something that'll take me a while to adjust to...but as long as the tapas are flowing, I think I'll enjoy the training! ;)