Jan. 20

Today was one of the longest days of my life.

I ended up going to bed last night around 10 because I was absolutely exhausted from that long day and all the excitement and walking – little did I know that that was nothing.

Today I got up at 9:30 had breakfast (which here is also bread) and left to go meet Sarah and Molly in Plaça de la Universitat. I gave myself an hour to get there by 11 because I knew that I wouldn’t go the fastest way because as well as I know the city, I just don’t know it that well. I ended up stopping to watch some kids play some organized soccer on a dirt field and then walked up to La Ronda no sé cual. Las rondas are the streets where the old walls to the city were, but today it was a hobby show of sorts. A radio station was there and the street was shut down, all so that a bunch of people could set up tables and trade wine bottle tops. Just the same as people in the US might have baseball card or coin collections saved in pages in binders, these people had bottle tops. It was really weird.

I wound up at the Plaça at 10:35 and sat and watched people walk around for 15 minutes until Sarah got there. We talked awhile about our first nights as we waited for Molly. Molly finally came at about 11:15 which was a little weird because she is never late. When we finally were able to cross the street to get to the Universitat where she was she told us that it wasn’t her fault. Sure Molly…But it really wasn’t her host mother heard where we were headed and sat down with her and had to highlight her map so that we’d be able to find our way all right (Although now that I think about it there was just a circle around Parc Güell). I wasn’t all that impressed by Parc Güell really.. I mean, there were a lot of really nice things and some really cool architecture, but as far as guide books saying that it is one of the most relaxing places on earth, I completely disagree. Have they ever been to Mohonk, have they been to Minnewaska, HOW ABOUT FISH CREEK?? I just don’t think they understand that relaxing in a park is about getting away, sitting down or laying in the grass, maybe paddling a canoe alone or with some friends. When the Parc is one of the main tourist attractions of the city, a stop on all the tour routes and a stop on the metro it is no longer relaxing. And what about all of the dirt where there should be grass?!?! I just don’t get it.

So we kept walking.

We went to La Sagrada Familia which is a church mostly designed by Gaudi the same who designed the park. It was nice, but also expensive. We paid 9 euro ($12) to go in but that also includes entry to the Gaudi museum in Güell sometime in the next month. It was really cool though because Molly was able to interpret a lot of the statues and the stations of the cross which were on the outside. I guess that’s what she gets for so many years of catholic school.

That was mostly it for the day, we walked back down to the city park which goes down to the water, sat for a bit and figured out tomorrow’s plans. Then dropped Sarah off at the Metro and continued on to Molly’s apartment. Dropped her off and took the Metro back home. By the time I got to the Metro, I had been walking for 9 hours with just a few short breaks in between in the parks and Sagrada Familia. Then worst of all, I got back to my street and could not for the life of me find my apartment, I walked from one end to the other back and forth from Restaurante de 7 Puertas, an apparently famous restaurant to Kevin Spacey’s 6 story face on a sign on the end of my building a bunch of times until I ran into Lluis my host father outside. Apparently, the entrance to my apartment is also the entrance to a small store by day, I kept looking at the stairs inside but knew they couldn’t be right..

I guess I was Wrong, it was very funny though when I told Lluis what happened.

New Word of the Day: Ampulla- blister