Toussaint

Barcelona (or Barcelonne to the French). Our trip was superb.

Our train left early Sunday morning, and we were coincidentally seated next to a DEFLE classmate of Stephanie's, who was also on her way to Spain with her sister and a friend. We stopped twice, once in Narbonne (still in France) and in Port Bou (in Spain). Port Bou looked like this:
We finally made it to Barcelona late Sunday night after about 10.5 hours of travel. We checked into the Alberguinn Youth Hostel, which was so clean and decorated like an Andy Warhol painting. (I later realized the the name "Alberguinn" is a clever play on words. Alberg means "inn" in Spanish. The "u" is necessary to preserve pronunciation.)

Monday morning we ate a free breakfast of toast and cereal at our hostel and made friends with Igor, the Brazilian who had been sitting opposite me on the train for the final leg of our journey. We had all assumed he was Spanish and hadn't conversed at all. He joined us for the day. We started out at La Rambla, the famous "Main Street" of Barcelona, where we saw street performers and birds for sale. We walked toward the water and ended up at the water, where we were able to take in the stunning spanish architecture and the harbor. The color palette of Barcelona is so warm, so different from Bordeaux! We went to the beach afterwards (it was about 75 degrees Fahrenheit, I think, and we were all a bit overdressed). There were so many topless women and bottomless men that I didn't feel scandalous taking off my shirt, pushing up my jeans, and wading in the water in my bra. Here is the area near the water and the beach:


We met a couple of American girls form our hostel for a lunch of paella and sangria near the cathedral before making our way to Parc Güell (designed by Gaudi). We were there as the sun set, with a breathtaking view of the entire city and the ocean. I never realized that Barcelona was such a huge city. The park is composed of gravel trails that cut through pine and palm trees. At the highest point, a lookout made of rock is topped by three stone crosses. As one descends to the lower parts of the park, really stunning mosaic tile takes center stage. We spent a long while in a couryard surrounded by one long mosaic bench. A grand staircase takes one down to the main entrance, where two gingerbread-esque buildings also have mosaic detailing. Here are some pictures from the park:



Ethan's here for a haircut. I'll finish this update later.