Day 5: Barcelona, Spain

Day 5 (July 4, 2004) Barcelona, Spain

We woke up in Barcelona, Spain on the train. Wake up time was early so that we could make the 7:00 a.m. breakfast time. It was in the dining car and it was a traditional continental breakfast. We packed up and arrived at Barcelona around 8:30 a.m.

	A view of Barcelona

We got on a bus and began a three hour plus bus tour of Barcelona. We noted that Barcelona is famous for its modernist architecture. Some of the buildings were designed oddly. Examples include a place was built like a castle and a store that had a wavy front. We also saw some of Barcelona's most famous son, Antonin Gaudi, works. We saw the Sagrada Famalia, the church that Gaudi was building. It is a work in progress and still could be going 20-50 years from now. Its funding is defined by people who give money for forgiveness of their sins. That can be the only reason money can be given for building the church. 

The gang at the Sagrada Familia

We also saw some other architecture in a section of town Gaudi and someone else bought. They created this suburb with the hopes of selling plots to everyone to buy. They were not successful because the culture here is that everyone wanted to live in the city, not the outside. I guess Barcelona is very social, where there is partying late at night.

Jessica Newell, Meggan Wiles, Mike Lamphere, Lauren Simpson, and Adam Tarrant in Barcelona

Kayla Sherwood and Ali Nink by the statue of Christopher Columbus in Barcelona

We went back to our hotel, the Catalina Suite, and got our stuff in our rooms. The rooms were very spacious and nice. Some of the kids wanted to eat right away and found some food in a nearby restaurant.

At about 3:00 p.m., fifteen of us went downtown via subway to the area of the Sagrada Familia. We had some helpful people on the subway, but discovered we did not buy enough tickets. We were taught how to do it correctly (you can buy on ticket and use it 10 times for an hour or so) and decided to walk to the area. It was a long walk and very warm. We found the area and shopped for an hour and a half. Satisfied, we took the subway back and had some misadventures. It was fun watching the kids figure out where to go and figure out how to use the subway chart. They also received help the the natives in Spanish. I did not do much other than follow, as I still had to fight my urge to speak french.

We got back in time for our 7:00 supper, which was a buffet featuring chicken, salad, and pasta. It was very good. It was getting late once everyone settled down after the meal. Some of the adults went out to explore and I played a game with most of the students and a few parents. It was the one where everyone wrote a name on a piece of paper and people had to guess the name. If the person's name was guessed, they joined the guesser's team. Meggan Wiles won twice.