mill
structure over escalator
Barcelona Pavilion
Olympic Stadium
Radio Tower / Olympic Needle
walkway at look out
view from look out
building with tree in brick
building that is reflecting other building
Museum of Contemporary Art by Richard Meier
We met this morning at 6:55 a.m. for our departure for Spain. As we drove through the streets of Paris I saw everything from a different perspective. The city was still asleep. Where there would usually be hundreds of people or cars there were only a few. We drove by the Eiffel Tour, which never gets old, and the Arc de Triumph. At the airport we had some time to kill. Sitting with our bags and minding our own business is apparently not ok, because two creepers came and were talking in French, heck I don't even know French. I felt very uncomfortable and was grateful when the experience passed. Checking in and going through security went smoothly. Our plane didn't have assigned seats so I got to sit by the window, Benae, and Leslie. I have been so tired that the moment I sat down I began to fall asleep. I wanted to see Paris one last time before I left, but I only had a few glances when I would wake up. An hour and a bit later I awoke to find ocean outside my window. I was so excited! The flight was around and hour and forty-five minutes long. The Barcelona airport has a more contemporary feel to it, which I like. The moment we were off the plane we could feel the heat and humidity. Our tour guide William met us and took us out to meet the bus. I was so excited to feel warm weather, but that was soon to change.
Our tour started with just things out the window while we were on the bus. Already I could see that I was no longer in France. The buildings have some similar features like there is a lot of iron work for railings on buildings, but overall there is a different feel. The Spanish influence shines. There is a newly converted mall that was an old building used as a bull arena. They dug underneath it and put in a new steel foundation/floor so it could be used. We visited a mill done in the industrial art nouveau style. The white hole... with stairs has a spot where there is water that runs over the floor and at night there are lights that shine from the floor into the water. The modern glass and steel structure was built to protect the escalators when it rains so they don't get ruined. Next we visited a building I had learned about in school and hoped to see while in Barcelona. Barcelona pavilion was designed by Meis van der Rohe in the late 1920s I believe. It is very modern for its time. Next we stopped by the Olympic stadium. The outside was built around 1929 and was going to be used for those Olympics, but they never happened. So when Barcelona was going to hold the 1992 Olympics they renovated the inside, but kept the outside. This stadium is smaller than their futball stadium is. Also from this view point you can see the radio tower designed by Santiago Calatrava. Next we stopped at a lookout point where they had creative stone work. There were different shapes and sizes of stone used to create patterns. The view was amazing. You can see the shipping yards and ocean. There are these beautiful trees with yellow flowers on them. They provide nice shade.
Thankfully we stopped for a lunch break. We went to this place where you pick what you want like in a grocery store more or less. Each dish comes in a microwaveable container. So you buy your food and microwave it right there, and then enjoy. I had water, pesto bowtie pasta with pine nuts, and vanilla bean, macadamia nut gelato. Wow. The gelato was amazing!
Following lunch we went to this huge market. It is housed inside a building that at one point in time was being held together with large beams that would be put up as the building started collapsing. The roof is hexagons of various colors! Love it. In the market there is just food, but that is fine with me. There were meat shops and vegetable and fruit shops. At one of the fruit stands we stopped to get fruit juices. Wow. It was delicious. I got raspberry and it tasted like they juiced raspberries, none of that fake stuff. It was amazing.
Our tour guild liked to take us through all of these cool side streets to get to yet another amazing building. At one point we came upon a building that I could identify the architect. The building was white and was made of square panels and was very modern. That alone told me that Richard Meier was the architect. To get a little bit of culture exposure we watched these older people do a traditional dance. Our tour guide wore us out, but it was worth it. We ate and shopped until the stores closed at nine. To finish of a great day in Barcelona we got gelato. It was delicious! Once back to the hotel we all got checked in and settled in our new rooms that were awesome. Yay for Barcelona.
