Touristy things

Hi everyone!

This blog post marks the official 2 week point of my trip so far. We have this next week in our orientation Spanish class (thank god, it's starting to get a bit boring) and then we start UB classes. So in these last few weeks, we've achieved a few touristy things.


1. Touring the inside of Gaudí's Sagrada Familia. It's pretty much the quintessential Barcelona tourist spot. But now I kind of understand why. The place is absolutely phenomenal. Pictures can't even begin to do it justice. But to try anyways:






^ Exterior, back side, meant to represent Jesus' death


> Interior, facing the "god light"

 

< Interior, just a small example of the amazing architecture (which is all, we learned, nature inspired. They had a small museum explaining the madness behind Gaudí's work, which was really fascinating. I never expected that architecture could be so inspiring or interesting. The man is really fascinating and intriguing)

> Exterior, what is considered as the front right now but what is actually one of the side wings. The intricate details are remarkable, and cover the entire facade. 

< Construction workers (they took pictures of us too...lolz) inside the building. They're saying that it's going to take another 10-15 years to finish the building. It's been under construction since the beginning of the 1900's, I think.

So, that was the Sagrada Familia. Kind of amazing. Afterwards we stopped at a super touristy café, where I had a super touristy dessert called gofre (essentially a tiny belgian waffle covered in hot chocolate sauce). It was actually probably one of the best things I've eaten here, haha.

2) The Chocolate Museum (Museu de la xocolata is the actual name of it, or at least I think that's how it's spelled. It's Catalán, so I'm not positive). It was cute; apparently chocolate has been a big import and business for Barcelona. Of course, I was like a 5 year old child in a candy store and had to take a picture of the sculptures made out of chocolate...which included Chicken Little, a globe, an Aztec temple, and Spongebob (who, I have found out, is on Spanish TV. His name is Bob Esponga. Love it.)

3) Hike and Calcotada: This morning, we hiked for about 2 hrs up one of the mountains in Barcelona (one side of Barca is a bunch of mountains, which are so beautiful). I've been sick, so forgive the unflatteringness of this picture. But the mountain overlooks Barcelona, which is absolutely gorgeous.

Once we finally got the top of the mountain, we went to this very typical Catalonian restaurant. They have this huge open fire grill, and they make calcotada (the second "c" is pronounced more as an "sh" sound) which are grilled leaks. They give you a bib, and you have to peal the grilled leaks and then eat them from over your head (i.e. have to lower them into your mouth in order to eat them). And they are super messy.

You can see on the table we also have a bizarre jug of wine. It's called a porrón, and it is extremely difficult to drink out of. You have to kind of hold it away from your mouth and tip it (TIP IT, KATHLEEN! -for all of the Kathy fans out there). The bibs helped a lot with drinking the wine, it was so difficult. Of course, all of the spaniards around us could do it just fine. Go figure.

In other news, my host mother has informed me that she is racist. And that is completely factual. I get a speech on her personal views of the world every night at dinner. It's like a political debate every night, except there's no other side. She's super sweet, but god it does get old. My teacher thought it was hysterical. She's very stereotypical Jewish mother.

And there's touristy things, part deux. Here's hoping that I get over the cold soon, and that Barca stops raining. Mucho amor, and miss you all so much! <3