¡Gaudí!

Matt and I got up early the next day so that we could go back to the Parque de la Ciutadella (because I really wanted a picture of those sea turtles!), but it was cloudy and the turtles were gone. We walked around and tried to exit off of what looked to be a terraced exit, but we discovered that it was just a fenced part within the park. Walking around the fence, we found our way out. We walked back to La Boquería, which was bustling with activity. Inside the market, there was a stand selling just dried fruit! Row upon row of dried fruit, including dried bananas, apples, kiwis, apricots, plums, peaches, cherries ... everything and more! There were stands for chocolate, meat, pasta, salads, fresh fruit and vegetables, pizza, necklaces, jewellery, and fish. There was music and there were pickpockets - it was everything promised in all of those Visit Spain brochures.

We walked up to a prepared pasta stand, which had lots of pasta salads available. We chose a pasta salad with veggies and olives and some fish in it. I asked for a kilo, not sure how much that was. The woman frowned and asked, "Half a kilo?" I shook my head and said one. "One kilo?" Yes, we nodded. She started scooping into the perfect sized container, so we were happy. Then she picked one of the same and told us that she would split the kilo between the two containers! Okay! Just half, I said. Point five, I said, when she held her hand up to her ear. "Five kilos?!" she asked, flabbergasted. No, no! Half a kilo! Half! "Ahhh!" She wrapped the container she had packed and handed it to us. For a cool 6 euro, Matt and I had more food than we wanted. I bought some cut fresh fruit and we headed back to the hostel.

Sitting at the table in the kitchen was Ross! He was typing on his computer, so we sat and ate lunch, watching the Simpsons as we ate. All of the characters have similar voices when dubbed in Spanish, EXCEPT for Homer, who sounded high-pitched and nasal in Spanish! We had a good laugh, while looking up the directions to La Sagrada Familia. I stuffed myself with Spanish goodness and we left for La Sagrada Familia, which had its own metro stop (rightly so).

Once outside the station, I stood in awe of the great spires created by Gaudí's imagination. It was incredible. The outside looked as though it was crusted with seaweed, but a closer inspection revealed classical scenes and beautiful sculptures. The inside was bare because it was under construction, and the line to go up the spires was far too long for my tastes. Plus, I had just begun my Europe On a Budget scheme, in which I only brought 25 euros with me for the day, so a visit to the Sagrada Familia had already robbed me of over half my day's budget. Instead, we bought the combined ticket and ended up going to Park Guëll to see the Casa Museu Gaudí after La Sagrada Familia. There are no words, really, for La Sagrada Familia. You just have to see it.

We walked through the museum in the basement, taking pictures of the construction over the years, learning about the meaning of the Sudoku looking grids outside, and looking at Gaudí's death mask. After what may have been too little pictures on my part, we headed to Park Guëll.

Here's the thing about Park Guëll: my handbook said that we could get off the Metro at Lesseps or Vallarca, which is near the far north of Barcelona. We got off at the farther stop, thinking that we could make our way to the closer stop and take the Metro home from there. Once off at Vallarca, we walked basically back to Lesseps and walked uphill for a good 30 minutes. Most of it was covered by awesome outdoor escalators, which I think should be constructed in more areas around the world, but some of it was all in the gluteus maximus because we had to hoof it ourselves up the hill. It was all worth it at the top, though. The view was amazing. The spires of La Sagrada Familia dwarfed the whole city. A cool, um, liberal house was spotted from the top.

We walked down, having fun in the great tree-like columns of the walkways and the great pillars in the hollow rotunda. We took pictures, sat around, joked while tourists swarmed the lizard sculpture at the entrance to the park. We had worked our way from the back down, so we were seeing the major tourist sites last. I saw a woman dressed up as that stupid lizard taking pictures with people, so I asked Matt to take a picture with me. She sat a lizard head on my head and took a picture, after I paid her 2.50 euro, of course. After a photo blitz, we walked up to Casa Museu Gaudí, which was relatively subdued compared to the amazing, distinctive architecture that he created across the city. The house was small, but not without its eccentric touches, including a great wing-backed chair made of smooth wood and an interesting seating arrangement in the sitting room. I would have missed the sculpture in the ceiling at the top of the stairs if it weren't for Matt's sharp eye.

Then we walked all the way down the hill again and all the way to Casa Batlló, where the roof looks like sea glass and the balconies look like waves. It was too expensive to go inside and Sable had recommended that we not spend the money, so we contented ourselves to take photos like good little tourists and walk away. We walked all the way down the Paseig de Gracia, looking for the last house in the discordant trio, and Gaudí's first apartment building. I don't think we ever found it ... I mean, we were on the street, but I don't think the building we ended up taking pictures of was really the building we were looking for.

It didn't matter. We were hungry and beat. Along the Paseig, we found a tavern that was completely empty and quite cheap. Ross bought patatas bravas and I had the tortilla de patatas with tomato toast. Literally, that is fresh tomatoes smeared on toast! Matt had some kind of satisfying meat dish. Matt and I had a beer while Ross downed his traditional Sprite and we marvelled at how cheap the bill was! The man who served us was a little Chinese-looking man who was very friendly and in need of more customers. If I could, I would go back today.

From dinner, we walked to toward the Arc de Triomf, taking pictures of that and what could have been another Statue of Liberty ... then on to the Parque de la Ciutadella for the second time that day. We didn't mind because it was one of our favourite places in the city. We lazed around the great fountain, enjoying the warm, insect-free weather. A lady on a bike asked Ross for the time and he gave it in Spanish. Matt opened the map so that we could plan our tomorrow and a bird in the tree above pooped on it! We discarded the map and headed back to the hostel for a rest.

I wrote more postcards and slept for a bit. After a couple of hours, we went out to the same place we went for gelato last night, where Ross advised me that places without 'stuff' on their gelato were the cheapest. He's so sagely! We walked for a bit and called it a night.