Oh Spain, why did we ever leave?

January 30, 2010
Day 2 in Barcelona. I left for the day with Beth & Sean and Jamie & Brian on a hop-on/hop-off sight-seeing bus. First stop: Gaudi's Casa Batllo.
Intended as a tribute to St. George, the patron saint of Catalonia, and his slaying of the mythical dragon, it displays skulls, bones, and scales.

You can see Gaudi's work is anything but "normal". He said, "Color in architecture must be intense, logical, and fertile."

He enlivened the facade with scalelike roof tiles (the dragon's back), multicolored mosaics, and stain-glassed windows.

The crew on the bus: (L-R) Sean, Brian, Jamie, and Beth

Apartment building in Barcelona--just thought it was good picture.

Trees, grass, parks, flowers...in the middle of the city streets.

A random park that reminded me of Salamanca where Evan and I studied. We had random parks around our neighborhoods and we spent lots of afternoons in them.

At the train station, there were probably 100 cabs lined up and this was the end of the line. Obviously these fellows know each other since they have a friendly card game going out of their trunk.

In the middle of a roundabout.

An art museum.

At the top of all those stairs with the girls.

The Olympic Village.

You cannot really see it but at the far end of this picture is the Mediterranean Sea. It was a perfect day!

Part of the Olympic Village--the swimming complex I believe.

The Olympic torch for the 1992 Olympics. Fun fact: The flame was lit by the last torch runner who shot an arrow to light it, but it was overshot on purpose and lit by other means but to the naked eye it looked like the arrow was the cause.

See? We walked around the entire village.

Track and Field arena. The United States sent 578 participants and ranked second in medal count with 37 gold, 34 silver, and 37 bronze.

Christopher Columbus statue.

Port of Barcelona.

Gaudi's most well-known accomplishment. The unfinished Sagrada Familia.

It has been funded by private donations and the entrance funds since Guadi died in 1926.

Evan and I went together in 2002 and spent hours walking around the twisting and turning untraditional church so I chose to stay outside this time.

Gaudi was hit by a trolley in July of 1926 after failing to look both ways before crossing the street. He died a few days later and is buried in the crypt of the Sagrada Familia. One day when it is all finished, we will return again.

That night we met up with the rest of the group and went to a Cuban restaurant. Yummo! Sunday morning I went to the aquarium with Shannon, Jesse, and Mikayla. Here is Mikayla on a sea turtle! She had a lot of fun!