Barcelona Part 2

Wednesday we traveled to Montserrat (meaning- serrated mountain), a side trip from Barcelona. Here we took a gondola up to a small town, where we saw the Catedral de la Virgin Negra. We also went on a beautiful hike up to a cross. The views at the top were incredible; looking out over the hills and mountains to the Mediterranean and the Pyrenees.  After this we took a metro back to the city of Barcelona. Tindall and I would agree that after a workout in the morning and a hike up a mountain, we were exhausted and ready for a siesta. However, we still had not seen Park Güell, another one of Gaudi’s projects. While most of the group went back to the hotel, Tindall, Madison, Katie, Connor, Anna, and I decided that we would just make a quick visit there to see what it’s all about. Well, little did we know that it would take over an hour to get there.  We think we took the wrong metro because we ended up having to walk a long ways and had to walk up a super steep street just to get to the entrance. This definitely challenged our navigational skills. Although it was like another hike, when we arrived, we were so glad we had decided to go. Park Güell is another representation of Gaudi’s incredible work and his influence on Spain. It was originally built to be a private garden neighborhood, but because it was so out of the ordinary, the government decided it would just be a park open to the public. There are houses (that kind of look like gingerbread houses) with colorful broken tiles, gardens, flowers, and structural design that looks like dripping sand castles. We took advantage of our time there, and on our way back, we stopped to get some ice cream and to buy a Spain soccer jersey. They knew we were Americans and tried to rip us off at first. Who knew that bargaining in Spanish could actually be kind of fun?

Now we are on our way to the great city of Madrid! We are stopping in Zaragoza on the way for lunch and to see the Basilica de Nuestra Señora del Pilar. El Pasoans reading this—this could be where we got the street name Zaragoza. We are excited for everything yet to come…We are in love with Spain.