More on Barcelona

I figured that I should give a little more information on my trip to Barcelona with Ilana and Courtney since I kind of brushed over it before. When we first arrived in Barcelona, we were able to find our hostel fairly easily. We realized that we were only about a five minute walk from Las Ramblas so we decided to walk over and get some food. On the way there, a homeless man flashed us!! Not the best way to start our weekend. The next day, we decided to go sightseeing. Two of my favorite places I went were Temple de la Sagrada Família and Parc Güell. The Temple has been a work in progress since 1882! It was amazing to see such an enormous place that generations of families had worked on. Most of the design for the church was done by Antoni Gaudí. There are very vibrant colors used for sculptures and mosaics. This is contrasted by very detailed concrete facades where the entrances to the temple are. One of my favorite features about the interior of the temple was the support columns were modeled after the sycamore trees outside of the temple. Small details like that make the temple an overall masterpiece. Another amazing spot in Barcelona was The Parc Güell. It was originally designed as a housing complex, but failed. It contains mosaics and buildings designed by Gaudí and was built between 1900-1914. The entire park sprawls across a mountaintop where you are able to see the whole city. There is a large stone monument at the peak of the mountain that you are able to climb to the top of (at your own risk!) to see the city. Everything at this park is beautiful and peaceful and the Gaudí element is obvious because the buildings made the place look like Candyland!