Spain Day 4

Day four started with a scenic ride on the train to Barcelona. First on the list of places to go was the Gaudi Mosaic Guell Park, but in order to get to it we had to conquer a very steep hill, comparable to ones found in San Francisco (maybe worse according to Allison). Halfway through our trek up the mountain, our tour guide Jan bought us ice cream, which we enjoyed while taking pictures of the view of Barcelona from the top of the mountain. We finally got to the park and were looking at the merchandise of the street peddlers, when the peddlers frantically starting stowing their merchandise because the “policia” showed up. After that incident, we got to view the unique and amazing architecture that the park contained. This included a wall made out of rocks that was designed to look like an ocean wave, sculptures and buildings that we heard a British man to describe to his a daughter as looking like “sugared candy”.

Then when we were going to our next location, we were about to get on the train when our tour guide rushed us back up the stairs because of a commotion going on. We soon found out that the police found a group of pick-pocketers in action and tasered them. This made us even more conscious of guarding our purses.

We finally made it to our next destination, the Familia Sagrada Cathedral. As we came up to ground level from the trains, we looked up to our left and saw a monumental structure. We thought nothing could beat the Monastery we saw yesterday, but we were in awe of this amazing structure. The cathedral is so intricate and detailed that construction was started on it in the late 1800’s and will not be finished for 50 more years. Unfortunately the line to get into the cathedral was three hours long, so we weren’t able to see the inside of it. We still were able to go all the way around it and take plenty of pictures in front of it though.

Next, we all split up and got to do some major shopping in downtown Barcelona. Team favorite stores included the Nike store, H&M, and a lot of tiny stores containing Barcelona souvenirs and trinkets. Thirty minutes before we had to meet up to leave, it started pouring down rain. One group of girls had the good fortune to be stuck in a gelato shop when the downpour started. The employees at the shop joked with us saying they would close the doors, turn up the music and have a dance party during the rain. They really did turn up the music and we threw up a couple of fist pumps in response.

Once we met up with the rest of team, we boarded on the train to head back to the hotel. It was an interesting ride to say the least. The train was packed full of people. Allison and John Neese had someone try to pickpocket them, both by the same person who was a suspicious looking middle-aged woman. We got off the train and hopped on a bus for the rest of the ride home. On the ride, a few of us had the opportunity to talk to a couple of college age students from France vacationing in Barcelona during their summer break. It was fascinating to hear about their culture and fun to share with them about ours.

Today was an amazing day. We can’t believe we have already been here for four days, but plan to make the next couple the best! We miss all of you at home!

Allison Ray, Kelsey Byars, Miranda Bersosa, and Becca Gault