farewell barcelona

The pattern on the seats in Park Guell.

After a bit of a late night last night, and a snorer in our room that really takes the crown, I decided to take it easy this morning. Shirly told me that one guy in our room actually got up and tried to shake the snorer, and they were throwing things at him, but nothing work. He slept like a log...the only one in the room to do so.
I bumped into Alex as I was about to go to Park Guell, so he joined me. Park Guell was to be a residential estate built by Gaudi, however it failed miserably. He only built a couple of communal buildings and three houses (for himself, Guell and their lawyer) before the project was scrapped because of lack of interest. Apparently it was just too modern, and too far from town, at the time. A few years later the council decided to turn the area into a public park. It's now a UNESCO World Heritage Area. From the metro station it's a bit of a hike, but well worth it. The views over the city are great. It isn't a really built up city, not a lot of sky scrapers etc. But it covers a lot of ground. From here we can really see how unfinished the Sagrada Familia is.

There are eight towers missing from the Sagrada Familia.

The park is quite incredible. My mind still boggles at Gaudi's creativity and vision. Although one look at the buildings there and I have to wonder what he was smoking. I have nicknamed them Gaudi's gingerbread houses.

Aside from the Sagrada Familia, this is the place I have seen the most tourists. There are also a lot of street sellers - scarves, magnets, earings etc all laid out on a blanket, ready to fold up and carry away when they are told to move on.

We spend an hour and a bit there before deciding to walk around the neighbouring suburb in the direction of the metro. Alex decides to keep going while I head back to the hostel. Another new friend farewelled. He's been working in southern Spain for the past month and is on his way to meet a friend in Italy. He's been accepted into the Peace Corp, which he'll go to when he gets back to the States.

Back at the hostel I make some lunch and charge my computer. Shirly returns from her adventures so we hang out a bit before I go to the station. Alex (who speak Spanish) helped me buy my ticket earlier. Shirly is in Barcelona for a few more days before she goes to a delegation for two weeks in France. It's for international students who speak French. Her mother is French so she speaks it, but wants to improve her reading and writing. She's then off to hike in the Alps for two weeks. It's been really interesting talking to her about Israel. I didn't know anything about the country except for what I'd seen on the news. When Israeli teens finish school they all have to join the army. Two years for girls, three for boys. I asked her what she thought of having to do that and her response was 'it's just what you do'. She said bombs were common, but since you never knew when it might happen, she doesn't worry about them too much.

I make it to the station with plenty of time to spare and safely get on my train to Cerebere. To avoid catching the really expensive overnight train hotels, I'm catching a regional train to Cerebere (on the Coast just inside the French border) and will then get on a night train to Paris. This worked out a lot cheaper than catching a night train from Barcelona. Cerebere is, in a word, a dump. I'm almost too afraid to sit down for fear of catching some life-ending disease. Luckily, I'm only there for an hour. Unlike two English boys whose train has been delayed and will now have to find a place to spend the night.

I have my sleeping carriage to myself for a good while so I hop in my pjs and get into bed. There were no second class sleepers or seats left so I'm in a first class sleeper. It's the most comfortable bed I've had for a while. I write some postcards and call it a night.

Climbing one of Gaudi's 'cliffs' in Park Guell.