First off, I just want to say: WOW, what a week.
Even though the week in Barcelona only had a couple of highlights, they were truly amazing!
On Monday, we just worked in studio and developed our project some more with a lot of diagrams. We are still trying to figure out exactly where we want to go so it isn't developing that quickly.
TUESDAY: This morning started off a little rocky. First we were all late to class because we got lost getting off the metro. Then, once we found our professor, we spent over an hour trying to find the place we needed to go for a tour. People kept telling us to go the wrong direction!
But after we finally figured out where we needed to go, we visited two really awesome sites. First was the Hospital Sant Pau. This complex was built in the early 1900s to replace Barcelona's old medieval hospital. It was one of the first in the world to used the idea of quarantine by having different diseases in different buildings and connecting them with tunnels underground. It is currently undergoing a major restoration to become a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The buildings were completely changed with emerging technologies in medicine, but since it stopped functioning as a hospital in 2009, it can all be taken out.
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| Main entrance Hospital Sant Pau |
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| Church for the Hospital (Side Entrance) |
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| Interior of Church |
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| Much of the ornament was carved out of stone like marble and quartz |
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| One of the medical wards |
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| View of some of the wards in the complex |
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| Orange Trees were grown throughout the complex to give off a good smell and promote a healthy/green environment |
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| Interior of the ward where the beds were |
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| Interior waiting room |
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| Back view of the main/reception building |
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| Stone and tile decoration covered every building |
After the tour of the hospital, we walked a few blocks the the Church of the Sagrada Familia (Holy Family), again designed by Antoni Gaudi. This had to be one of the most anticipated places that I wanted to visit in Barcelona. Did it live up to the expectations? Uh, I think it surpassed mine. The detail throughout the entire building is unmatched, the scale is huge, and it still isn't finished. Construction started in 1882 and is supposed to finish in 2026. Yes, that is almost 150 years! You might think that is a long time, but once you see it in person, you realize why it has taken so long. We actually came at a good time, because they had just finished the interior in November for the visit from the Pope.
While in the Sagrada Familia we had the chance to ride the elevator to the top of the Nativity Facade of the Church. When the church is finished it will have 3 facades: Nativity (birth), Passion (crucifixion), Glory (ressurection). The only one that hasn't been finished is the glory facade.
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| Walking up to the Sagrada Familia |
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| Closer view with the Nativity Facade on the left |
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| Close up view of the Nativity Facade (Birth). It was the only part of the church that was finished while Gaudi was alive. |
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| View of the Passion Facade (Crucifixion) |
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| Door of the Passion Facade |
So I had a lot more pictures of the Church but I didn't want to bore you haha. Can you believe that was only Tuesday of my week!?
The rest of the school week was pretty uneventful, so most of us were just counting down the days till Switzerland. When Thursday finally came around, we were so excited to go that we ran through the airport in Barcelona to get to our plane....ok, maybe it was because we were so late that we almost missed our plane...but either way, we made it!
The first day we went snowboarding and skiing. DON'T WORRY, as much as I wanted to I didn't take my nice camera that day. But, I did take my point and shoot and got a couple of awesome pictures on the slopes. (Sorry, no action shots).... :)
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| Hello Alps, and the beautiful views begin... |
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| About to board! |
The second day, we decided not to ski and instead go to Jungfraujoch, aka The Top of Europe. At almost 12,000 feet, it is home to the highest altitude train station in europe, an Ice Palace, and amazing views where you can see Germany, France, and Italy simultaneously.
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| At the top of the ski slopes about to take a train to go higher |
On the way up, the trian stopped twice so we could look out the windows to see the views. The first was out the Eigernorwald.
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| Viewing window |
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| So awesome! |
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| It was sunny, but definitely not warm...haha |
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| View of the Alps across Lake Geneva |
Well, I guess that is all...haha Sorry there were so many pictures, I just thought that everything I saw was so amazing. Sagrada Familia is definitely a church that you don't want to miss. The complex geometry and math that Gaudi did with a pen and paper, has to be done by computers today. Switzerland was so beautiful. The work of God was so evident in every piece of scenery that we saw. I definitely thought this plaque at the Top of Europe was fitting...
Anyway, this week in Barcelona we are going to see the German Pavilion by Meis Van der Rohe and on the weekend I think we are going to Valencia to a lot of Calatrava. :) I am excited to see both and to see what the next adventure might be!
Until next time...
Un abrazo,
Seth
Micah 6:8
So I started reading this post last week and just finished it today haha. The pictures are great... I'm still confused by the Gaudi church, I'm amazed that he designed it all himself. And I'm SUPER jealous that you got to ski (or snowboard, I guess) in Switzerland. Looks like you're still having an amazing time. Hope you're having a happy birthday wherever you may be this week! Chau y cuidate.
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