European Vacation: Day 4

It has rained twice since we've been here, which is very uncommon from what we hear. It never lasts more than an hour or two and is very warm, so I don't mind. It cools things off- it's only been in the high 70's since the first day. Perfect weather.

Today we started off at the Picasso museum. The line was very long, and winded down very narrow streets. The streets were very picturesque and I took a lot of photos. The museum was great: it told about the history and showed a lot of his early work which included some very detailed drawings.

One of the many winding streets we took to the Picasso Museum

We then bussed (or Metro'd) over to La Sagrida Familia, which is too intricate and incredible to accurately describe. This building has been under construction since 1882, and will continue until at least 2026. The archways over the two non-main entrances are nearly complete and the construction on the main entrance is just begun. The construction has lasted so long that renovations and updates are happening alongside construction. Another four towers have yet to be built, which will double the height of the building, and the majority of the infrastructure of the interior is complete, but even the floor is not complete yet. The building is so enormous that it could fit another church completely inside its main room.

One of the entrances, and the oldest part, of the church - this one depicting Jesus' birth

Once Gaudi died, other architects took up the project of completing the church. This entrance depicts Jesus' death.

Inside the church - still under construction, but very beautiful.

Even the ceiling of the main sanctuary is intricate

We then went to Park Guell, which is located on top of a hill. Earlier in the week, while at the beach, Krysti and I joked about climbing said hill and taking photos of what we only assumed would be a fantastic view of the city. Well, fast forward two days and we did just that. The park is laid out with a lot of trees, in which parrots perch and sing, and the multiple paths lead from coves of benches amongst palm trees and cacti to rocky stairways and winding paths that lead up the hill. At the top of the hill, there are many benches, tables and chairs on which to rest along with the most beautiful view of the city. Krysti and I sat up there for a long time and just discussed our lives and the wonders of our visit and nature itself. We joked that if we climbed to the top of the hill there should be someone to shake our hand, so we giggled and shook hands once we reached the apex of the climb only to turn around to see there was another small hill behind us. We didn't climb the last part (it looked to be on private property), but we still bore witness to a very exquisite view of the city.

The entrance to Park Guell - designed by Gaudi, who was well known for using this mosaic approach

The entrance to Park Guell

It's a parrot!! In a tree!

The pathways in the park were so beautiful

The view of the city from the "top" of the hill

Congratulating each other on our hike to the top

Once at the bottom of the hill, we made our way via bus to a small cafe near our hostel. I was not really impressed, but at least I felt like it wasn't microwaved. Tonight is a low-key night in preparation for our trip to Italy tomorrow. We did meet some boys from LA and Boston staying in our hostel who went out tonight, but we had our fun last night, even if we came home much earlier than everyone else. Given what we've accomplished over the past three days, I'm surprised we even made it that late.