Today I finally took a shot at conquering Barcelona! Usually on embark day I'm pretty tired at the end of the cruise and I just feel like sleeping in....but today I ventured out. I had plans to spend the day with Liam and Marie, but they decided to sleep in and I was already up, so I just did it on my own. We have started docking right downtown (I'm praying it stays that way) so getting into town is incredibly easy. I bought a day pass for a tourist bus company that has dozens of busses running routes all around the city, and set out on a day focused on Antony Gaudí. I'd learned about him in college while studying Spain, and was really interested to see some of his "modernista" architecture, which can be found all around Barcelona. His most famous creation is the church called the Sagrada Familia: I knew it was big and ornate and had seen photos, but seeing it in person really boggled my mind - it is so over the top. And not even finished! The second highlight of my day was visiting two more of his buildings, the Casa Batlló in particular. I spent the money to go inside and take the audio guide tour, which was really neat. The facade has columns that resemble bones, the main staircase looks like the spine of some great sea creature, and the roof is shaped like a dragon's back, complete with scales. Its really something else. I think the best words to describe Gaudí are daring and brave - what must people have thought back in 1900?? My last stop was the Park Guell - a park that Gaudi designed to be a residential district that blended with nature. More than anything else it reminded me of some sections on Disneyland - I wouldn't be surprised to hear that Walt was inspired by Gaudí. Inside the park is a house where the architect lived for some time, now a museum, which was also neat to visit. But by the time I finished these three stops I was totally out of time already....as it was I had to ditch the bus that I'd already payed for (it would have dropped me right in front of the ship!) and take a taxi back for about 5 euros. It was an awesome day, but I'm exhausted. :-)
Some really good news for me - the Spanish Bible study is starting to pick up here and I am becoming a committed member. We meet twice a cruise, and we're small, but mighty and slowly growing. Also I found out that Mario D'Andrea the entertainer is a Christian! When he first came on board he remembered being the first show I'd ever played, and he gave me his rose (all the entertainers get one backstage before their show) to celebrate our "anniversary." Anyway I ran into him upstairs when I was having some tea, and we ended up talking for hours when we made the mutual discovery. It was SO refreshing to talk to him. He really is an amazing man. And I am thankful that God finds ways like this to bless me!!
What else....I got up early last cruise on the sea day to see the volcano-island of Stromboli. That was pretty neat, thought I would have been more impressed if there had been some lava action. (I'm told I need to go to Hawaii for that) This cruise has a few surprises - our new cruise director started today and doesn't seem to have as good a handle on things yet....we were left guessing a bit in regards to some logistical aspects of the show. Hopefully things improve. Also a new sound guy showed up today - and he's my friend Jason from the Summit! We were both quite surprised to run into each other this afternoon.
As for tomorrow in Marseille - Chateaux D'If, take two. (It didn't work last time) Wish me luck!
2 comments:
I am so glad to hear that you are becoming active in the Spanish Bible study group. What a blessing to have a group of Christians to be a part of!
Okay kids of mine....Andrea and I discussed that this guy Gaudi is where I get my comment about wearing too much jewelry or decorations on ones clothing. "It looks too Gaudi for me!" Look up some pictures online of his strange styles of architecture and you'll see why this comment is appropriate!
Post a Comment