Milton, John, and I went to Barcelona and Amsterdam for John's 30th birthday. Naturally, we had a great time and quickly decided we have to go back in the summer so we can go to the beach and Ibiza.
Pics and more after the jump.
Milton and John started the trip a few days earlier than me - on a Thursday - and I followed on Saturday. When I arrived Sunday morning, I had a carefully laid out plan to take the train just as Milton and John had Friday, however that plan was quickly cast aside as I was too tired to figure out Spain's train system. Actually, I did try to find the train at first, but I ended up at the train to Madrid instead of Barcelona's Metro. I hopped in a cab thinking, "How much could it possibly be?" Oh, Dennis, Dennis, Dennis. When will you learn? The ride was €27, which was ~$40. I blew $40 on a 15 minutes cab ride. Yep.
We didn't really get anything accomplished that first day. We walked around Las Ramblas while I played with the zoom lens I rented.
Yes, it's real.
Look at that wide angle lens magics!
On my second day, we headed to La Sagrada Familia. I had read a little about the cathedral, but nothing prepared me for the grandeur of the real thing, and it's not even close to being completed. There was so much construction going on that it was hard to believe that the cathedral was started in 1882. I was so awestruck that I'm tempted to call my experience a religious one.
From a distance.
The entrance to the cathedral is currently the Passion Facade, which is very stark since, you know, it's depicting the crucifiction of Christ. Once completed, the entrance wil be the Glory Facade, which celebrate's Christ and the joy of creation on his birth. Naturally, I felt more drawn to the Passion Facade. I'm sure that doesn't mean anything.
Passion Facade.
Again.
And again.
Glory Facade.
Once more.
The interior of the cathedral is meant to evoke a forrest. That evocation is completely lost in these pics, but if you strain your imagination hard enough, I think you can see it.'
IMAGINE HARDER!
The next day, we took a bus tour around the city. It sucked. It sucked hard. The weather was chilly, which is to be expected in November, but the audio tour was almost never in sync with our location. Also, our view of whatever we were siteseeing was usually obstructed which, again, is to be expected, but everything combined to ensure the experience was not fun.
We ended up at Montjuïc Castle, which offered a spectacular panoramic view of Barcelona. Those pics came out OK, but it's hard to make out any detail in resized pics and the original files are huge.
John immediately headed for the weapon. The wide angle lens gave him a hunchback that I find humorous. I don't think he sees the humor in the pic.
Someone's a grumpypuss because I stole his jacket.
On our final day in Barcelona, we did a lot of shopping. OK, I did a lot of shopping. But, we also found time to make it to the Font Màgica. Let me tell you, taking these pictures with the Gorrilapod was an exercise in patience, but worth it, for the most part.
Our last night and we decided to end the trip on a high note, which meant partying until 9AM. The club we went to closed at 6, and we were headed back to our hotel when we met Lee and Michelle leaving the club. Through the course of the morning, we found out that Michelle was the lead singer of S'Express, a UK band from the 80s. Thanks to the miracle of YouTube, Lee showed us this music video. Michelle pretended to be faux outraged, but she was lapping up the attention. I loved Michelle.
We eventually made it back to our hotel around 9 and made the mistake of thinking we could catch a quick catnap before heading to the airport and catching our flight at noon. I woke up at 10:30, checked out at 11, and spent the next 20 minutes wondering why our cabdriver bothered to obey silly things like red lights and pedestrians. We made it, though by sheer luck.
FIN
"IMAGINE HARDER!" **cracks up laughing**
Such great pictures, and that church! Under construction since the 1800's? What?!
Posted by: Ray | December 23, 2009 at 02:13 PM