Back in America

Well, I'm back home now and it actually is good to be back. I had an amazing time in BCN, but ya know...you just can't live in paradise all the time. I will miss the days of exploring the old town where something is always to be discovered. I will miss strolling through exilampa, admiring the modernista apartment blocks and watching people at all the cafes. I will miss La Rambla where there is always something going on, no matter what time of day it is. I will miss looking down an avenue one way and seeing the mountains, then looking the other and seeing the sea. I will really miss skipping the bitter winters of DC and KC.

Europe has so much to offer: history, beauty, and skinny people!!! haha. But America is beautiful too. We have the desert, steep and rocky mountains, as well as softer mountains, plains, lakes and of course beaches. No country in Europe has such a diverse landscape or population. The entire idea of America is really beautiful too. A place where everyone can go to live and try to make a better life. A place where there is room to breath and if you want you can actually have your own house and yard. In Spain, that is really not much of an option. I love the way the Spanish live. Compact cities create a tighter community and a more lively street atmosphere. However, this is not for everyone. I know many people in Spain would kill for houses and yards like we have in America, especially in KC.

Mostly, Spain could never really feel like home. It felt that way for a while, but near the end I started to not feel like I belonged there. I am American, and well, that was not America. When I arrived in Chicago, I felt relieved to be back on American soil...as if I was afraid I would never make it back or something. I had an awesome, almost indescribable time in Spain, and I cannot wait to return!!!

La Pedrera aka Casa Mila

La Pedrera, wow, what a building! Anything but normal...this is like a Frank Ghery building, but with class and solid building materials. The undulating facade and flowing woodwork throughout evoke images of the near by Mediterranean. The balconies that bump out of the facade and are decorated with cast iron 'sea weed' are shown below. I didn't like this building when I first got to BCN. As time past, I started to like it. Touring it totally sold me! The entry leads to an outdoor atrium that is beautifully painted. It is strange to go 'inside' the building and still be outside.
The top of the entry with it's monumental, hand-beat wrought iron door is show below.
Even the railing takes on the likeness of a curving piece of seaweed.
I'm not sure exactly how the apartment works in terms of circulation, but this seems to be the main staircase leading to the second story flats. The hanging plants give it even more of a tropical feel.
Attic

The tour first takes you to the attic. It has a very interesting vaulted ceiling where no two brick arches are the same. Its like being in the belly of a whale or something. It is very similar to the attic and Batllo, but with no stucco
The fire stairs are very trippy. Look like something out of an Esher drawing
The attic contained a museum that explained many of Gaudi's projects. They showed some things from nature that inspired Gaudi in the design of Mila...The animal's spine inspired the attic's shape.
The Roof Terrace
The roof terrace is the best part. It contains many interesting sculptures that double as functioning chimneys and stairwell entries, etc.

Gaudi's masterpiece, down the street

Grand Passage De Gracia, lined with modernista mansions, now upscale shops. The ApartmentsNotice the sand-like ceiling...aquatic motifs are found in all of Gaudi's works Gaudi designed furniture is found throughout. It was specially designed to fit the body 'perfectly'
:)

Final Project

Don't know what happened to the colors on this sheet?

Mont Serrat

Mont Serrat is a beautiful monastery nestled in the jagged mountains about an hour's train ride outside of BCN. Upon arriving at the little train station, I was amazed at how tall the jagged peaks were. I could barely make out the buildings as they are made of the same stone they sit on and blend in very well. We took a 'basket' as professor Vidal called it (air gondola) to the top of the peaks...it was an almost uneasy experience, but very cool! The gondola is the tiny yellow speck in the picture below. The monastery blends in w/ the mountains in its vertical form as wellThe first thing we did on top was get a coffee, then we headed to mass...(the first one I had attended in months :/)The Church was beautiful, but I later found out that the facade pictured below was built in the 1800s. The original building was almost completely destroyed by Napoleon and his troops.After mass, we got a private tour of the entire complex. It was awesome, most people don't get this kind of tour.The smaller 'back' chapel is pictured above. Gaudi had a hand in designing it, although I wouldn't be able to tell from just lookingWe also got to touch the hand on the "Black Mary" statue. A strange, but beautiful piece that is noting like any Mary statue I have ever seen.Our group on the tour...Next, took a cog rail type tram to the very top of the mountains to eat lunch and explore.
The view...Some pretty flowers that somehow managed to grow out of the rocky earth.Me and Ben discussing somethingThe last thing we did before descending the mountain and going back to real life and worrying about the final was hiked on a crazy trail that hugged the sides of the rocks and was lined with statues depicting the Passion.

The iconic rock formation well know to M.S...I forgot the name of it now.The was by far my favorite structure on Mont Serrat. It is a chapel at the end of the trail that sort of become one w/ the rocks. Inside, the part that is against the rocks is just open to it and has a little niche carved out. It was spectacular. Mont Serrat was a great idea for a trip. It was the last chance for us to all do something outside BCN as a group, and it gave us all a chance to relax a bit and forget about our projects.