Window Shopping...

Today I went back to that mall I "happened" upon the other day that used to be an old bull fighting ring. I got a few pictures of the building this time. Basically I went window shopping for anything that well...looked interesting to me. Took a look at some of the FC Barcelona merchandise, uniforms, and scarfs...I will eventually get one of those...they are not terribly expensive (12.50 euros). Looked around at others stores at the phenomenon that is European fashion...quite different and exotic in taste.

Other than that today was fairly laid back, got back to the room and booked a flight to ROME...yes I said booked a flight to ROME. It was one of those "now is the best times to book" plus everyone else was booking there flights there so if I wanted to join in on the adventure I had to do it today...I don't think I will regret it though. However all trips from here on out must be more strategically planned out.

Here are a few of the views from the top of the "observation deck" on the top of the mall...

Infinity pool anybody?

A day of firsts...

Today was the first day for many things....

I woke up at 10:30 and had my first successful cooked breakfast. I made some delicious los huevos finally; I put the right amount of salt and the Moroccan seasoning and some milk into the eggs and beat them to perfection! (I thought). Then I made an egg sandwich and had some Cheerios…it gave me a sense of home for just a moment haha.

Did my laundry for the first time since I have been over here…I had a large “stash” of clothes to wash. The laundry system here is similar but different; first the machines either take special tokens (which you purchase at the front desk) or only 50 cent euro coins. This adds a new dimension to washing laundry by itself. Instead of a long cycle, delicate cycle, or quick rinse there are many more options to wash your clothes. Where shall I start…there were the following cycles: “delicates”, towels, dark colors, linen, denim, wool, a quick rinse, and about 10 different settings under “cotton”….yes all of this was in Spanish. Each setting of cotton was a different temperature starting at 20 degrees Celsius and going all the way to 90. I was extremely nervous I was going to ruin my clothes…because I did not have a clear idea on what setting to put my laundry on. First I did what I normally do and I washed my whites separate of my colors. I always wash my whites at a higher temperature than my colors as well. After I did that I figured everything I had was mostly cotton so I picked the 30 degree Celsius option for my colors and the 40 degree Celsius option for my whites…gladly everything came out fine. I had no ruined clothes and when I went to dry them I did not burn or shrink any of them! One last note on this laundry ordeal…all of the options (no matter which one you pick) takes at least an hour to complete…even the dryers take an hour, so laundry was an all day ordeal took me about 4-1/2 hours to complete them. I now have fresh clean cloths!

For my Contemporary European City class we have another assignment which requires a partner. My partner Brian and I visited our site today which was literally in the next city…and took some pictures for our records. We had to transfer three different METRO lines…it was a challenge but I enjoy riding trains…so I liked the “hustle and bustle” that is the METRO…I wish Charleston had one. Granted it would probably be impossible for it to be underground…it would flood every time it rained…not to mention the fault lines that exist.

Annnnnd last but certainly not least…I now have access to Netflix, Hulu, Pandora, and ESPN 3 video. The IP address here in Spain does not allow access to any of those sites….basically in a nutshell these services are not available here yet despite it being over the internet…I was very disappointed when I initially found this out. Luckily though there was a solution to the problem, Clemson offers what is called a private VPN connection to all students and staff…essentially what this does is it uses the existing internet connection and then “latches” a Clemson IP address to your computer so you can have access to sites that are only permitted in the U.S or other countries that have the same access. Pherris I am sure you are familiar with this method (I hope you are haha). So needless to say in between washing clothes all day and visiting my site I have been catching up on most importantly THE AUSTRALIAN OPEN…GO NADAL! And second my U.S television ie. “The Office” and “Hawaii Five-O”…everything is complete now haha.

We had our official welcome dinner tonight at very quaint and small restaurant just outside the “old city”. It was actually my first “sit down” meal since I have been here in Barcelona…very satisfied. It was a three course meal and they served bread (you could put olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt, or pepper on top of it). The meal was “free” (we already paid for it in the cost of the program fee) so Kathrin our resident professor also included a few bottles of Wine (red and white). For my first course I had a chicken empanada with a small salad, the second/main course was a dish called Paisa (this had a piece of roast beef, rice, beans, fried eggs, and fried plantains)…it was very good. And for dessert I had a dish called “Churro” but it was not exactly what I think of when I hear churro (fried dough with cinnamon and sugar). This was a different kind of churro which contained a special “rice cake” “bathed” in fermented milk and cinnamon. I was perplexed when the waiter brought the dish to me, I thought I had said something wrong or they misunderstood me…but it was an INTERESTING taste; I liked it and I didn’t like it haha. In simple terms I don't regret having it but I don’t have to have it again.  It was also my first “Spanish Cultural meal” in that dinner did not start until about 9pm and it lasted all the way until about midnight…it was a great experience all together, the Spanish don’t rush dinner…it is almost a ceremonial like event, very charming!

We shall see what tomorrow holds….

Dos Semanas!

It has been two great weeks here since I started my journey abroad, and just like the last anniversary I will include a few more things I have learned in this past week!

• Whenever there is water on the sidewalk don't step in it. It might not be water, when people walk there dogs here they are allowed to let them use the bathroom right on the sidewalk...so avoid all "puddles" when possible
• Europeans love scarfs...A LOT
• Soccer is like football in America, when FC Barcelona is playing the world stops...expect delays
• The police are "meaner" here, don't mess with them.
• Watch your belongings in the METRO

The assignment that was due today for studio went ok...our criticism was that we were too ambiguous in our diagram of the site. This is an easy fix, all we have to do is bring our focus in and be more specific in our approach...I'll let y'all know what is decided when Mallory and I know haha. We have some site visiting to do this weekend.

In our materials class we went on a walking trip to Mountjuic or "Jew Hill". The area has been renovated to include parks and multiple public spaces. One of the oldest castles in Barcelona (and one of the oldest in Spain) sits atop this mountain...dating back to the 17th century when it was used for executions and a citadel. What is even more interesting is that this is one the sites where the FIRST measurements and calculations where made to determine the current meter as a unit of measurement. Also on this mountain are the 1992 Olympics stadium and sports complexes...this is quite a site to see; I can vaguely remember seeing one of the sports arenas for the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta (shout out to Aunt Sandra) and these venues are very beautiful for their architecture and the vistas they provide. This area had to contain the most parks and public spaces that I have ever seen in one concentrated area...it is stunning how everything flows from one space to the next. We also got to visit another famous architects work, Mies van der Rohe (check him out on wikepedia! But basically he is known for his contributions to the modernistic style of architecture). We visited his pavilion here in Barcelona, this was interesting because we did a small study project on this exact work in my sophomore year of college...it was great to finally see it in person.

There were many opportunities for photography in this area so I included some of the more "artistic" shots I took today in many of the spaces.

That Mateus wine was very good...my professor knew what he was talking about...

Here is a view of the main entrance to the Castle...

Here is a view from the outside of the castle walls...gives me an "Irish" fields feel.

This was a very captivating fountain I saw in one of the public areas...I tried some black and white photography.

 Another interesting fountain shot...in black and white.

 Terrace...traditional Spanish style design

If this does not scream Spanish Mediterranean...then I don't know what does haha!!

 A "hidden" tree down the "less trotted" path!

The Mies van der Rohe Pavilion...

Profound Glory pt 3 and Fancy Dinner tonight!!


I am going to try and kill two birds with one stone in this blog post. Since I have had to upload photos from yesterdays glorious visit to Sagrada Familia and Parc Guell in separate posts I will also include my summary of today with the last on the photos from yesterday...hope that is not confusing. Today was not as exciting as yesterday simply because it is hard to follow after visiting Sagrada Familia...but we did visit a few different parts of the city today in our Contemporary European class...most notably the GYPSY part of town...it was quite nerve racking...I did not want to get cursed or anything haha. But it is amazing to see the differences in the quality of life in the Gypsy portion of town versus the nicer parts. Watched a movie in Spanish Culture class today...the class is really helping me comprehend the language alot more, hopefully I will continue to get better. We have two professors in the Spanish Culture class...a female and a male; the female speaks many languages including Spanish, Catalan, and English. The male however only speaks Catalan and Spanish, so I had a "decent" conversation with him earlier this week and asked him what wine he preferred and what were his recommendations...I must say he is very sophisticated in his taste, we visited a store and he showed me all of the wines he likes, everything from cheap 3 euro wine to very very expensive 50 euro wine. He recommended a cheaper 3.50euro wine that turned out to be very good. So I bought it and tried it out with my "fancy" dinner tonight!

Here are the rest of the photos from yesterdays trip to Sagrada Familia and Parc Guell....enjoy!!!

PS..I will try to have a video compulsion prepared soon of the footage I took from inside Sagrada Familia...I took some excellent videos.

This was my view from lunch...great view




My lunch...Doner Kabab (like an Indian version of a Gyro...it has chicken, with lettuce, onions, "purple cabbage stuff", tomatoes, and some kinda of sauce. It was very good..only 5 euros for it and the Coca-Cola




Inside the chapel at Sagrada Familia...amazing




Look at the scale of this building...its gigantic...it was slightly cooler inside because of all the empty space above you





At the alter of Sagrada Familia.





Astonishing detail....






Outside of Sagrada Famila...four of the eight towers or steels this church has





This is the stair case inside of one of the towers...it is an extremely narrow spiral stair case...a challenge to walk down lol



The main entrance doors to the church are carved with bible inscriptions, verses,  and words....just thought I would pick this one out.





Another photo at the alter inside Sagrada Familia



My dinner for tonight...it was VERY good. Calamari pasta with cheese. And also Mateus wine, it is a Rosado...My Spanish professor recommended it, I had to ask him in Spanish though...he does not speak a word of English, I was pretty proud of myself for asking him...his recommendation was good...the wine went well with the pasta!!!!





This is the other facade of Sagrada Familia...this side was the first side to be completed back when Gaudi was still alive...the detail is astonishing yet again...



 

Profound Glory pictures pt. 1

So I will be uploading the pictures from yesterdays expeditions in probably two parts...again the Internet is that terrible that it takes a long time to upload photos, also I am only uploading a small fraction of all the photos I took yesterday... I took well over 300!!!

This is Sagrada Familia in the distance from Parc Guell...it was probably about 2-1/2 miles away but thanks to the zoom on my camera I could bring it closer!

 This is the main portion of Parc Guell (yes I said main, the park is very large and I have many pictures from throughout the whole park)

 Here is the columns under the main portion of the park...they are very organized and artistic in their placement

 Gaudi was "big" on these fresco style sculptures and tiling

 The famous dragon-lizard at the main entrance to the park...

 Group photo at the main entrance

Profound Glory...

Today was…amazing, breathtaking, inspiring, beautiful, awesome, cool, nice…today was a BLESSING.

It isn’t often that you feel the presence of God right beside you, standing there walking with you, talking to you, or embracing you. But today was one of those rarities where I got the chance to experience his greatness first hand, and ultimately witness this great opportunity that he has blessed me with…

We visited two places today within Barcelona, both are designed by Antoni Gaudi (hopefully by now I have said that name enough that everyone is starting to remember his pertinence). But just in case you forgot here is a short sentence to sum it up: Antoni Gaudi is considered to be one of the most influential and greatest architects of the 20^th century, he is probably the greatest architect to be born out of Spain, and his works mainly reside in the city of Barcelona…in which he is pivotal in the beauty of the city.

The first place we went was a park that he (Gaudi) designed called “Park Guell”, this park was originally meant to be a new and sophisticated housing development…but due to economic strife during the time, it never blossomed into a housing district but became the beautiful park that it is today. Words are going to fail me in describing the luster of this place so I will let some photos do the work for me (which will come in another blog post from the studio space in the morning for me, which will be about 3ish in the morning for y'all back in the states. The internet in my room cannot handle loading the pictures I want to load)*******

Next we visited Gaudi’s personal masterpiece and greatest achievement…Sagrada Familia (Full name of the project is “Basílica i Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Família” or “Basilica and Expiatory Church of the Holy Family”). This Gothic style church is actually still not complete. Why? Well that is how amazing this architecture is; at the time of its inception in 1882 the designs of the church were far too advanced for the building construction techniques at that time. There was also a significant lack of funds to build the building to Gaudi’s specific and intrinsic designs. Even now nearly 130 years later the construction of this masterpiece is still not complete (hence all of the cranes and scaffolding in some of the following pictures). The buildings construction is funded by private donors and the tours of the building; this also affects how fast the construction can be completed. Currently the entire church is set to be complete in 2026…on the 200^th anniversary of Gaudi’s death. I find it ironic that the word “gaudy” is so close to Gaudi (even in pronunciation)  being that the complexity of this building is just that…”gaudy”. But make no mistake it is not tasteless…this work of architecture is by far the GREATEST design I have ever personally been privileged to see in person. All of the “fine” bridges, buildings and houses that I have been to in person fail greatly in comparison to this church…every single square inch of the building is designed…nothing is left to construction or interior design, or programmatic elements, everything…EVERYTHING is meticulously planned out and designed to the highest standards…EVERYTHING has a definite purpose in the design of the building. We spent probably three hours in the church…but it did not feel like that at all. At the time when I was standing beneath the glorious chamber of the sanctuary I was awe-struck and inspired; in hindsight I feel challenged and humbled…nothing that I have ever conceived has been to the level of detail and genius that is the Sagrada Familia, I can only hope and pray that one day I may design something as amazing. Every building and work of architecture will be compared to Sagrada…it has become my new benchmark of excellence.  What an experience…

(which will come in another blog post from the studio space in the morning for me, which will be about 3ish in the morning for y'all back in the states. The internet in my room cannot handle loading the pictures I want to load)*****************

It's raining, its pouring, I'm in Barcelona...Exploring!

Today…was a first for me. I thought that Barcelona was a “rainless” city I kind of assumed that it rarely rained here (which is still true) but today it rained! I was caught off guard by the rain, but it was a semi-good experience none the less.

Today in our studio class we visited the site of our project for the first time. The project is actually split up into three separate site areas for the whole studio. There is an “across” group, an “inside” group, and lastly an “around” group. The people in the “across” group must design an intervention that…well…goes across the site. The people in the “inside” group must design something that…you guessed it…goes on the inside of the site. But the “around” group, that is the group I am in, has to design around the space…but not literally around the site…it can be any space that is closely related to or “around” our site. This should be an interesting concept to take forward throughout the semester. My partner Mallory and I have to take another series of photographs of the site and focus on a concept that we would like to be the driving force behind out project…this is due on Thursday. Our site visit today was in the rain, it was amusing to see how our professors were barely fazed by the fact that it was raining, they just kept walking and walking, paying absolutely no attention to the rain. I was not too worried, rain doesn’t bother me, but I am recovering from nasal congestion so the rain probably was not good for me on the other hand.

The picture exercise went well for Mallory and me, of course there was a little bit of criticism but that is to be expected. Road the metro again today to get to our sites…I think I am starting to get the hang of this system, to be honest I am also starting to like it…a lot! It is such a cheap and fast way to get around the city, taxis can be expensive, plus most of the cab drivers don’t speak English. We learned some elementary Catalan in our Spanish class today…this language is very difficult and complex…it is definitely harder than Spanish, even our two professors admitted this. Made some pasta again for dinner tonight. Hopefully I will finally get to visit Sagrada Familia tomorrow, I passed by it and took a few photos on the bus tour a week ago, but I did not get to go inside and really explore the amazing architecture that is this building…very excited to see it! Hasta Luego.

Here is a teaser photo just to give everyone an idea of  this masterpiece….