Hope you all had a good Turkey day! I miss stuffing. But I don't miss stuffing enough to be sad about going to SPAIN for the week! WHOO! We had a week off break due to the fact it was Thanksgiving! YAY! And since the University of Illinois also had a week off Jason came to visit me in Spain!
On Friday, Katie, Peggy, Terese, Brittany, and I left Verona to go Barcelona! We met up Terese's friend Jackie who graduated from U of I last May, and got a job teaching in Spain. 
(the ladies outside the Sagrada Familia) On Friday we got there and oriented ourselves with the city, and went to the "Magic Fountain" show which is just a huge fountain that they put music behind and then put on a water show. It was pretty cool! On Saturday morning, I conquered the Barcelona metro lines and went to the airport to pick up Jason! 
(Us on a metro train) It was great seeing him again! On Saturday we walked down the coast, (p.s. the Beach in Barcelona was man made for the 1992 Olympics. It used to be an industrial area, and then they dumped all the buildings in to the sea and dug up a bunch of sand. Now they are dealing with how they are to keep the beach from washing away.) and then around the Ramblas area! For dinner we had some classic Spanish food. On Sunday Jason and I hit up the city museum, so he could see some Roman Ruins, and then we all met up for the Picasso museum! Very cool! It was funny because it was Picasso's earlier works from when he still lived in Spain, so it wasn't as out there as he would one day become. On Monday we did some major touristy things and went the La Sagrada Familia. Have any of you heard of this church? IT IS CRAZY?! Construction started in 1882, funded by a private organization to help bring the Catholic faith back to Barcelona. The main architect was Antoni Gaudi, and he had a modest design until he got a huge donation and went crazy with plans for this church. He worked on it until 1926, until he came to a sudden death. Well they tried to continue his crazy plans but then there was the Spanish Civil War and some other mishaps, but in conclusion this church is STILL under construction and they don't expect completion until 2030! 148 years later?! In my realistic opinion, it won't be done. Why? The final plan calls for 18 spirals, right now they only have 6 done, and the interior of the church isn't finished yet, plus they are planning to replace every window with stained glass. This is the Wiki Page. Check it out! It's madness! We did get to go to the top of it, and it has a pretty impressive view of the city: 
. Another cool thing about it, is that its all funded through private donations. So most craftsmen, and construction workers, and architects, volunteer time to the building of the church as one of their final jobs. Its considered almost a right of passage to retirement (thanks Rick Steves). We also went to Parc Guell, which is a city park the Gaudi designed for a new subdivision. The subdivision was never built but the park is still there, and still being gaudy. (see what i did there?) Oh, on the way to the park we found this sign and took this picture, it was completely necessary: 
On Monday night we also went to a Flamanco dancing show. It was pretty cool! We were duped though, we thought dinner was included with the ticket price. It wasn't. BUT it did include all you could drink Sangria, so we had fun :) Tuesday morning we said good bye to the ladies, they were headed to Paris to continue their break. Jason and I did a bike tour around Barcelona which was really cool, and we had the perfect weather! (and I didn't fall off my bike once!)
(the ladies outside the Sagrada Familia) On Friday we got there and oriented ourselves with the city, and went to the "Magic Fountain" show which is just a huge fountain that they put music behind and then put on a water show. It was pretty cool! On Saturday morning, I conquered the Barcelona metro lines and went to the airport to pick up Jason! 
(Us on a metro train) It was great seeing him again! On Saturday we walked down the coast, (p.s. the Beach in Barcelona was man made for the 1992 Olympics. It used to be an industrial area, and then they dumped all the buildings in to the sea and dug up a bunch of sand. Now they are dealing with how they are to keep the beach from washing away.) and then around the Ramblas area! For dinner we had some classic Spanish food. On Sunday Jason and I hit up the city museum, so he could see some Roman Ruins, and then we all met up for the Picasso museum! Very cool! It was funny because it was Picasso's earlier works from when he still lived in Spain, so it wasn't as out there as he would one day become. On Monday we did some major touristy things and went the La Sagrada Familia. Have any of you heard of this church? IT IS CRAZY?! Construction started in 1882, funded by a private organization to help bring the Catholic faith back to Barcelona. The main architect was Antoni Gaudi, and he had a modest design until he got a huge donation and went crazy with plans for this church. He worked on it until 1926, until he came to a sudden death. Well they tried to continue his crazy plans but then there was the Spanish Civil War and some other mishaps, but in conclusion this church is STILL under construction and they don't expect completion until 2030! 148 years later?! In my realistic opinion, it won't be done. Why? The final plan calls for 18 spirals, right now they only have 6 done, and the interior of the church isn't finished yet, plus they are planning to replace every window with stained glass. This is the Wiki Page. Check it out! It's madness! We did get to go to the top of it, and it has a pretty impressive view of the city: 
. Another cool thing about it, is that its all funded through private donations. So most craftsmen, and construction workers, and architects, volunteer time to the building of the church as one of their final jobs. Its considered almost a right of passage to retirement (thanks Rick Steves). We also went to Parc Guell, which is a city park the Gaudi designed for a new subdivision. The subdivision was never built but the park is still there, and still being gaudy. (see what i did there?) Oh, on the way to the park we found this sign and took this picture, it was completely necessary: 
On Monday night we also went to a Flamanco dancing show. It was pretty cool! We were duped though, we thought dinner was included with the ticket price. It wasn't. BUT it did include all you could drink Sangria, so we had fun :) Tuesday morning we said good bye to the ladies, they were headed to Paris to continue their break. Jason and I did a bike tour around Barcelona which was really cool, and we had the perfect weather! (and I didn't fall off my bike once!) On Wednesday we said goodbye to Barcelona and took the train to Madrid. Spanish trains: WAY nicer than Italian trains! They show movies, and give you headphones! CRAZY! When we got into Madrid, we walked around and went to the Prado. More Picasso. PLUS some other Spanish artists, I was pretty pumped for a change of art scene, the renaissance and I were getting worn out. On Thursday we did this cool selfguided walking/photography tour. You get this map and its a scavenger hunt type thing where you walk up Grand Via and find certain historical sites. It was REALLY FUN, plus if you find everything you get a sweet free t-shirt! AND the last stop was a little market where I finished up my Christmas shopping! Thats right, I finished my Christmas shopping on Thanksgiving! In the afternoon we went out to El Escorial which was pretty cool as well. It's like an old monastery/palace/school/art museum. Very fun! For our Thanksgiving dinner we had: bread with some kind of delicious dipping sauce, spicy spanish sausage, a half slab of ribs, with a baked potato (Jason had fries), and ice cream. Plus they gave us free lemoncello at the end! All for the low price of 12.50euro! NICE SPAIN! On Friday we hit up the royal palace and said hi to King Juan Carlos the First and Queen Sofia. 
That's their square they have in their palace. No biggie. They don't actually live there anymore, they only use it 12 times a year, max, to hold special events. For dinner on Friday we ate at the wildly popular Madrid based chain called "Museo del Jamon" or the Museum of Ham. They have huge hams hanging from the ceiling and a ham sandwich is only 1euro and a beer is only 1euro! It was just ridiculously crowded, they don't have tables so everyone is standing around holding ham and beer. When I say everyone, I mean EVERYONE. People are in there before hitting up the clubs, or there was a group of 6 elderly ladies that cut in front of me when I went to get another beer, or just massive groups of people. It was even busy when we walked by at 9:30 one morning. On Saturday we went to Toledo! So much fun! Who knew? (Jason) We went to their main cathedral, and then we took one of those ever popular European Tiny Tourist Trains!! Love them! 
: Toledo was pretty cool, it was the former capital of Spain back in its glory days, and is the weapon making capital of Spain, plus the religious capital of Spain (feel the irony). I also got to learn some interesting facts such as: The pelican is the only animal that will consciously pull off its own skin to feed its young if its necessary. I just wanted to lay that knowledge on you. Plus the entire town of Toledo has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site. AND in its cathedral there is a little glass heart on display from their sister city: Toledo, Ohio. How cute is that?! So cute.
That's their square they have in their palace. No biggie. They don't actually live there anymore, they only use it 12 times a year, max, to hold special events. For dinner on Friday we ate at the wildly popular Madrid based chain called "Museo del Jamon" or the Museum of Ham. They have huge hams hanging from the ceiling and a ham sandwich is only 1euro and a beer is only 1euro! It was just ridiculously crowded, they don't have tables so everyone is standing around holding ham and beer. When I say everyone, I mean EVERYONE. People are in there before hitting up the clubs, or there was a group of 6 elderly ladies that cut in front of me when I went to get another beer, or just massive groups of people. It was even busy when we walked by at 9:30 one morning. On Saturday we went to Toledo! So much fun! Who knew? (Jason) We went to their main cathedral, and then we took one of those ever popular European Tiny Tourist Trains!! Love them! 
: Toledo was pretty cool, it was the former capital of Spain back in its glory days, and is the weapon making capital of Spain, plus the religious capital of Spain (feel the irony). I also got to learn some interesting facts such as: The pelican is the only animal that will consciously pull off its own skin to feed its young if its necessary. I just wanted to lay that knowledge on you. Plus the entire town of Toledo has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site. AND in its cathedral there is a little glass heart on display from their sister city: Toledo, Ohio. How cute is that?! So cute.So that was our week in a nutshell! We had a great time! I was sad to miss another Thanksgiving, but I'm sure we'll have stuffing at Christmas, and of course I would trade Thanksgiving for a week in Austria (last year) with Colleen and a week in Spain with Jason! Only one major trip left! This weekend I am meeting up with two friends from Sigma Kappa and we are going to visit Nana in Swansea! WHOO! Hope all is well in for the holiday season! Miss you!
love,
Heather
