21/2/11 Mom and Dad visit London: Day 1

     Sean and I were excited for our first visitors.  We had the flat cleaned all nice, the downstairs bedroom set up and a rough plan of action.  My parents left the States Saturday afternoon and made it through the snowstorms and fierce wind and landed in the UK Sunday morning. We woke up Sunday ready to go but saw that their flight had been delayed an hour so we took our time leaving the house.  Then we realized it may be on time. Then we didn't know what time it would land so we decided to call a cab and get our butts to the airport.  The cab lady said "no no, you'll have time to take the tube, don't spend your money on us." Oh. Ok then.  We headed out but knew that the tube was under construction so we would have to take a bus first to get to the other underground line.  Out on the street we hopped on the first bus and started on our way.  Well, it's always an adventure when you're trying to get somewhere.  The bus was a replacement bus so it didn't have a "regular" route.  Instead there was a guy standing next to the driver with a photocopied map in his hand "directing" the driver where to go.  We did a bunch of loops and realized they had no clue where they were going.  After about 30 minutes of pointless driving the bus stopped.  In front out on the road were a few other buses stopped and people standing in the street.  Then we saw police fly past, then ambulances, then firetrucks.  Just ahead of us a house had exploded and the street was littered with bricks, roofing tiles, and who knows what else.  A house exploded.  It was crazy!

     Later that evening we looked it up in the news and read that no one was really hurt and the cause was a gas build up.  There was debris everywhere. Bricks were speared into the ground, the trees in the park across the street were filled with garbage. Insane.  I don't understand how no one got hurt. The police started to push people out of the area and the bus driver told us that they weren't going to move.  We asked a little old lady in an apron if we could walk to our stop and she said no, it was too far, so we decided to head out to the main road and catch another bus.  About five minutes into the walk we realized we should look at the map and see if WE could walk.  Ok, only about a mile and a half walk.  We could do it.  We hoofed it, nervous that we were going to miss their flight coming in and they'd be wandering around the airport.  Sean and I got on the tube and rode the rest of the way to the airport.  

    When we got to the airport we weren't sure if the plane had landed and they had come through already or if they were still getting through customs.   Nervously, we paced the international arrivals area and then glued our eyes on the exit.  There they were!! Our weary travelers!

Ta da! Sean and his purple welcome sign!
They made it! 

    Their flight was ok.  A lot quicker than they thought but they didn't sleep much.  My mom kept waking up my dad to show him the pretty clouds, the girl next to them kept wanting to get up and go to the bathroom and then the flight attendants wanted to serve them food.  In a way it was good that they were so tired because later that night they defeated their US time schedule and went to bed at a reasonable time.  

    Sean called us a cab from the airport and we drove back to Chiswick avoiding the tube, buses and exploding houses road blocks.  After a quick tour of the flat and a couple of nibbles we headed straight for the river.  It was a cold drizzly day but it's always a good walk down by the water.  

Walkin' down by the river.  Dreary day. 

Dinghies stranded during low tide.

   The tide was low and we walked down to the Kew Bridge then back towards Chiswick.  By this time we were frozen and needed to warm up in a toasty pub.  

Happy Sean with his beer. 

Mom with her wine, Dad with his beer.
Everyone happy that they were thawing out.

   We were lucky and got a seat next to one of the fireplaces.  There was a football game playing on the big screen.  Between the tiredness, coldness and excitement their first beers and wine were well deserved.  Yup...that's right...Dad had a beer!  We hung out in the pub for a while then walked across the street for an early meal.  Sunday roast.  

At Sunday Roast but way too tired to keep eyes open for
a photo. So....might as well take one with eyes completely
closed. Cheers!

Roast and Yorkshire pudding!
Fork in your left hand!

     It was a delicious meal but despite it only being 5:30 pm everyone was tired and falling asleep.  It was back to the flat for us where we relaxed and forced our eyes open till a decent bed time.  We tried to plan out our trip for the rest of the week but quickly realized that there was just so much to do.  Hopefully the weather will cooperate and we can get some good sight seeing in!  Cheers to London!

13/2/11 - Getting ready for guests

     Today was overcast and drizzly and a good day to sleep in.  The weekend hooligans are calming down out there but a few were lingering about last night.  We fell asleep with our skylight open and I'm pretty sure we heard some foxes mating out back.  It was followed by a little dog barking; also upset that he was woken up in the middle of the night.  We were warned about these mating foxes and the noises they produce.  I'm wondering if that's what I really heard.  It was quite a unique sound.  If it weren't mating foxes then I don't want to know what it really was...it haunts my ears.
      Our only plans for today were to head to IKEA to grab a couple of items to top off the downstairs bedroom/office and get it ready for our first house guests.  After lazing about the flat and eating our daily dose of multigrain-cheerios we headed out to the tube.  I grabbed my camera to test some of my new knowledge.  I had that Jack Johnson line in the back of my head..."clouds bring the F-stop blues."  Not quite sure if I understand it all yet, aperture, ISO, f-stops, etc etc etc.  We waited a bit for our train to come so I had a chance to play around on the platform:

Our stop. 

Playing around with passing trains.

I kind of like this one. It's ghostly.  

A handsome man waiting for the next train.

A couple of stops down.  Not a very cheery scene.  I see this photo
and Beirut's song  "Mount Wroclai (Idle Days)" pops into my head.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s1QYXlRzNS0

    

Sean on his iPhone, double checking our route. 

      We rode the train to the end and then had to hop on a bus for the final leg of our journey.   Last time we tried this route it had been snowing.  We passed hundreds of snowmen rolled in the parks and got kicked off the bus about a half mile into our trip.  That was the day we trudged 5 through snow in sneakers, uphill both ways, with a bear chasing us, swearing off IKEA.  This time things went smoothly.  I even had enough time to study the road while waiting for the 112 bus:

Waiting for the bus.  They have yellow lines here.  They also have red lines and zig zag lines.

      IKEA was packed but after three previous trips and a shopping list in hand we went straight for what we needed.  We knew that place so well that we even went off the arrowed main path and zig zagged first off to the book shelves.   We got the "Billy" in red.  Yes, red.  It is bright.  But it's cheery.  There was no time wasted upstairs and we booked it right down to the furnishings where we picked up extra towels, compforter cover, pillows, bed sheets, and more picture frames.  The total trip time was 3 hours from door to door. Not. bad. at. all.
      Tonight we're just hanging out.  Washing all the new linens and making a list of things we need to do before my parents come to visit. (sooooooo excited!!!!!!!!)  I built the bookshelf and did a pretty shotty job.  I wasn't following directions well and the rich yellow tail wine went straight to my head.  Whatever. It's a red bookshelf.  You can't take it too seriously.
     We don't have anything big planned for Valentine's Day.  We've treating each other to little surprises throughout the weekend; bottles of wine, wine glasses, reams of printer paper, and brownies:

I got this idea from the almighty Smitten Kitchen blog.....

  

Belly button brownies.  Chocolate brownies and white chocolate brownies
with hearts cut out then swapped around.
That's two batches of brownies.  They are almost gone.  Wayyyyyyy too good!

       This time next week my parents will be here visiting.  We are both so excited to have guests and to "show" them around London.  By then the brownies will be gone and I think I'll be caught up with laundry.  Yes, laundry hangs over my head like you wouldn't believe.  But yes yes, can't wait for guests!   Sean and I will get to do sightseeing, go to pubs, take walks by the river and just get out there. So excited. This is the mood I'm in right now:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NMu3MahqXUg

10/2/11 Washing Windows

   The other day it was warm and sunny here.  Sean and I shunned ourselves inside for the morning and watched our neighbors wash their windows.  It was kind of painful to watch and I can't imagine their windows are that clean now.  It just didn't seem THAT effective:

    I went to my first photo class tonight.  It was just me and some other dude.  The teacher went over the basics of the basics which is what I needed.  I'm hoping that tomorrow it'll be a little sunny out or at least not raining so I can get out and explore with my camera.  I also learned another valuable lesson:  Do not go out alone without your phone.  If your photo class starts late, ends even later, and you stroll home then expect to come home to a very very worried Sean.  I'm just not attached to my mobile the way some people are and we were expecting the class to be done by 8:30pm...but...I got home after 10pm.  Here are some photos I took on the way home:

   Well I don't have much to say tonight.  It's kind of late here and I just decided to make sweet  potato fries and that's all I can focus on right now.  MMMmmmmm they smell so good and I'm so hungry  mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

7/2/11 Boring Monday

   Not much has been happening here.   The weather has been mild, a little dreary at times but not that bad overall.  Sean had a little lull with work so we've been filling our days with hot yoga, shopping for a new climbing gym and walks around town (more trips back to the art store).  I'm finally caught up with laundry even though I continue to curse our teeny tiny washing machine that takes all day to cycle and always seems to do a half-assed job of cleaning our clothes.  The drying rack has had a constant rotation of clothing going.  Exciting news...I know.  We finally got our new IKEA mattress and bed frame set up and it's been such an improvement from the teeny tiny mattress we had when we moved in.  I'm sleeping a bit better but still have a hard time falling asleep and continue to toss and turn throughout the night.  I thought for sure that with this nicer mattress and the increase of my exercise routine I'd be sleeping more soundly but not yet.  Along with the tossing and turning I am also having really vivid dreams.  The other night I had such a realistic dream about sailing on our little old Kestrel with my dad and we sailed through a patch of seaweed by the yacht club and the wooden rudder popped off.  Then next thing you know my dad is in the water and I'm just drifting to the dock cutting through all the weeds.  Gah I hated that darn patch of weeds in the mooring field. My dad didn't seem to mind treading water as it was a sunny day out and I made it to the dock slowly, steering with just the sails.  I should keep a dream journal.  I always say this but I think I'm going to start.
   The landlord told us that tomorrow some guy will be stopping by to pick up the old mattress, the kid sized "couches, and the rickety mini dresser to get them outta here!  Poor Sean has them piled up in his office which now looks like a cave.  I have successfully taken over the living room/kitchen with paints and tiny containers of pre-mixed paint. We are breaking in the cushions on the two armchairs nicely.  but really though, it's the ottoman that makes those chairs really comfy.  Yes, we're settling in.
    I seem to have become very protective of our little alley.  I don't know if the hooligans don't come around as much or if I've just gotten used to the noise but it doesn't seem to be as out of control as it was before.  We find a few empty nips of jack daniels now and then but no more piles of poop.  Thank goodness.  When I do hear a noise though you better believe I'm sticking my head out the window trying to see if someone is there or if the noise is just carrying from the street. Get out of my alley.  Apparently my personal space bubble extends far beyond our doors.  The other night I was not feeling sleepy so I decided to get some more laundry done.  Sean was away for the night doing some cases and I figured I'd get some work done.  As I was coming down the stairs I peeked out of the front door and noticed a guy urinating into the little drain.  My first thought was "oh that's nice that you're not pissing on our house and actually aiming for the drain" then I quickly shifted gears and thought "what the hell man, use a bathroom not MY alley!"  I turned the light on in the Sean's office which overlooks the alley and then jiggled the handle of the door as if I was going to open it and come out there and shoe him away.  He got pretty freaked and left in a hurry.  Ha! I scared him! I scared him with my threat of opening the door! I hope he peed on himself.  Just because it's dark back there doesn't mean no one is watching!  There was another incident during the weekend that got me annoyed too.  It was Saturday afternoon and I was in the living room doing some painting when I heard a lot of shouting out front.  So naturally I opened the curtains and watched as a parking cop gave hell to this guy who decided to park half way into the alley and block the side walk.  Boy was this guy angry, he did NOT want a ticket.  Which is understandable but dude, just go park on the road like everyone else does.  The guy drives away, the parking cop walks away.  About two minutes later the guy drives back and pulls into our alley far enough to get off the sidewalk but far in enough to the alley to block any space for people to get through.  Really dude? This is not a parking lot. I mean car park.  Why do you think it's ok to park here? Other people use this alley to pull their cars in.  People use to it walk to their flats.  The pizza delivery guy uses it for his delivery scooter.  All day I watched as people and real estate agents came to look at the several empty flats in our alley only to gesture "hell no, not if I have to shimmy against this disgusting, dirty wall."  I wanted to yell out the window "it's not always like this! It's not a bad place to live! Really!"   I was tempted to write a nasty note and leave it on the guy's windshield but I couldn't think of anything clever to write and I'm not sure why I got so annoyed.  It's not like I needed to pull my car up to my flat.  It's not like he left a pile of poop.  Don't mess with MY alley folks.  Don't even think about it.
    Aside from my alley lookout it's been quiet here.  Sean and I had been planning a trip to go snowboarding somewhere in the Alps and even hauled our snowboards, boots, helmets, everything back with us to London.  We ditched that idea pretty quickly when our neighbors planted an idea in our heads to go somewhere warm, with beaches and sun.  Somewhere like the Canary Islands.  Forget cold snow! Give me some sun and ocean!  Always a sucker for that water.  Sean and I always ask each other "if you had the option to have a view of mountains out your window or the ocean which would you choose?  The answer is always WATER.  This year is my golden birthday...I'll be 28 on the 28th so we're calling this my birthday trip.  I can not wait and it'll give us an even bigger reason to keep up with the smart eating and daily exercise.  We have the flights booked, the hotel booked and even a little rental car ready to go.  Sean keeps talking about nude beaches and I'm not sure if he's joking or not.  I can not wait!  Canary Islands!
    Well that's really all that's been happening.  We are both getting totally excited for my parents to visit and we'll need a trip to Ikea to buy a couple of bedding items for the guest bed.  I think we are in Ikea withdrawl.   Right now the dishwasher is going. First time.  I kept forgetting that it was there and finally decided to give it a try.  We don't even have enough dishes though to fill it so I feel a little guilty for running it.  Oh well. Hey maybe it'll give me more time to blog about our oh so exciting life here. Laundry! Dishwashers! Quiet alleys! Woo hoo!  Maybe the nude beach post will be a little more entertaining ;)

2/2/11: Home is wherever there is you

     It has been a long time since I sat down to blog.  Longer than I realized and all that time seems to have just slipped by.  Sean and I spent a few weeks back in the States traveling from one family to the next visiting everyone for Christmas and New Years.  London to Boston to Conneteticut to Boston to New York to Ohio to Boston, spending precious time with family and dear friends.  Planes, trains and well more planes.  Shortly after New Year's Eve Sean and I had to part ways.  He had to head back to the UK to jump right back into work and I stayed behind with my family in New York to wait for my visa to come through.  Eventually it did come in the mail and Sean came back to Boston to straighten out some passport issues he was having.  By the end of January we were back on the plane together to London.
     The flight was EMPTY.  I'm talking 35 passengers max.  Everyone had a row to themselves to stretch out, sleep and watch airplane movies.  Most importantly though, no one was coughing or sneezing on me.  We landed later at night and driving up to our apartment felt nice and familiar.  Nothing was open that late so we had to spring for a cheesey greasey pizza.  Inside the flat I found a nice lovely surprise waiting for me.  Sean had gone out and bought me a little easel and a few new canvases then set them up in the corner of the kitchen.  I have now taken over that space and call it my "studio".

I love our red bowl or oranges.  Perhaps those should become
a still life study.

   Well, we've been back for about a week now.  We are filling our days with laundry and unpacking, exercising and cooking tasty meals together.  We went on a splendid double dinner date with our neighbors and even went climbing in a castle.  Sean also discovered a fully stocked art store in our town which had everything and anything.  The ex-art-store employee in me was dying to organize their shelves and floors but I held back.  I found an ad at the counter for a life drawing class (wine and snacks included) on Tuesday nights.  I must check it out.

Hopefully 2011 will be filled with a little more art.

     Sean gave me some wonderful gifts for Christmas including a pass for yoga and photography classes!  The photo sessions start next Thursday and we just made our debut back to the hot steamy yoga room and struggled through those heart pounding 90 minutes.  My sleep schedule is completely messed up.  I want to take naps at 7pm but then I can't fall asleep till 2 or 3 am.  I guess it doesn't matter that much that my schedule is so off but it is pretty embarrassing when the mailman wakes up you at noon to deliver a package and you come to the door with sleepy hair and red pajamas.  With all the exercise we've been doing I thought for sure I'd get on a good schedule but no such luck.  Oh and the terrible bed we have does not make for a peaceful night's rest.  (We get our new mattress tomorrow!!!!!!) Needless to say I drift in and out of being really perky then really sleepy.  Bleh!
     The weather here has been mild with the sun shining every now and then.  It seems like we left the States at the right time.  We would have been stranded by 40 feet of snow no matter where we were.  Sean just popped in to tell me he wants to go out for a run tomorrow because it's supposed to be in the mid 40's.  Not too shabby eh?   Tuesday we went out for lunch and during our walk I noticed several trees blossoming and new bulbs poking up.  People still have pansies and primroses out in their planters and I am anxious to see what spring looks like here.  This morning (we set the alarm for 8am) I heard birds singing outside somewhere.
    My parents will be coming to visit towards the end of February and we are busy putting a schedule together.  How much can we pack into a few short days? It will be a marathon. I wonder how this jet lag will work for my folks? Sean and I are both excited to finally get out and do some touristy stuff and see the sites of this great city.  Money, tickets, passport! Money, tickets, passport!
    We are getting back into the swing of things and so far 2011 isn't too shabby.  Waiting for that visa was tough though. I honestly can't remember the last time Sean and I spent so much time apart.  It was tough.  Really tough. I think tougher for Sean though.  You see, I had plenty of distractions which came in the forms of energetic nephews, trips to the pool with my father, struggling through new knitting patterns with my mother and treacherous drives into the heart of Ohio to visit my sis.  Sean had a quiet flat and a city that was still all too new.  Being home with my family for those few weeks was wonderful but I started feeling homesick.  Homesick for London, for the home we had just started to settle into before we left for the holidays and more importantly homesick for my sweetheart.  During the past six or seven years I have moved so many times, to new cities, to new apartments every year and now to a new continent.  It always fumbled me up where I should call home.  Boston? Dunkirk? London?  One day I heard this song on the radio and it had summed it up for me.  I even remember where I was and where Sean was.  I was home in West Roxbury and Sean was away on business.  Funny thing though, when he got home from his trip he said "Hey I heard this new song...." "No way! Sean, I heard this new song".  Now it's not so new and its awesomeness is blowing up but to me it will always be our song and it will always make me tear up when I hear it.
This one's for you Sean <3  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qb9jY8yAxgs&feature=related
(oh and these guys will be in London....hopefully we can catch their show)

14/12/10 Barcelona: Day 3

      I was moving a little slower on Tuesday after our late night out.  I had plans to go to the Picasso museum then just walk down by the water.  These plans did not need any immediacy so I took my time waking up and getting down to breakfast.  Sean was already gone for the day and again I sat down in the hotel eating my breakfast alone.  I studied the map once again making sure not to get lost.  Barcelona is not that complicated of a city but for some reason I just keep getting turned around.
    I only made a few wrong turns then found the museum.  I'm not a huge huge fan of Picasso but it I took my time going through the museum.  It started with his really early work, things he did when he was still a young boy and in school.  Then you work your way through his life and career. I loved his later stuff when he seemed to really have fun with his art and my favorite was the collection of the ceramics he did.  The museum took me two and half hours to get through and at the end I was hungry and ready to get outside.

    Finding the Sea wasn't hard and I didn't need my map to find some water.  My first view of the sea was at Port Vell where they were busy setting up for the Barcelona World Race.  It's a sailboat race around the world, with boats having only a crew of two.  It starts on the 31st of December so we were just off by a few weeks. They were building a giant dome filled with exhibits and entertainment.  I think they take sailing a little more serious here.  Too bad we couldn't be there to see the start.   Port Vell was PACKED with sailboats. PACKED!  Once I hit the water I continued walking along the shore.  The weather was overcast and quite chilly.  I sat on the boardwalk and watched the surfers for a while.  It was so nice and relaxing to just stare into the waves and let everything sink in.

Surfers and a crazy looking hotel.

I wasn't the only one sitting and enjoying the relaxing day.

Cement seats on the beach to enjoy the view. 

A big fish.

The boardwalk running the length of the beach.  So many people out

 running and biking!

Pigeon pigeon green parrots.

Another port. Boats were crammed in there.

Sunset back at Port Vell.

Can you find Columbus?

Barcelona World Race boats and the giant dome being built in the back there.

Lovely, just lovely!

(Ok, I'm back to the computer and back to the blog.  It's been over a month since I began writing this post and I have obviously lost all train of thought.  Needless to say the last day in Barcelona was fabulous.  Sean did not have to work and I dragged him to Sagrada Familia and then for a walk down along the boardwalk.  What a gorgeous city and hopefully some day we will back to visit and check on the cathedral's progress.)

13/12/10 Barcelona: Day 2

      Ok, I have quite a few photos so we'll see how all this fits and uploads.  I've also had to significantly bump down the resolution of the photos but now I'm thinking that I really need to print some of these out.  Maybe even give them a touch of photoshop to spruce them up.  I am by no means close to knowing what I am doing with a camera and I would like to say that these photos do not do these great works much justice.  Maybe you can get a sense, or a hint of this awesomeness, but really nothing compares to seeing this art and archeticture in it's element and my photos are a far cry from capturing it all.    That's one of the things we always talked about while studying art history.  You can look at pictures of famous paintings and sculptures in books and study them and try to learn from them, try to understand them. But you don't really get a sense of them till you are standing in front of them in the museum, or stand within the walls of some great church and see it in person.  It's like a whole new work of art.  The art becomes real as you see its true size, the way the light hits it in the early morning, the brushstrokes, the sheen of the polished marble, your senses are overwhelmed as you are now including smell, sound, and touch along with sight. It's the same idea as looking at a big mountain in a book.  The picture may be beautiful but it is a whole complete experience when you are actually there hiking up it.
        When Monday morning in Barcelona rolled around I had a good idea of how to approach the day.  Sean unfortunately had to leave early to go to several meetings at the local hospitals so I was left to the exploring on my own.   I woke up early and ate a quick breakfast in the hotel.  I had my guidebook out and planned my route to the Sagrada Familia while sipping the rest of my "coffee with milk".  I was so incredibly anxious and giddy.  I had been reading all I could and the more I learned the more fascinated I became.  Gaudi sounded like my kind of guy and I only expected the best from this creation of his.  From experience I've learned that you need to get to these famous places early and beat the tour bus crowds.  The worst thing in the world is trying to stand and admire something  breathtaking while little runty school kids shout ungrateful obscenities behind you.  I'm glad I was up "early" and ready to run across town.
        The church opened at 9 am and I hoped to be at its doors shortly after.  I left the hotel and got swept up in the hustle of everyone trying to make it to work on a Monday morning in the city of Barcelona.  It was warm out with an over cast sky but the sun was gently trying to peak out.  Scooters were flying everywhere and everyone had a mission and direction, including myself.  I sort of knew where I was going but it's hard to keep looking at your guidebook when all you want to do it look up and admire.  I got turned around a bit and overshot my street which added an excrutiating 15 minutes to my trip.  I was racing against those tour buses!  I started to get a bit nervous and angry that I didn't pay more attention to the map from the get go but then there I saw it, a set of cranes (machine, not the bird) looming over the street about ten blocks away.  THAT'S where I needed to be.  I passed a few schools and dodged parents and toddlers then there I was.  I came up on the Passion facade, a representation of death.      

The Passion facade.  Completed after Gaudi died.  The sculptures were done
by a man named Josep Maria Subirachs who spent over a year studying
Guadi's work so he could get a sense of what Guadi would have wanted.
The facade tells the story of Jesus' passion from the last super up to his
death on the cross.  This face is very stark and feirce looking meaning to
give grief to the church goers and remind them of the pain and suferring
endured for them.  It's a cold humbling view. 

Judas kisses Jesus to alert the guards which man they need to take.
The artist wanted to keep these forms subtle, as if you were viewing
them in the dark since it was night in the garden when this scene took
place.  Notice the snake at Judas' feet portraying his evil.  The square
of numbers is a cryptogram.  If you add up any row, diaganol,
horizontal, vertical, you get the number 33, the age Jesus was when he died. 

This is the scene where Peter betrays three times.
The work is all so symbolic throughout the entire church.
Every corner means something.  Here you see apostle
perched on the corner, hunched over, shrouded in shame. 

Oh shameful Peter!

A dog at the Last Supper scene meant to represent the
loyalty of the apostles towards Jesus.  Pretty interesting style eh?  

You can sort of get a good idea of the scale of these statues.  

There were several sets of doors to enter the church from this side.
This is me standing in front of  one of them.  

A detail of the door.  They were cast with scripture which
narrates the scenes depicted on the facade.
Probably the most unique church doors I've ever seen.  

These were more doors.  There were four sets total.
Two with scripture then these were on the outer side.
This one depicts the crowning of thorns.   

Detail of the cast door.  Perhaps the crown of thorns?
I want a front door like this but maybe
with a more uplifting subject matter. 

Detail of the cast door.  I'm sure you can figure
out some symbolism here. 

Just so creative and different.  Every inch is detailed
and beautiful with chains or every size,
plants, leaves, keys and little trinkets. 

The first thing I did when I got to the church was buy
my ticket then go right to the lifts to the top of the towers.
 I asked the lady at the booth if I could take the stairs to the
top and she told me that it was impossible. Impossible? Ya
 right! I can handle some stairs!  I later found out that you
couldn't walk UP because the stairs went in one direction,
down, to avoid traffic jams on the narrow passageways.  
The lift to the top of the towers was really shaky but the
view was astounding.  This is a photo looking over the
sea as the sun tries to peak out.  Right now there are only
a handful of towers built.  In the end there will be 18 total.
12 dedicated to the apostles, 4 to evangelists and then one
for Mary and one for Jesus. Jesus' tower will be the highest.
I went up in one of the apostle towers and although these are
some of the shorter ones you can still
get a great view and a bit of vertigo.  

Current construction.  What a mess! How do they
make sense of it all? I think these construction scenes were
 just as interesting to see as the finished building.   So, you
go up an elevator in one tower then take a few stairs down
where you cross on a little arch to the next tower.  Then you
go up a little more then cross over and go down a little more
then cross over and go up a little...etc...etc... Up down up
down weaving your way towards the bottom through two
towers.  I got lost and my leg cramped.  I was also glad that
I got there pretty early because I could only
imagine crowds trying to get through these tight spaces.  

So complicated. 

I'm not sure which spire this is but you can see some of
the mosaic work.  Guadi ordered that all tile come from
Murano, Venice since it was of the highest quality glass
in the world.  I can only imagine being that high up and
trying to mosaic.  Such detail so high
up! I hope pigeons don't poop all over it!

Some guys working on the spires.  This was taken on the
last day of our trip when I came back with Sean.  The
sky was so blue that day but I figured I'd
add in the photos.  Imainge rapelling from that!

Barcelona!

Fruit to represent the fruit of the Holy Spirt or something like that.  

Someone was hanging off of this tower.
These colors were so stunning and bright in the sunlight.

An apostle on one of the towers.

Long way down and I wasn't even at the top.  Once the
church is done it will be twice the height of what it is now. 

Sean in the narrow tiny staircase in the towers.
Again, he wasn't here with me on this day but I'm adding
the photos.  Gaudi wanted a lot of light and ventilation
in this church and as you can see he did a pretty good job
considering where we were.  The vents slanted down
allowed sound to flow out of the bell towers
and the ringing to be heard throughout the entire city.   

Spiral stairs leading down the last of the tower into
the church.  There was a handrail on the outer edge and
the marble on the inner edge was worn smooth from
everyone's hands touching it.  See the resemblance of
a spiral shell? Guadi was really
talented at replicating nature in his architecture.  

Inside.  Gaudi loved nature  and wanted to make it
feel like you were in a forest. He did a pretty darn good job.  

A side wall covered in windows.  The surfaces separating
the windows were not flat though.  They had convex
angles and edges which helped
to deflect light and illuminate the interior.  

A view looking towards the alter.  Since the original
design of the church was a classic gothic cathedral,
the plan called for  flying buttresses to support the
walls and vaults of the church.  When Gaudi took
over he did not want these eye sore buttresses so he
designed his columns to hold all the weight.  He
looked to trees as inspiration and slightly tilted and
spiraled the columns.  He was then able to remove the
buttresses from the original plans.  To do all this he
came up with an ingenious system to study weight and
angles.  I'll talk about that in a little bit
with the photos from the museum of the church.  

The ceiling which was designed to allow natural
light in and resemble the canopy of a forest.  It was
 also very light in weight.  This is a good view to
see how the tops of the columns
branched out like trees.  Imagine! Branching columns!

I like how everything is sort of monotone.  The
columns were different color due to use of different
stone for different weight bearing needs but the
 rest of the interior was quite white.  You didn't need much color.  

Another view.  You can see why not
much decoration on the inside was needed. 

You can see the different colored columns
here.  The pink being the biggest and strongest. 

Above the altar. 

A view from the altar to the other end. 

LIGHT

Me in the middle.

Holy water. 

Sean checking out the organ pipes. 

In the crypt.  This part was very first
thing to be built.  Guadi is buried here.  

After going through the Church and up the towers
I came out on the Nativity Facade side.  Wow. So
much to look at here and as you have guessed it
depicts the birth of Jesus.  This was the first facade
to be built and Gaudi was
still alive while it was under construction.

A detail of the Nativity.
I LOVE the horse head trying to get a peak.  

Old construction meets new construction.

Me petting Myrtle the Sea Turtle.

Detail, detail, detail.

The gargoyles weren't monsters but reptiles and
slimy animals.  They were meant to represent
evil and were always faced pointing down as if
they were running away from Jesus and the Holy
Spirit.  It also probably helped in
directing the flow of water down, not up. 

Dripping with detail.

The tree of life at the top of the Nativity facade.

A view of Barcelona from behind the tree of life. 

The tour of the church wasn't over yet.  There is a
museum underneath with models and drawings and
this nifty display.   When Gaudi wanted to redesign
his columns to eliminate the need for flying buttresses
he used string and evenly measured bags of lead pellet
to study displacement.  Then he could use the
curve of the strings to recreate the columns.  What a genius.  

The studio where they are still working to this day
on models.  When Gaudi was working he literally
moved into the church so he could work around the
clock.  He also did everything through models.  He
rarely drew up a blue print but instead built plaster
models.  Work has sped up due to
computer technology but they still use his models. 

Plaster everywhere you look.  What a fun
place to work though! Imagine THIS being your job!

A portrait of Gaudi.  Love it!

Sean in front of a model.  They used two scales 1:10 and 1:25. 

Sketch for the Passion facade.   Josep Maria Subirachs
who did the sculptures also moved into the church, like
Gaudi.  This guy really wanted to channel
his energy I guess.  I think it worked though. 

Very intricate model. 

    I left the church exhausted, hungry, and parched.  What an experience though.  It was all I was hoping for and more.  I felt so lucky to be able to see this place while it was still being built.  Maybe we'll be back to see how the work is going and watch it's progress.  Once it is finished it will really be a sight to see.   I bought a book from the gift shop then pushed my way through the accumulated crowds and headed north to the Park Guell, another Gaudi masterpiece.  When I left I was so overwhelmed and drained and I promised myself that once I made to the park I would get something to eat in the cafe.  That was a dumb idea.  The walk to the park was all uphill and it wasn't the prettiest of walks.  At least I was smart enough to keep my face in the guidebook and NOT get lost.  The park was gorgeous but the sun was still hiding behind the clouds.  I was glad I went to the church first thing in the morning because then I had this park to stroll through and just enjoy.  So, this park was designed by Guadi for a friend's private garden and during his time was considered a huge failure.  Really? I wouldn't mind having a back yard like that.  I don't know too much about it's history but it was a nice relaxing afternoon after the flood of emotions in Sagrada Familia.  On my way out of the park the sun came out and the colors just came alive! This section will be mostly photos and probably not a lot of talk which is pretty much what I was feeling at that point.  Just enjoying the sites. Letting it all sink in.  

The entrance to the park.  

A person dressed up as a lizard. 

Palm motif that Guadi used for the gates. 

That building is now the gift shop. 

EVERYONE taking photos in front of the famous lizard. 

Up on top.  Everyone was selling shit.
The park is free to enter so come on in!

The famous wavey benches covered in
mosaics surrounding the whole upper level. 

Yup people still taking photos with the lizard. 

A house in the park.  Gaudi
lived here for a couple of years.
That sculpture can be found on the
Nativity facade of Sagrada Familia. 

Those look familiar!

Furniture in the house.

Geometric studies made by Gaudi. 

Floor tiles.  Kind of remind me of mom's kitchen ;)

These are the types of door knobs he designed.....

Now there's a planter!

A view of the pink house. 

More arches and secret places. 

One last view before leaving the park. 

Leaving the park and finding a pretty purple house. 

Someone else's version of the
Nativity in their front yard. Love it. 

    What a long day! After meditating through the park I headed downhill.  I knew for sure I would not get lost heading back to the hotel but of course I did.  I was incredibly lazy and didn't even pull out my guidebook.  Instead I decided to follow some other English folk.  Hey we should all be going to the same place right?  What the hell was I thinking?  I decided to leave them after I watched them come dangerously close to getting hit by cars several times.  I made it back to the hotel, soaked my feet in an ice bath and cracked open my new book on Sagrada Familia.  I read the whole thing right there in the hotel room while drinking a coke and watching Captain Ron on the tv.  Captain Ron was dubbed over in Spanish and it was really entertaining.  The little boy sounded like a chipmunk.  Sean sent me a message saying I was invited out to dinner with him, his boss and a couple other doctors they were doing business with.  I got ready and met Sean and his boss downstairs at the hotel bar before we went out.  Dinner reservations were for 8:30pm so we had some time to kill.  The three of us took our drinks up to the roof top pool and enjoyed the evening view.  Oh here is a photo Sean took of the pool when we first got to the hotel. 

    It was such a gorgeous night out!  A bit chilly but it was great to finally meet Sean's boss Karl and talk to him about living in London and traveling.  He helped us make a list of "must see places" which seems to constantly be getting longer and longer the more we talk to people.  

    We called a cab and headed to one of the busier streets in town. I don't even know the name of the restaurant that we went to but once we were inside we knew we were somewhere memorable.  The house looked like it was designed by Gaudi himself but the host quickly gave us a tour of the place and told us it was one of Gaudi's students who designed it.  Me, Sean and Karl had the place to ourselves as we waited for the rest of the guests to arrive.  We drank more wine, had some Iberian cured meats and chit chatted.  This place was fancy, the guy at the door even took my coat off for me.  The rest of our guests arrived around 9 and two out of the three men barely spoke English but they were so friendly and there were plenty of people there to translate for me and Sean.  The menus arrived and I almost fell over.  50 Euros for an appetizer?? 100 for a main course. Holy Moly. What did we just get ourselves into?  Sean and I stared at the menus for a while but they took them away and the man in charge decided to do all the ordering for us.  Thank God! I think!  We started with a really nice red wine.  I can't remember what it was, I pretended to know what was I drinking. We had more cured meats which melted in your mouth and little fried potato things.  Then came more tapas of shrimp, clams, and little plates of shells with tiny mellon balls.  I tried it all and despite my fear of oysters and clams it was REALLY good.  I also realized that these guys weren't too serious since the one on my right, Franchesk, challenged me to a sword fight with one of the wooden skewers. I could relax a little more and enjoy myself. I was so nervous, I am not used to being this fancy. But next came the sea urchin.  My favorite dish of the night.  It was like a little creamy soup in the shell of the cut open urchin spikes and all still stuck on the sides.  Sooooooo good! It tasted like creamy scallops and something green.  It was like nothing I had ever tried before.  The mini meals kept coming and we kept eating as they cleared plates and silverware then put new forks and spoons down followed by a new plate of food.  I felt like I was on some food network show eating delicacies and meals prepared to perfection.  The main meal was a beef type of dish.  Again, I'm not exactly sure what to call it but the meat melted in your mouth and it was just plain and simply delicious.  I felt full even though every meal they brought out could fit onto two spoons.  THEN dessert came! A little mini display on each plate of mango sorbet and something chocolately and who knows what the other things were! Ohhhh I love dessert and this was sooooo good.  This was the perfect end to the day.  At that point the bottles of wine stopped coming and we ordered capuchinos and espresso. The other doctor spoke to the waiter in quick Spanish or French, who knows, about bringing out their best cognac. I only had a sip of Sean's but it was tasty.  A hundred year old cognac.  The guys talked business and I reflected on my full day of sight seeing.  A second bottle was brought out and Sean and I had to hold back yawns.  It was now 1 am and wayyyy past our bedtime.  Finally the food was all eaten the drinks were all drunk and one of the other guys picked up the bill.  I could only imagine what it came to. I can only imagine but boy was that some amazing food.