Right outside the hostel.
Already, I have been climbing!
And it did not stop there!
And then I was higher.
Climbing stairs like these
I almost made it to the museum, crossing through a lovely park with this fountain...
and these lovely columns...
And this nice fountain, too! Unfortunately, the gate was locked, so I had to retrace my steps and find another route!
Fortunately, the other route resulted in this view.
And outside the museum, I found this view!
I visited the art museum, the MNAC, which was quite good. I spent more time than I meant to, exploring the rooms and reading all the signs. I was surprised to be able to understand the Spanish! I could read all the signs with relative ease, which was a relief, because the curation was quite good. I could not, however, read the Catalan, which was the first language on everything!
At MNAC, I saw art like this...
and art like this...
And some art like this...
and even something I would swear is Ingres due to the position, if not for the fact that it was by a Catalan artist.
They even had a nice collection of Goya furniture. I think he tried hard to make sure nobody would stub their toes on the corners.
Afterwards, I made my way to the Miró foundation, which was fantastic. Even though it was getting late for lunch, I knew I had to go! It was well worth it.
A Miró statue and a view. Not bad for a museum.
Then, I made my way down to look for lunch. This was quite an endeavor, as the park going down is just as much a maze as the park going up! I found several nice places, some of which took me the wrong way, but it was well worth it!
I descended this lovely staircase, with water running down troughs on the bannisters.
And only in Barcelona would ALL the sidewalks be decorated. Everywhere. With different designs!
Back in the city, I had a bit of a hard time finding something that was both tasty and affordable. Eventually, desperate at 14h30, I stopped for paella. It was affordable, and not bad, although if I had wanted to pay twice the price, around €14 minimum, I could have found better paella. Honestly, I was happy to have something warm in my stomach! I burned my tongue, and it was still worth it.
My paella.
I headed back to the sea side, where I strolled through the antique market on my way to the seaside. I wandered a bit, then headed through the Barri Gothic to the hostel to put some stuff down and get water (because it is impossible to find water in Barcelona!). After walking all morning, I was quite thirsty.
I found beautiful copper pots. A bit above my price range, alas!
View from my hostel window. Plaça Real.
I then set off to walk to the Sagrada Familia. I was quite tired by this point, so the going was slow, and I stopped several times to look at architecture. Barcelona is one of the most gratuitously decorated places I have ever seen in my life, so there was no shortage of interesting buildings to admire.
A building.
The Sagrada Familia, complete with cranes!
It was quite nice in the evening light!
I was quite hungry as well, but unwilling to spend money. Luckily, I chanced upon a bakery that was selling 5 fartons for €1, so I partook. I walked a bit and sat down on some lovely benches outside a nice little church to enjoy them. Afterwards, I continued along the street, enjoying the sights. I ended up by the Arc de Triomf, and then headed into the labyrinthine neighborhood to search for the church Santa Maria del Mer.
A farton. I think that was the name. I could be wrong.
The church I sat before. It was lovely.
These benches are great. Grass grows between the tiles, which means that it is a permeable surface; there should be more of these!
I found the Arc de Triomf (yes, it's int here. At the end)
People hang their laundry on balconies. Hooray for sustainability! I am in favor. Oh, and the Catalan flags are everywhere. EVERYWHERE.
I found the church eventually, and entered. It is one of the most incredible examples of gothic architecture I have ever seen. Exhausted, I spent half an hour resting on a pew, admiring the church and listening to the organ pump out a chorale every few minutes.
Talk about lofty.
This was huger in person.
My french guidebook told me there were a couple good tapas places nearby. I found one of them, and was skeptical, but the book recommended it, and so far I had shared the writer's taste in sites, so I figured I would go with it; it was cheap! Let's just say that, afterwards, my confidence in my guide's gastronomic expertise was greatly diminished.
My tapas, take 1
Tapas take 2 (still hungry…)
Then, I went back to the hostel. They give free dinners every night, so I had that (because free food is good food) and it was actually quite tasty. I sat with a medical student from Argentina and a psychology student from Greece who now lives in Toulouse named Natalia. We had a great time and Natalia gave us several recommendations since she had been here since Tuesday. She recommended pinxhos, which will be important tomorrow, for a cheap and delicious lunch.
I then went to my room to work and was woken at 1h30am, on my computer, by the Brazilian man who was messing around noisily with his locker, the light glaring in my face.
Today, by the way, is worthy of note; there is no use getting further behind! I spent the morning at home working, and then left in time to meet my friend for lunch near ISEP. However, her mère d'accueil insisted on feeding her, so I bought myself a baguette. She had gotten me a bar of cognac dark chocolate as a gift, so I couldn't be mad!
We walked over to the Musée D'Orsay for our class, where we studied Manet, tramping across the museum from side to side and from bottom to top. Afterwards, my friend and I walked back, stopping for cheesecake at the nearby boulangerie because, after all, it was a long day! We then spent the entire afternoon working, which was quite useful, especially since we are going to London tomorrow! We left around 19h30 to go to the Cinéma Balzac just off Champs Elysées for our French class. We watched the film "Timbuktu" which was extremely disturbing with its violent imagery, but fantastically well-executed and certainly worth seeing. On that somber note, I went home, had the same dinner as last night (because I am not above leftovers when I have work to do!), and have been working ever since. Pictures exist. However, it requires huge amounts of effort to insert them. It is 2am. Tomorrow.
