Spain Part II - Montserrat

On Day 2, James and I took a small detour from Barcelona. We went to Montserrat, a monestary that lies within the mountains of Catalonia. It is indescribable (and these pics don't do it justice). We took a train to the city that lies just outside of the mountains. Then we jumped on another train that slowing climbs the mountains. Once you get up there, there are a couple buildings - the actual monestary, a museum (which was being renovated), a few restaurants, a gift shop, etc. Surrounding this little group of buildings are amazingly tall rock mountain boulders on one side, and a view of Spain terrain that stretches forever on the other side. Here are a few pics...






James and I were racing to get up to Montserrat in time for the boys choir - which sing in the monastery at 1pm on Sundays. However, we missed it barely. But, we didn't miss the excellent festival that was going on. There was a live band and some sort of traditional dance performance. There were oldies, adults, youth, and little kiddies all dressed and performing to traditional Spanish music in traditional clothing. It was very cultural and very excellent.





In the monastery is the Black Madonna, which James and I waited like an hour to see in person. According to tradition, the Black Virgin of Montserrat was carved by St. Luke around 50 AD. It was then hidden in a cave until it was rediscovered in 880 AD. Legend has it that shepherds saw a bright light and heard heavenly music which led them to the statue. Pretty cool.





Here is the a shot of the rock formations from a different angle. They look like they are almost serrated. Legend has it that they were carved by angels with golden saws.



So, that is Montserrat. A Spain must-see. Gorgeous. It made me want to be a monk-ette.

Look forward to the next post - it will include Pamplona, San Sebastian, and Basque Country!!!!!!

Memorial Day

I will post more about my trip to Spain this week, but I wanted to do a Memorial Day post.

This year, Memorial Day has taken on a different meaning for me. In my nursing school clinicals this summer, I have been able to spend time at the VA. I have been able to learn more of what these veterans have really sacrificed. They have given far more than a couple years service fighting for our country. I have heard their tragic stories. I have seen the effects of war on their life. While many men have given their lives, many others are forced to live each day with haunting memories. I have been brought to tears many times this week as I sat and talked with these honorable men. I cannot express my gratitude for them.

This evening, my mom and I went to put flowers on my dads grave. We drove by the section of the cemetery with the white crosses for those that have served our country in the military. I was prouder than ever to see my dad's name among them.

So, this Memorial Day, I salute those that have served or are serving our country. I pray for you.

HIghlights of Espana - Part 1 (Barcelona)

Well, I am back from Spain. And so sad to be back. Let me first say that this trip was by far the amazing trip of my life. I love Spain so much and want to quit the USA and move there. James was the perfect little travel friend - and we had a great time. I am going to do a spotlight on the different places that we went.

If I wrote everything we did, this would be a trillion pages long. We were there for 2 days and had PACKED IN days. So, instead, I will share a couple highlights from Barcelona......

(Note: I dont have pics of the Barcelona vs. Villareal football game that we went to - but that was definitely one of the best highlights of Barcelona. James brought his camera though, but I haven't gotten his pics yet - when I do, I will post a pic or two.)



So, we flew into Barcelona - landing at like 8 am Barcelona time. We took a picture to capture our excitement of being in ESPANA!!!!




We stayed at a place called Hotel Ginebra. This is James in the little elevator - it was smashy. Our hotel was right in the square of Placa de Catalunya. It was the perfect location and our hotel room as tiny times 300. I could lay in my bed next to the wall and stick out and touch James' bed, which was against the opposite wall. We decided it was nice to have a teeny place, it made us want to be out and about more.




One of the first places we saw was Casa Batilo, a little apartment building designed by Gaudi built in the early 1900s. This is a pic of the outside. Gaudi was an amazing man. He was very forward thinking with his design. When he graduated from architecture school (or whatev is was called), his professors said he was either insane or a genius.




Here is a pic of Casa Mila - a different Gaudi building. We took a tour of this one. It was very nice and built especially with use of outdoor light as you can see here.




Here is another shot from inside. Since Gaudi wanted to use outside light, he had little courtyard/atriums in the building (I think there are 3 in this building). These courtyards allowed natural lighting to fill the apartments with light. Here is a shot looking up from one of them.




Here is a shot of some of the famous architecture on the roof of Casa Mila. As you can see from all of these pictures, Gaudi did not use a lot of sharp angles in his design. He actually used a look of curves and arches. I will not go into the process of how he did it, but it was an amazing process of how he figures the angles of his arches and curves.




Next we headed over to another Gaudi masterpiece - La Sagrada Familia. This might be one of my very favorite things about Spain. This building is indescribable. This was supposed to be Gaudi's lifetime masterpiece; however, he was not able to finish it before his accidental death. It is actually still being finished and will probably be another 10 years before it is complete. On top you can see the spires - there are twelve which represent the 12 apostles. There will be two more that will sit on top that will make the building twice as tall as it is now - one will represent the Virgin Mary and the even taller one will be in homage to Christ. Every single detail of this building - and there are millions - has religious symbolism. The inside is extraordinary. Gaudi used a lot of natural light and very tall arches. The arches are made to look like trees - as Gaudi found much inspiration from nature.




This is a view of one of the sides of the building - the Last Days and Crucifixion. This is a shot of the top of it - the crucifixion. However, the entire side of the building tells the story of the last days of Christ. Gaudi used very sharp edges and tight angles to illustrate the seriousness of the message.




This is one of the other sides of the building which represents the early years of Christ. As you can see, it is very ornate and flowing. This was done to show the happiness and hope of the youth of Christ.




Here is a mosaic of art on the ceiling of Park Guell. This was a little park that Gaudi designed - it was going to be a millionaires little gathering with many mansions built around it. However, the real estate was not sold, so it was never completely finished. The gardens around were gorgeous and the park had an amazing view of the city. Gaudi really was ahead of his time - if he had built this today it would be the richest and most successful living area in Barcelona.




Here is another view of Park Guell. James looks like funny.




We ate dinner at this little Tapas Bar that we stumbled across in Old Towne. It was excellent food. We had a lot of seafood and other Spainish-y foods. SO yummy. Oh, and I ate cheese.