We later arrived in Barcelona, got unpacked, and had a "great" group dinner at a nearby restauraunt. Hence the post title. Sal got involved in a very heated debate with a member of our travel group. He soon began to gesture wildly with a grape that was speared on the end of his fork. Unfortunately, Kevin, an innocent bystander, was seated next to Sal at the time. No one forsaw it ending well.
Bill Galloway arrived that night and we were all really really excited. He was so incredibly organized and came back our tables that night passing out our metro cards for the next three days and had maps ready for everyone. After dinner we all went back to the hotel lobby and Bill laid out a detailed map of the city. He showed us where all of the major buildings are that we should definitely hit up and gave us the schedule for the next few days.
Kit, Aaricka, and I spent the rest of the night researching buildings that we wanted to see the next day and mapping out the most efficient route on a map. We also did some sink laundry and turned out hotel room into a lovely little shantytown. God knows what the housekeepers thought.
The next morning the three of us met up with another person on the trip and set out for our first real day in Barcelona. First, we took the metro over to Sagrada Familia. Well, it wasn't as simple as that. We somehow got epically confused over the metro vs. tram stops and decided that we needed to begin at a different station than we originally planned. This resulted in a forty minute walk around Barcelona trying to find a stupid metro stop. It wasn't a complete loss though because it gave us a chance to actually look at the city. Anyway....we went to Sagrada Familia, Casa Bottla, the Richard Meier modern art musuem, the Olympic Towers, and this awesome covered market that had this crazy undulating curve making up the roof, laid out in a modern take on Moorish tiles. The market was ridiculous. I enjoyed the building itself, of course, but I was really taken by the actual market. I've never seen a place like that. There were all of these counters that were the dimensions of a normal deli counter in the States. Each one sold something different. There were several dedicated to just fish, one to lamb, three or four to beef, two to just eggs, and numerous ones for breads, fruits, and vegetables. Everything looked AMAZING!
The next day we loaded onto the bus for our trip to Igualada Cemetary. We had been lectured before on what a great building this was, but I honestly wasn't completely prepared for it. It was in a run down condition similar to the one in Morella--but this time it worked for the building, instead of against it. The initial idea behind the cemetary is that everything is transient. An obvious statement when it's taken in regard to a cemetary. But the Moralles went beyond that. He decided that his own architecture was transient and designed it to help it along that path. It seems a little counterproductive to design something with the full intention that it will be destroyed and even push it in that direction, but it really brings the whole building back into the site that I had never considered. The imperfections and the lack of upkeep only helped the building fall back into the site. In a sense, the cemetary begins to feel like an ancient ruin even though its less than forty years old. It's definitely a humbling building to visit.
After Igualada we drove up to Monserrat, an old monastery sitauted high up in the mountains. It's the Disneyland of Monasteries. I have never seen so many people in my life. We all crowded into a church in the complex to listen to a choral group perform. Dear god. There were like two hundred old Italian ladies there that didn't seem to understand the concept of NOT TALKING. BAH! Plus they're all really short and push you to get passed you. And I am very easy to knock over.
We had an awesome picnic lunch in a more secluded spot of Monserrat, overlooking a massive valley. Everyone had a little photoshoot of them doing stupid things in front of the valley because there was such a big cliff below. Zach (Nick's roommate) even took it upon himself to get off the beaten path and climbed (cigarrette in hand) down a portion of the cliff to a lower area. A lot of heckling ensued.
Our last day in Barcelona we all woke up pretty late and had a very leisurely morning. We took the metro out to the Olympic park to check out the Calatrava Tower. It was pretty cool because a) it's Calatrava and b) there was a group of college aged guys doing these crazy flips in front of tower. We decided that they were definitely ninjas.
The group met at the Barcelona Pavilion at 2 pm that day. Amazing. Amazing. Amazing. I'm way too lazy to write a whole post about that building, but it definitely deserves it. I had a great time taking pictures and sketching. We had a sketchbook review on the benches at the Pavilion that somehow turned into a sketchbook exhibition. I have to say, we felt pretty cool with all of these people picking up our sketchbooks and looking through them.
That night we had our last dinner and Bill Galloway bought everyone wine to commemorate the day. We were then treated to an architecture showdown between Bill and Sal. And let me say, there's no better way to end a meal.
