Like the title states, we woke up a bit late this morning. This wasn't too much of a problem, except the fact that I was scheduled to be back in the room by 1 o' clock to work. We went down to the desk shortly after finishing breakfast to inquire about how to get to the Park Guell and whether or not we should just take a cab. The man at the desk told us that we'd be better off catching the bus and he told us which one to get and where to hop on (just around the corner).
When we went to the bus stop it was 10 o' clock. We sat there and watched for our bus number, astonished at how we'd seen bus number 17 pass through four times and yet our bus remained to be seen. As we sat there a group of 4 American girls came up and started waiting. I would've started up a conversation with them if I'd wanted to. You could say I was pretty pessimistic again and more than a little overly critical. When these girls came up looking completely trimmed up (I chuckled to myself at the state of my bed-hair when these girls got there) I heard the English I perked up slightly. When the shortest girls foot slipped on the pavement and she stumbled the tallest blonde said (laughing), "Whoa girlfriend! Fall down!" This was the first thing I heard the blonde girl say and it was the thing that made me want to remain silent. I didn't want to talk to the girls, and they knew it. Some of you might think that I was terribly rude for not initiating conversation, some of you might think I'm a stuck-up brat for not wanting to talk to these girls, and I have to say that at the time I really had no idea why I was so against talking to them OTHER than for that one comment that really irked me so much. As we sat waiting for the bus to come by (me looking for it more earnestly) Ahmee asked the girls what they were up to. They were juniors in college from California, two of them were studying in Florence and where there visiting, while the other two were in Barcelona studying. All four of them wanted to go to the Park Guell and were worried when they heard that we'd been waiting for over half an hour. The blonde girl who'd uttered the phrase that had turned me off so much asked me what I was up to and how long we were traveling. I talked to them for a short period of time, making sure to ask them questions (such as how long are you guys going to be there-meaning the Florence girls were going to be in Barcelona, but got something I'd already heard-I didn't even bother trying to change my question). I was happy to leave the bus station and to grab a taxi.
Once in the taxi Ahmee said, "They were lovely girls." They were indeed nice enough. While I sat there I was in awe over how such a simple phrase could bother me so much. On the way to the Park Guell I sat there and wondered why I disliked it, and why I'd been against talking much to them long after the phrase was uttered. I wanted to know why that grated on my ears so much. By the time I'd reached Park Guell I'd figured it out. Almost all of the people who annoy me most (in school and other places) use phrases like that. There is one person in particular who manages to annoy me worse that any other person (who says this all the time and with the same false voice), but since this blog has reached so many ears I'll simply leave my description at that.
Once at the Park Guell I'd managed to get rid of some of my nervousness. Before I got in the taxi I had no idea why I'd acted that way, it isn't normal for me, and that one line caused serious damage. Once at the Park Guell I'd managed to figure it out and I was able to enjoy the park. This park was designed by Antoni Gaudi and was commissioned by a rich family to create a subdivision for Barcelona's upper class. The park was never finished but Antoni Gaudi did complete the pathways, and a few houses (including his own). 
When we walked through the main gate we were met by a swarm of people, all staring up the stairs at the water fountain, the mosaic dragon, the white catacombs (pillars under the terrace), and at the wall surrounding the park and the three gate towers that were used as gift shops. We only went in one for a bit of information about the park and to grab a map. We knew we had a little under an hour to walk around so we made sure to get a move on (get out of the information building and out in the park that is-we didn't go fast after that). First we went up the steps and looked out at the view of Barcelona and the sea, then we petted the dragon, then we went and walked around in the pillars, then we went up to the terrace, then we went to the Antoni Gaudi Museum, then we went on a walk through the shade, and then we got back into a cab to head back to the hotel. That is just a summary of what happened.
When we went into the pillared room we did what pillars tell you to do: look up. First we looked at the white tile-covered pillar, then our eyes would go up to the white-tiled ceiling, and THEN our gazes would follow the curve of the minuscule curve where in the middle we'd see a mosaic. One mosaic looked like a squid with the tentacles hanging down from the ceiling, another mosaic would look like a sun with all it's bright colors, and another would look just plain cool with the glass bottles being used within it. While within these shaded pillars we got to hear some music. The musician was very intelligent to pick that spot because the sound was great in there.Before we headed up to the terrace where the most famous mosaics are, we went and checked out one of Gaudi's odd curves where the wall looked almost like a heart (not quite) where the kids were having a brilliant time climbing on the rock walls. As we left to go up we walked past a man playing a guitar and selling cd's, he would be the first of many vendors we'd find on the terrace.
When I got up on the terrace I looked around for the curvy benches I'd seen in my Spanish book. I couldn't see many of the mosaic-covered benches though, because everyone was sitting on them. The curved benches were along the edge that was closest to the city, so that those who knelled could get a spectacular view of the city, or of the newcoming tourists. To the interior of this fantastically curved bench there was an area of sand where many people were still milling about. Along the edges we could see several people selling various goods on clothes. While looking on Ahmee told me about how the night before when they'd gone walking there were tons of people out and how the men who were selling purses and watches on the street were more than a little nervous and how they were ready to jerk their things up and run (the way they've got it arranged enables them to do this without losing their goods). We wondered to each other why that was. As we were there on the terrace these vendors kept glancing around, and one by one they started packing up. Within 3 minutes all of the vendors and their goods were gone.
We left the terrace and headed (like I said) to the Antoni Gaudi museum. His old house is now a museum. On the way to the museum I enjoyed watching the street performers who'd set up camp within the park, and I enjoyed looking at the vegetation. There were three street performers, one was a butterfly who played with the little kids (I liked that one), while the other was a duet-a man and a woman did something close to the flamenco dance (him playing the guitar and her dancing and singing). I didn't look at the paintings or the prints, I was too busy looking at the garden park. Since it's a Mediterranean climate I couldn't hope to possibly recreate the same garden without having cacti covering half of our yard, but I have to say that that's something I really really liked (cacti). Something else I liked was the palm trees and the frayed leaves. It amazed me to see names carved into the older, more precious cacti though (these take 30-50 years to grow that large is what Ahmee said). Once we reached the Antoni Gaudi Museum we discovered that this museum wasn't dedicated so much to the preservation of his house and how it had looked when he'd lived there. It was a place where his designs were on display and where his business partners' items were on display. I suppose this is almost fitting. It sounds like Antoni Gaudi spent a lot of his time immersed in his work, thus meaning his home might've very well have been just a place where those things were born.
Antoni Gaudi kept his own house fairly small. Either that or there were too many people in there. Actually perhaps a bit of both. Too many people and not enough space. I never did get a good look at Antoni Gaudi's bedroom (one of the few rooms that was left alone-that along with his study, the rest were dedicate to furniture or other home-items).
My favorite part of his house though was his window which faced Barcelona and allowed the evening sun through. It was wonderful. It might surprise others to hear that all of these things weren't housed in some spectacularly curvy, and mosaic-covered home. Antoni Gaudi worked in a home that contained many corners and many straight lines, it was the outside gardens that held the curvature he was fond of.
When we went back downstairs and out the door (avoiding the tiny and packed gift shop) we checked the time and decided it was time to start heading back. I got to pick the route though. I decided I'd go on a curvy path that wound right back to the main entrance. This path brought us so many wonderful sights of the plants that Gaudi had picked to grow in his overly large garden (his house was one of the few that got finished).
I couldn't help but be slightly miffed about Antoni Gaudi. He lived in a wonderland of his own creation! He got to walk home through a park that was filled with beautiful foliage (flowers I don't know about) and he got to design things that were out of this world and were stunning to see. I wonder what would've happened if King Ludwig III and Antoni Gaudi had met and exchanged ideas. That would have been quite a pairing.
Once back at the main entrance we jumped in to see what the gift shop had to offer and then we jumped out to go grab a taxi (had many lined up outside the main gate). We then went back to the hotel. We did not go in to the hotel however. We went to eat Tapas at the Txapela. Right across from this restaurant there was the bus station we'd waited at AND a vent that blew air out consistently. We were delighted to see a toilet paper igloo rising from this vent when we went and grabbed ourselves a seat in la Txapela. We watched the man work with toilet paper to further enhance his igloo and we watched at how he demanded money from those who photographed his work, often getting nothing from them.
It was great watching the little Marilyn Monroe's, who went out to get a picture in the igloo. What do I mean? These little girls (3-5 year old) had on skirts. These skirts didn't fly up much though, it just made me smile. Other people who made me smile were the people who got a true kick out of this igloo and who were excited to get a picture in it. That igloo along with the tapas made the meal an excellent lunch.
Before heading back to the room to work for hours I made sure to get a picture in the igloo and to leave the man some money.
Later I stopped working to go out to the cafeteria with Ahmee and Poppy where we did the usual: eat, drink (them wine me water), and chat about the day and things we'd found interesting and things we wanted to find out more about. Ahmee told me in the cafeteria that she'd asked the man down at the desk why the street vendors yank up their sacks and run so quickly. He told her that if the police catch them they deport them back to their country, most of them are illegal immigrants. This didn't surprise me but it most certainly made me wonder what that life would be like, always on the watch for the police, always ready to run within a seconds notice, and needing to be ready to disappear into the back alleys at the drop of a hat. It'd be difficult living like that.
After dinner we went back to the room where I worked until just before bedtime, when I pulled on my pj's, sent a few emails, and then climbed under my covers to fall into a fitful sleep.
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