We were forced to start our morning early in order to enjoy the complimentary breakfast provided by the hostel – and it was really good too: cereals, bananas, oranges, apples, teas, cocoas, coffees, juices, crackers, jams, honey…the works! We stuffed ourselves silly and took a bit extra to last us for the day.
We had seen that there was a free walking tour for later that afternoon, so in order to save energy and waste time, we started to explore the hostel. The place was REALLY neat. Very brightly colored, lots of neat decorations, themed rooms, and the rooftop game lounge area was very nice. That is where we ended up chilling for an hour or so, just chatting away and enjoying the nice weather. While we were sitting on the plastic chairs we also ran into one of the roomers who was working for a place to stay. He was doing something with the plants, at first we thought watering them or moving them…but after 20 minutes we just weren’t sure. He’d bring some plants up from downstairs and others down the elevator from the top…but he didn’t water them all…and there didn’t seem to be any system to the madness. There were a few other (all men…hmm) workers painting walls and cleaning dishes.
Finally the hour came to go meet our walking tour, and it was such a blast. We picked the Gaudí walking tour (of course, we both being mesmerized by his works) and the best tour guide. He was German, and of course, spoke both English and Spanish as well as a few other languages (because EVERY German knows how to speak at least 3 languages fluently. It really isn’t fair). To start off our tour we got to watch an accident happen at one of the cafés/apartment buildings in the plaza we met at – something happened inside the room at the top floor of the building that caused an object to hit the glass and break it, shattering it outside onto the unsuspecting diners below. They all took it fairly calmly though. One woman got hit on the head with a shard and was very calmly (or maybe she was in shock) trying to stop the bleeding, a few other men were trying to help her out, and I think there were a few more very slight scratches on some others. I assume they eventually took the woman to the hospital or nearest doctor to get looked at, but everyone just stayed there, nobody really moved from their spots if they weren’t disturbed in the first place by the glass. About 5 minutes later some policemen stroll on up to the place and then people start getting interested (though throughout this entire time the tourists were taking pictures of the incident…including myself), though alas we didn’t stay long enough to find out what happened.
Back to the tour, our guide told us awesomely amped up stories about Gaudí’s life and inspirations for his structures and buildings, showing us his one and only civic structure – a lamp post – made for the city, the most famous buildings that he designed and each one took at least 10 years to complete because he always had the luxury of patron’s money and time, so his perfectionism (if it is possible to have OCD for that type of architecture, he had it) had full reign.
Several of his buildings actually inspired one of the most iconic movie series in the entire culture of the United States and most of the world – Star Wars. George Lucas saw the future Storm Troopers and the costume for Darth Vader in the swirling sculptures that Gaudí created. And you really can see the helmets on top of this ocean inspired building:
And Darth Vader in the side of the Sagrada Familia!
My favorite Gaudí building, though, is the one dedicated to St George the dragon slayer. The entire building reminds one of a dragon and it’s just beautiful in the detailed pocks and skull face balconies in the façade and the colors that accent the building.
After the amazing tour, we headed over to the beach barrio to get some lunch, sun and fresh sea air. On our way down to the beach front we enjoyed the bright sun and all the different looks of Barcelonan beach wear, scouting out the prices and meal choices for lunch afterwards. The beach area was a great place to people watch too – all ages and genders and styles came through, on skates, bikes, skateboards running and strolling about. Finally we got hungry enough and searched out a delicious seafood pizza and calamaras a la romana with cafés con leche and it was delicious. No pictures because we were so hungry!
This gave us the rest of the afternoon to get a smoothie – pineapple, orange, and something delicious – wander around the cathedral checking out the odd spectacle that was occuring. Some mini festival dance with devils, sport team, traditional peasant hoop dancing, and a human pyramid group. They were mostly ambling about in groups…not really doing much…but it was entertaining and interesting.
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