Mountains of Montserrat

Monastery

Only two more weeks left in Spain and I wanted to take the time to see everything around Barcelona before I leave. A day trip to the monastery of Montserrat was recommended to me many times last weekend me and a group of girls took a train, a cable car, and yet a smaller train to get to the top of the mountain. The whole mountain is made of sheets of rock that have been worn into round shapes. I've never seen anything like it.

The monastery was gorgeous but a little dark inside so the pictures aren't as clear, but it must have had 200 types of silver and gold lanterns! The monastery is most famous for their statue of the Black Virgin which is the patroness of Catalonia which was crafted from wood in the 12th century.



Looking back from the monastery courtyard



Olives & Wine at Fornalutx

Fornalutx

Going further into the island of Mallorca you get to see the farms of olive, lemon, and orange trees. We had a typical snack of break with tomato and olive oil, wine, and cake (just like home right?) and then got to have a walk around the idealic little town.





Mom, I wish could have been there to see all the flowers, but here you go!!!

Island of Mallorca

If it's good enough for the royal family it's good enough for me. Last weekend our class flew across the Mediterranean (only a 30 minute flight) to land on the island of Mallorca. Mallorca is the largest of the Balearic islands. It gets it's name from the native fighters who were handy with slingshots (ballistics, Balearic, same root word). The first sight of Mallorca and arguably the most beautiful was the cathedral.

Cathedral of Mallorca 

Surrounding the cathedral was the old city, which had this archway left over from the time of the moors. And there were a pair of swans inside, which made it even lovelier.

Archway in old city

The inside of the cathedral was just as breathtaking (the stained glass - WOW). Mallorca has a larger cathedral than either Barcenola or Madrid. And I was surprised to find out that Gaudi had his hand in the restoration of the church. The hanging over the altar and the latern rings around the columns are all his designs.

Inside the Cathedral

The most controversial piece is this side chapel done by Miquel Barceló. It is very modern and all done in plaster. I asked my host mom about it and she hates it lol.

Side chapel

 And after a day of siteseeing it was on to the beach. :D

Beach in Mallorca

 

Inside "The Pedrera"

Being inside Gaudi's Casa Mila also known as "The Pedrera" makes be feel I went inside a cave and a canyon in the middle of Barcelona. I liked the Casa Batllo of his better because it very whimsical, but I could appreciate The Pedrera just on its scale and how livable the house was for a modern person while looking like an enormous boulder. And imagine that this was all built in 1905-1910!

La Pedrera

This is what it looks like from the street. The models below capture how the whole thing looks. It's so large it's hard to fit in one shot!

Side view

Top view

 Inside the foyer of the building. A lot like being in an underground cavern!

Foyer

 I think the chimneys at the top look like storm trooper helmets. :)

The roof

I wouldn't have ever pinned Gaudi as a pioneer of the beige on beige, but in the apartment on the tour there was a lot of natural stone and neutral colors. The rooms where spacious (but no right angles in the corners) and the ceilings were high. It looks more like our houses nowadays that even the houses 30 years ago.  

Hallway

Kitchen counter

Love the floor tiles. 

Dali Museum in Figueres

Last weekend the school as a group took a bus the Costa Brava and on up into the south of France (I would like to buy a "damburgen"!). My favorite stop definitely was the Salvador Dali Museum. Dali actually lived there until he died. When you first see the building you can't help but notice the depictions of bread everywhere and the eggs on top of the building. Dali was obsessed with bread, thinking it gave magical powers.The eggs...well, the study abroad people wanted me to keep this PG so I'll leave that up to you to google (Hint: huevos in Spanish has a double meaning). 

Dali Museum. Those gold dots are actually croissants!

Back of museum. Statue is holding bread.

After leaving the museum I came away with 3 conclusions.

1. Dali was a genius. Pure textbook genius. There was nothing we couldn't do. He painted a picture of Beethoven in 10 minutes using his hands, feet, and ... octopuses. And it was really good. 
2. He adored his wife Gala. After she died he stopped painting and became a recluse. 
3. He was crazy. He had a lot of preoccupations, one being he thought he was the incarnation of his older brother also named Salvador Dali who died before him. He had a broken relationship with his family and had a terrible phobia of death. But he was extremely productive. Here is a sample of some of his works.

Dali's first Surrealist painting

Gala

Inside the Casa Batlló

In case I didn't mention before my classes go from 1-5 PM which at first sounds great (yey sleep!) but if you're a creature of habit that will never sleep past 8 AM anyway, you're kind of stumped with what to do in the mornings. Yesterday I went shopping (Spain has awesome leather shoes btw), but that can't go on or rather my money can't go that long. This morning I thought that since the two famous Gaudi houses are on my way to school I'd do the inside tours in the morning. Today it was the Casa Batlló, and next week I'll go inside the Casa Milà. Viewing the inside of the Casa Batlló was worth forgoing a pair of shoes. :)

Living Room

The view looks out onto Passeig de Gracia (where the nice stores are). Those blue glass circles helped to filter the light.

Another shot of living room

Close up of ceiling.

The ceiling of the living room was crafted to mimic the movement of a water eddie. Gorgeous.

Terrace

On the roof

Close up of roof

 I like how the backbone of the house looks like it has shells on it.

The Attic

If St. George slaying the dragon was the inspiration for the Casa Batlló then the attic would be the dragon's ribcage. You can tell how big it was from the woman in the picture.
 

Inner courtyard

Probably one of my favorite things in the house was the inner couryard/stairwell. It went all the way to the top of the house and this picture does't capture it very well but the whole space reflected blue.

Beach at Sitges

Today I got real homework, so I'm at home reading an article about the Spanish Civil War, but I thought I'd take a break and tell you about my weekend.

Sitges

Yesterday was a national holiday in Spain, so since we didn't have class we went to the beach. :) Now, Barcelona has a beach but it's kind of rocky and you have to be very aware of pickpockets, so we took a 30 minute train ride to Sitges. After having a lunch of crepes with chocolate and Nutella, it was on to the playa. The sun was hot and the water was salty and cold. Couldn't get any better.

Haha, hola?

Parc Guell - More Gaudi!

After lunch Brittany and I hopped on the bus to Parc Guell which took us all the way to the top of the city. I'd always wanted to sit on the benches covered with multicolored tiles there. So pretty!!

Me at Parc Guell

I'd forgotten about the house and chapel that he'd built as well. It looked straight out of a Dr. Suess book. And since it was Sunday after 3 we got in for free!  I'm back at the apartment now and Brittany and I have our feet up for a second. I'm using the bus more but I still walk at least 3 miles a day. I understand why no one has a gym membership here.

House (left) and Chapel (right)

Mes De Un Club

Two night's ago Barcelona's team won the Copa del Rey with a score of 3-0. Team Barca has a tradition that after they win a major title everyone is invited to the stadium the next night and the players walk the four corners of the field with the trophy. I've never seen so many fireworks (not even on the 4th of July!) . This was a big deal not only because they played their last game of the season but also because their much beloved coach Guardiola is retiring. And some of the players walked the field with their kids. So cute!

Me at Camp Nou

I'm trying to load the videos of all this but it's not working!

Rose's Dresses from Titanic

On the tour today of the Gothic barrio in the old city our tour guide mentioned off-handedly that there was a store that sold the clothes that Rose wore in the movie Titanic. Those dresses weren't costumes but real clothes from that period, and they all came from this resale shop in Barcelona. After the tour I doubled back and after asking the locals for directions, and I found it.

Gaudi's Wild House and More!

My home stay is only a 30 minute walk from the IES center, which is right next to the Plaza de Catalunya almost literally the center of Barcelona. I walk for about 6 blocks on the Paseo de Gracia, which houses stores like Vogue, Armani, Zegna, and Chanel. That's me in front of the Guess store below, which is in the La Casa Lleó i Morera. It's nickname is the wedding cake house because of it's pink facade and flowers. It's one of the three houses that make up the "Apple of Discord," which owes it's name to the competition between Catalan's most famous modernisme architects:  Lluís Domènech i Montaner, Josep Puig i Cadafalch, and Antoni Gaudí.  

At the Guess store in Paseo de Gracia

Right next to La Casa Lleó i Morera is Cadafalch's Casa Amatller  and to the right of that is Gaudi's famous La Casa Batlló. The most popular theory for Gaudi's inspiration for La Casa Batlló is the triumph of St. George over the dragon. They columns resemble bones and the multicolored tiles on top look like the dragon's back. Most people agree the Gaudi won the bragging rights for the block.

Casa Batllo

Palau de la Música Catalana

I went on a walking tour to see other famous buildings from the modernisme period. One of my favorites was the Palau de la Música Catalana. Crazy enough, in the 1930's and through the 60's artists and critics called for it's demolition. During this time the architectural world was moving towards rationalism and thought the flowery Palau was an embarrassment. I could hardly take my eyes off of it. If you thought the pictures below were beautiful you should have seen the inside (Didn't allow pictures. Sorry!).

Roses and St. Rita

Feast Day of St. Rita

If you are thinking of studying aboard, please consider a home stay because there are some things that you will never know about otherwise. Yesterday Mercedes and I went to mass in the honor of Santa Rita, the patron saint of impossible causes. The street of Las Ramblas was lined with vendors selling flowers, mostly roses, and red votive candles. Mercedes bought a bunch of pink roses and we processed into the church to have them blessed.

After the benediction Mercedes showed me a small envelope that she had tucked in her purse and explained that it was her rose from last year. Every year she dries a flower for each of her children for protection and intercession from Santa Rita. Then she handed me a rose. I am Catholic as well, so going to mass and her gesture made me feel very much a part of Spain already. My flower is drying on my desk now. I pray that everyone else studying abroad has a safe and rewarding journey and that we all come home home safely.

Mercedes buying flowers

Arrival

After a layover in Newark, NJ and 7 more hours in a plane, I arrived sano y salvo in Barcelona at 9:30 Spain time. Flying over the city, I noticed there is no distinct skyline. Rather the city is spread out and and most of the buildings are natural shades of stone. After my passport was stamped I met up with the IES staff and my roommate Brittany.

After a short orientation, we caught a cab to our host mother's flat. The old buildings are well preserved but the elevators were not built for jumbo sized suitcases. After wriggling ourselves out of a space no bigger than Superman's phone booth, Brittany and I knocked on the door of our would be home for two more months.

We were greeted by our host mom Mercedes and her Yorkie, Fuego. Mercedes loves to cook, sew rugs, and spend time with her 13 grand kids. After being fed steak and broccoli casserole, I'm sitting here writing this and talking movies with Mercedes who has over 200 catalogued as well as any public library. She has all of Grace Kelly's, but confessed that she loves Inglorious Bastards too. I think we're going to get along fine.

Getting to Know Me

Hola chicos! My name is Brigetta Super.  I'm an Engineering College Honors Student studying Chemical Engineering. This is probably my last chance to view the sun, birds, and other non-engineering people before I have to row with the rest of the engineering student/slaves in what will be a grueling senior year (yey!). On to more fun stuff...

That's me on the left (pinkies out!)

I'm going to Barcelona!! I'm all set to fly out next Sunday May 20th. For six weeks, I will be taking 6 hours of Spanish courses after which time I will have my Spanish Minor complete (por fin!). I'm particularly looking forward to my Contemporary History of Spain, especially since Spain is going through a tumultuous period what with immigration, the Euro, and unemployment. Knowing that I'll have my ears open and my backpack tightly shut.

Little about my program. I'm choose to study with IES Abroad Language & Area Studies (Program site) namely because they offered Advanced Spanish courses, had concurrent enrollment credit with the University of Rochester, and they had a home stay. Yep, I have a new madre named Mercedes and a roomie from Penn State called Brittany. 

I'll try to post regularly. Now, I have to chase down my dog Romeo who keeps trying to pull my swimsuit out of my suitcase.