We'll I had a difficult time waking up this morning. My somewhat sleepless weekend has definitely taken its toll on me, and the others that went to Madrid as well. This morning my Barcelona class had a field study around el Gótico. Barri Gothic is the oldest part of Barcelona and is the area is lined with beautiful Gothic from the churches to the government buildings.
We met this morning around 9ish at the Jaume I metro stop and most of the class was definitely lethargic. I have seen most of the area our professor was showing us, but we were paying close attention to the different types of architecture and Gothic in the the area. I thought that our visit was very informational and useful because it helped me to familiarize myself with this area of the city.
This first photo is some of my class in front of the Adjuntment de Barcelona, which is basically Barcelona's council. This is right across from the Palau de la Generalitat. These two buildings are very powerful, and surprisingly there wasn't that much security there. One interesting fact I found out today was that wherever the flag of Cataluña is displayed, the Spanish flag must be displayed right next to it.
These next two photos are an example of Catalán Gothic. Many mistake Catalan Gothic with Roman Gothic, but I learned that they are much different. Compared to Roman/European Gothic of its time, Catalán Gothic is plain. It is characterized by bell towers and flat roofs opposed to the usual spires of other European Gothic. The top of Catalán Gothic has gargoyles opposed to pinnacles. I believe that this church goes back to the 14th century or sometime close to then.
Although we saw much more, I decided not to take any more pictures because I have already posted and talked about the other parts of the city that we saw. After we finished with our tour I walked back to IES with two of the girls that I met in Madrid last weekend. I went to my Spanish class which was long, and then went to get lunch.
We went to this restaurant called Les quinze nits (Catalán) Los quince noches (Castellano) or simply 15 nights in English. Of course they had a menu del dia which was a reasonable price. The restaurant is located in Placa Reial, which is off Las Ramblas.
Placa Reial:
Mi primera plato was some sort of crepe with meat inside. It was very interesting, but good as well. I love crepes so I enjoyed it.
Mi segundo plato was merluzo (cod) and was one of the first times I ordered seafood at a restaurant. I forgot to take a picture of it, but it was a pretty good dish. My dessert was some type of chocolate cake, which was amazing. Obviously it was very rich as well. This was probably my least favorite restaurant I've eaten at for lunch, but was still good.
This next picture is of El Corte Ingles. These are huge in Spain and is a store where you can find EVERYTHING. There are about 8 floors or so and if you go all the way to the top you can see one of the best sights in Barcelona, which I have yet to do. This store literally has everything each floor is different. For example one floor is similar to a Macy's, another is similar to Dick's Sporting Goods, the next a grocery store. If there is something that you can't find at El Corte Ingles then it probably isn't in Spain.
I'm not sure what this next picture is really about, but this group of individuals decided to mediate in the middle of Plaza Cataluna. I don't know if it was some type of religious group but there were a good amount of people just watching them, so I figured I would take a picture? It definitely wasn't something that I see everyday.
I'm looking forward to another home cooked meal tonight. It sure was great sleeping in my own bed last night, and eating at home. Looks like I will have a pretty busy week since I have a field report due, as well as a presentation in Spanish. Tomorrow I am meeting with my intercambio, Axel which should be fun.
Will hopefully post again sometime this week!
Ciao
