The Sights

We saw so many beautiful things in Spain beginning with the unforgettable work of Antoni Gaudi. I took a class at Weber State from the amazing Alicia Giralt who is from Catalonia and planted a seed of interest in the architectural movement that he helped create.
He is probably most known for the Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Familia which most people just call the Sagrada Familia. I got that picture from the internet because from our perspective we couldn't get it all in the picture.

They started in the construction of this beautiful cathedral in 1882 and it is expected to be completed in 2026.

Unfortunately, after working on it for 15 years, Gaudi was killed in an accident. He didn't leave any plans behind so modern architects are doing their best to guess what he would have wanted.

Brandon said that in the ten years since he last saw it all the pillars have been finished.

Brandon really loved this sign, written in Catalan across the street that says, 'There are some works of art that only take 15 minutes.'

The Pedrera is also one of his great works.


His mosaics and intricate designs are clear from these pictures of Parq Guell. This park surrounded Gaudi's home.







This mosaic was one of many on the ceiling between the columns that held up the plaza surrounded by wiggly park benches.




It would take a million photos to be able to show how amazing his work is.

We were also able to see the Palau de la Musica which is another treasure of modernism designed by Lluis Domenech i Montaner.

I have studied about this concert hall but was completely taken off guard by how breathtaking it was in person.

It was surprising to me that it was nestled right in the middle of apartment buildings which made it a little tricky to get a picture, but luckily there are plenty online so you can get the basic idea.

This is the box office window.

During our trip I felt a little bit like Alice as she wanders through wonderland because it seemed like every time we turned a corner there was something amazing.
Like this, for example.

Barcelona is kind of nestled between two mountain peaks. One day Brandon and I spent the morning exploring one side and the afternoon on the other. The side we started with is called Mont Juic which means Jewish Mountain. This area is considered the artistic hub and also has most of the structures that were built for the 1992 Olympics.
This is where the opening ceremonies took place.

I was a little young during those games, but I do remember when the torch was lit by an arrow shot by an archer.

We found this lovely Flamenco dancer who has definitely put some definition in her arm muscles. Brandon couldn't help but ask for a dance.
From Mont Juic we had a great view of Barcelona. On the right is the Sagrada Familia which shows how big it is in comparison with everything around it. Straight across the city up on the mountain was our next destination.


The other peak, Tibidabo is crowned by a beautiful cathedral which is lit up at night and can be seen from anywhere in the city. The cathedral has a huge statue of Jesus on top and is surrounded, surprisingly enough, by an amusement park.

It has all kinds of interesting statues carved in the exterior.

The afternoon that we spent there was a bright day with a lovely breeze and I was overwhelmed by the beauty of the view.

The road to the top caters to bicyclers who sweat up to the top, then enjoy the coast down. Brandon and I have used our bikes a lot more since we got to Eugene, but we weren't quite ready for that type of climb. Maybe that will be our next 'marathon'.

Observations

We arrived at the Barcelona train station which was buzzing with activity which seemed a little overwhelming after the long night. Brandon immediately insisted that we buy a Neopolitano, which is a pastry with a chocolate and hazelnut filling. It was a wise choice because I felt better almost immediately. I think part of his love for Barcelona can be directly traced to his feelings for their pastries.

We took the metro and another train to a community outside of the city called Sant Boi where we would be staying with the coolest family. Brandon had worked with Pilar at the beginning and end of his mission and she was baptized right before he left. Even though that was ten years ago, she opened up her house to us and welcomed us like we were family.
Her daughter, Elsa, and her son-in-law, Christian also lived there with their little boy, Roger (pronounced Roo-jay).

We stayed there for almost a week and it was like a little piece of paradise. We would spend all day out and about trying to see as much as possible and then as it got late we returned to a happy home with family and lots of fantastic food. It was a special opportunity to stay with them because at least part of the time we were there I didn't feel like a tourist. They also helped us out a lot with Brandon's study because nobody really wants to talk about the war with some American that they've never heard of before. On his own, Brandon was hardly able to get anyone to talk to him.

Pilar called in some connections and because her family is very well respected he was received with much more trust. We spent late nights laughing and discussing the pronunciation rules of Catalan.
While we were in Madrid I felt like my Spanish was improving pretty rapidly, but once we got to Barcelona it seemed like everything was in Catalan. Before Spain was a unified country it consisted of several kingdoms. Each kingdom had its own language and culture. When they combined the kingdoms became regions and all of the regions basically hung on to their roots. All of the different languages are considered official languages of Spain and that is why Spaniards will refer to what we consider 'Spanish' as Castellano. Some people think that Catalan and the other regional languages are dialects of Castellano but they are actually very different. They are different enough to be considered separate languages. One person told me that the difference between Catalan and Spanish are similar to the difference between Spanish and Portugese. They have a lot of similarities because they are Latin based but the Catalan includes a lot more of a French influence. After the Spanish Civil War when Franco took over as the dictator he banned all use of languages other than Castellano. In Catalonia all the street signs and textbooks for schools had to be changed. To the people this was a great insult and after Franco's death in the 70s there was a huge movement to change all the signs back. Everyone throughout the country speaks Castellano, but now they also proudly speak in their native tongues.
This sign is a good example to study because it is written first in Catalan, then in Castellano and then in English. There are so many tourists in some of the areas that English words are not that uncommon to see.

Brandon loves languages so much and talked to people all over the city to improve his pronunciation. The people were charmed to see an American trying to learn a language that is only spoken in their part of the world and would open up immediately.
While we were in touristy areas we hardly heard Castellano or Catalan. People were speaking German, French, Portugese, Italian and about a million other languages. Apparently because it gets so hot during the month of August all the Spaniards take off on vacations to cooler areas. We saw all kinds of businesses that were closed for a month while the owners were off enjoying the southern coasts. The streets during that time are filled with tourists from all over the world. Luckily we were able to enjoy the tourism, but we also had Sant Boi and Pilar's community that gave us a taste for the pure un-touristed life of the country. We also were able to walk around some of Brandon's areas which were more residential and I could get more of a feel for the daily life of the regular people. Although it was fun to see all the amazing buildings that bring the tourists by the millions, I think I enjoyed the quiet back streets even more.
In classes I had heard that the Spanish are known for taking a mid-day siesta. Still, I was surprised when around 2:00 it seemed that everything closed. People went home to enjoy a meal and a rest and returned at around 4:00. It is a strange feeling for someone who is used to seeing "Now open 24 hours" to see so many closed signs during such prime daytime hours. It was surprising, but I loved it. Because everything was closed there was really no choice except to go home to relax. Since we were only going to be there for a short time we didn't always take advantage of the break, but we did have a few days that we returned to Pilar's to savor a delicious meal and some great conversation. I admire the attitude that we should all slow down a little bit. Even the businesses that stayed open had shorter summer hours. Maybe those shopkeepers that took off for the whole month of August missed out on some money-making sales, but I bet they also made some great memories while vacationing with their families. This sign says 'closed for the vacation.'

We walked street after street as we moved from one part of the city to another and I enjoyed seeing the small bakeries, pharmacies, groceries, ice cream shops, hardware and fruit stores. The specialized businesses that are becoming extinct in the U.S. provide the income for thousands of independent shopkeepers. The idea of a Wal-Mart seems ridiculous because it is so convenient to walk around the corner to the Dia grocery or the pasteleria which take up such a small amount of space. A large shopping complex would have to be located outside of the residential area and be much more of a hassle.
For me it was also a treat to see all the beautiful types of breads. People were buying, selling and eating all kinds of bread everywhere you would look. It was delicious and probably one of the only things in the country that I would have considered a bargain.
Every single thing that we ate while we were there was amazing especially the meals that Pilar cooked. She always had the table set beautifully and would serve a meal with several courses. The meal not only tasted good, but was presented in such a visually appealing way. Once again I felt like I was being treated to luxury that was disproportionate to our situation.
The truth is that some people consider food as more of an art than something just to be gulped down. As you can see from this menu, presentation is key.


I, of course, also took note that there was a lot of really great candy.

I wanted to eat all day long every day, but I quickly noticed that I was already a lot bigger than almost everyone we would see on the streets. Not only are the people fit, but they are small in stature. I felt like a giant when we would be packed into the Metro and everyone around me would be an inch or two shorter. And speaking of short, I've never seen so many short skirts and shorts in my life. The women had beautiful legs and they weren't afraid to show them off. The styles of the 80s are in full force (and that includes mullets). At first I kind of felt like a nun walking around wearing long capris. That is until I actually saw a nun all decked out in a white robe with a black veil and I realized that my pants were probably a lot cooler than her getup.
I also observed a few other differences. One is that eggs in the grocery store are kept on the shelf and not refrigerated. By the time I had discovered this, I had already eaten several tortillas and figured that I didn't need to worry if it was safe or not.
The outlets are circular and even use a different frequency than those that we have here in the U.S. This contributed a lot to my beautiful pony-tailed hair during the entire trip. I had packed my straight iron but it proved to be nothing more than a dead-weight because it was impossible to use. We also had to buy a new camera battery. I share this as a warning, if you ever go to Europe, plan accordingly.

First Off, Madrid

When Brandon and I decided to get married I knew that I would always have to share his heart with his first love, Spain. He always promised that we would go there one day. I really didn't think that day would come while we were doing the whole starving graduate student scene but thanks to a generous grant from the university we were on our way.

The trip started with one of my least favorite activities, flying. We went from Salt Lake to Denver, then to London, and then into Madrid. The good news was that I only barfed twice and only one of those was actually on the plane. We had gotten a really good deal on the airfare so I was very surprised by the luxury of British Airways.
I felt like a celebrity because they had one of those rolling stairways.

When we boarded the plane each seat had the pillows and blankets (freshly sterilized to prevent Swine Flue) and a pair of socks, a travel toothbrush with toothpaste and one of those sleeper masks that movie stars always wear. I kept asking Brandon if we were in the right place because we are the kind of people who usually end up with 'budget' types of services which is the nice way of saying, cheap with no-frills. I was planning on feeling pleased if the airline provided a paper cup of water and was not prepared to have a small bottle of wine served with dinner. They took such good care of us. I was a little surprised when the sandwiches served on the flight to Madrid were a choice of mushroom pate, tomato with spinach, and egg with tuna. I guess they don't have any peanut butter in Europe which is a shame because I think the sandwich was a major contributor to my having to use the air-sickness bags which were also graciously provided. While landing in London the man next to us pointed out Buckingham Palace and the big Ferris wheel at Picadilly Circus.
Upon arriving in Madrid jet-lagged and still on Utah time we were met by our sweet friend Silvia. We had built a friendship with her while she was on a teacher-exchange program and worked with us at the middle school. Originally we weren't planning on going to Madrid at all but it seemed wrong to go all the way out there and not spend some time with our favorite Madrilena. She had a gift of Bolly Caos for Brandon because he had told her how much he missed them.
After Silvia and her brother Carlos made us a traditional Spanish tortilla which is more like a potato omelet Brandon and I basically passed out from exhaustion.
The next morning we spent all day riding around on the tourist bus. Since we had such a short amount of time the bus was perfect because we could get on and off all day and stop at many of the most beautiful spots in the city.

We saw the royal palace and several beautiful buildings and statues.
At a park El Retiro there was a Crystal building, El Palacio de Cristal, which houses art exhibits.
When we went in we saw the stuffed rat and bear which turned out to be the entire exhibit entitled, "Are Animals People?"

We walked around some amazing parks and stopped at Cafe Giron which is where all the best authors used to hang out and discuss philosophy. We also spent some time at the National Library looking through the museum.

I know that some of you are already rolling your eyes at how dorky we are for jetting straight to the library but if you saw this place you would have wanted to go in too.
Brandon wanted to take a picture of a statue of an author he had studied so we ditched the tourists and headed out off the beaten path.

When we found it he caused what he always calls the "Yellowstone Effect." This refers to fact that people will stop and look at anything if there are people taking a picture of it. As he was taking the pictures Spaniards who were out and about on their normal business stopped to see what was so interesting. Some of them had probably passed that statue every day and never seen anything interesting about it until some American tourist stopped to take a picture.
We had a great time despite the fact that riding on the top of the bus all day had pretty much scorched my neck to a dark crimson.

I thought it was pretty ironic that I had made it through an entire week at Lake Powell which routinely hits record breaking temperatures without a single burn but one day in Madrid and I was fried.
That night Silvia had something special in store for us. We went to a Flamenco show.
I have seen clips of Carmen and other choreographed types of Flamenco but we were lucky to see the real thing. The performers were actual Gypsies and they sang and danced straight from their hearts. Flamenco is unlike anything I have ever seen. It looks like pure raw passion and uses rhythms and voices completely foreign to the patterns of music that we are used to hearing. They clap their hands and stomp their feet with a vengeance.
We were there for two hours and I was so entranced that when it ended I had to remind myself where I was.
The show was at a little restaurant called Cafe Chinitas and we were under the impression that the food was included, but it wasn't. As we walked in I knew immediately that the place was not 'budget' and was definitely not British Airways and that if we were going to eat it was going to cost us. When we realized that the cheapest appetizer was 15 Euros or about $22.00 we ordered a water to share and made a meal of the olives that are customary at Spanish meals and the rolls that were already on the table. We got out of there okay because the water was only about $4.50. Those were probably the best olives I've ever had. It makes me laugh because we were in such a beautiful restaurant, but this time we actually had to stick with our starving student reality. The dancing was so beautiful and once it started it was easy to forget that we were hungry.
Even though we spent less than everyone else there we still got VIP treatment, I think it was because we were with the beautiful Silvia. We even got our picture taken with the man who is considered one of the best Flamenco dancers in Spain, Diego Llori y Rosario.

As if we hadn't already had an amazing day Silvia took us to a big neighborhood partyAlcobendas which is just outside of Madrid. We spent almost an hour looking for a place to park and only got a spot because we followed a family pushing a baby carriage for about a mile. We finally made it there about midnight, just in time for the biggest fireworks show I've ever seen. The fiesta, which is the celebration of the patron saint of the neighborhood, San Sebastian de los Reyes, was packed. There were families with little kids and old people. The stereotype about Spaniards is that they know how to party all night long and I quickly learned that it isn't a stereotype. The food stands were selling bocadillos or long baguettes with meat or tortilla inside, which we took advantage of at our first chance.

Everyone was eating, drinking, playing carnival games and enjoying the rides.
There was a huge concert going on as well as a botellon. The botellon was about 5000 young people crowded into a field drinking and hanging out.
We met up with some of Silvia's friends who treated us like we were old buddies. When we left around 2:30, I kind of got the feeling that the party was just starting. They said that they were planning on hanging out until 7 am for the running of the bulls. Everyone knows about the big running of the bulls that happens in Pamplona but I guess that the small communities also have their own. We planned on getting up so that Brandon could get some pictures of himself fleeing from a bull but all three of us slept in and missed it. I guess that's why all the Spaniards knew that they just had to stay up all night. We thought it was pretty funny because they had a lot of raffles and carnival games and in the display of prizes were big legs of pork. This cured ham, jamon serrano is the top prize.

The next day we kind of took a slower pace. We rode the bus and the metro to the Madrid temple.

It was so beautiful and peaceful. The temple grounds also house an MTC. The temple is a miracle to the people of Spain because their LDS population is quite small. A lot of the patrons are from Portugal and other areas. The temple was dedicated while Brandon was on his mission and he said that the members from the entire country made the trip to be there. I was thinking about how I sometimes feel a little bit annoyed that we have to drive 2 hours to get to the Portland temple from Eugene and was humbled by how grateful the Spaniard members were to even have on at all. The spirit at the temple was so peaceful and calm, especially after that wild party we had been to the night before.


We spent the evening swimming at the pool in Silvia's complex and hanging out. At 10:00 we had to say goodbye to our friend and boarded the night train into Barcelona. It was sad to leave Silvia because I don't know when we'll see her again. She was so awesome to take care of us and she is such a fun person to be around. I also really enjoy listening to her speak because her Spanish is beautiful.

With that, it was adios to Madrid.

Luckily after everything we had already done by this time I was so exhausted that I didn't have any trouble sleeping, despite the fact that we weren't in a sleep car, and also despite the crazy woman who was across the aisle and kept emitting loud sighs.

Long Overdue

We spent a fun week at Lake Powell with some great friends and all of the Rigby family.

While we were there I learned a couple of valuable lessons. One is that if you plan on staying dry you should never get on a water-weenie with Cara. Another was that a certain curly blonde that was about 16 months of pure energy presents a bit of a hazard when it comes to a permanently floating residence.

I also found out that once you hike out of a slot canyon it is better to stay with the group instead of find yourself wandering alone in a dehydrated stupor.

This was the home to all 50 of us. It was like being on our own personal cruise.

The slot canyon hike that ended up being more like a swim.

Rocky wasn't all that thrilled with her beach wear. She was okay with looking like a nerd, but the life jacket was so big that it made it basically impossible for her to walk. Then, when she would fall she'd look like a turtle stuck with its feet in the air.

It was a great week in a beautiful setting and even better than the environment was the company.

La Guerra Civil

In order to better prepare for our trip to Spain I hit up the Eugene library. I can't claim that I checked out everything that they had, but it would be fair to say that anyone in the area who is looking for information about a certain Mediterranean country may be out of luck.

I finished the two memoirs right away and have slowly been working through the textbook about the Spanish Civil War. Merely holding a textbook in my hands sends my brain back into student mode and I find myself wondering if the reading is 'optional' or if it will really be on the tests. Fortunately, in this situation, there is no test, which leaves me with the option of taking a nap instead of plowing through. This policy, which served me well throughout my college days, doesn't do much for my understanding of Spanish politics in the late 30s.
Luckily, our library also had a DVD which I was able to watch in 58 minutes.
I've still got my textbook, to which I can refer, but I probably won't need it because now I'm pretty much an expert.
I especially enjoyed the DVD because it focused on American women who worked as volunteer nurses on the front.

There were all kinds of famous artists and writers from all over the world that flocked to Spain in 'the fight against fascism' including Ernest Hemmingway and George Orwell. They could see the potential that a dictator would and eventually did have in crushing the freedom of expression and stifling the artistic pursuits of Spaniards.
What I hadn't known, which makes me feel stiflingly ignorant was that Hitler and his evil cohorts joined up with Franco and that many believe that the Civil War was a pre-test that eventually gave the Nazis enough confidence to move on to the rest of the world. Although many people responded to fight against this first step, too many governments refused to get involved.

The DVD focused on several brave young nurses that decided that they were personally going to get involved. They worked to save the lives of injured soldiers under horrific circumstances and saw violence and death everywhere. The interesting thing was that in all of their interviews they talked about their time during the war with such passion because even though it was a nightmare, they knew they were doing something to help.

I was really inspired by the example. I'm not sure that I would have had the courage to go out and actually do something to fight for the things I believe in.

There are so many examples of amazing women throughout history and I hope that as I learn about some of the things they have done that I can use their example to become a better person.

Coasting

Being the wild and spontaneous family that we are, we decided to take an impromptu jaunt to the coast and camp out for a night. We learned the hard way that Coos Bay reserves this weekend for their Dune Fest and every campground in the area was filled with dune buggy enthusiasts. Lucky thing for us, the Oregon coast has about 6 million campgrounds and we were able to find a spot just outside of Florence.


Since everyone else was out on the dunes we had the tide pools to ourselves. It was a cool 66 degrees and couldn't have been more beautiful. Brandon has some serious skills when it comes to spotting interesting things and Rocky is an enthusiastic apprentice.