Pretty Little Priest: Breathtaking Barcelona (Sent March 12, 2012).

Today was a very long but eventful day filled with break taking views, lots of history, and of course Catalonian culture. Let me start out with the most important fact; rollerblades are the fanny pack of the 80s for Barcelona! I have seen more people on rollerblades than in cars... okay, maybe that is a fib, but still, there are a lot. I started the day out with a tour to Montserrat at 9:30am. Montserrat was so incredibly breathtaking that it almost brought tears to my eyes. Let me start with some brief history for you. Franco, who was in power until 1975, was a much hated man. He wouldn't allow anyone to speak Catalonian, forcing everyone to speak Spanish. The only place they were able to speak Catalonian was at Montserrat. In the 12th century it became the home of the Black Madonna (or Black Virgin) and to this day is a sight of great pilgrimage. There is also a monastery there which has the oldest young boys choir. The first hour we were there I spent hiking up the side of the mountain which was seriously breathtaking. Then at 12:15 they opened up the line to touch the Black Madonna. The line was long and the boys choir was going to sing at 1:00, but only two songs. Halfway through the line I got slightly upset knowing there was no way I would make it back to the chapel in time to see the choir. Alas, as we made the pilgrimage up to the Black Madonna, I could hear the boys in the distance and where she stood in the back of the chapel, elevated up 100 flights of stairs, I was able to overlook the entire chapel and watch the choir sing. I will include pictures so you can see this beautiful sight. I then went outside to the side markets where I purchased some sheep cheese (very strong) and got back on the bus. We made our way back to town and had an hour break before I would be going to look at La Sagrada Familia and Parc Guell.

Small interesting fact...there is also this awesome tale about Saint Jorde, a man that slated a dragon to save a virgin woman. They celebrate him all over the city, there are buildings named after him, and dragons everywhere! On April 23 they have Saint Jorde's Day which is like our Valentine's day. The men give women a rose and women give men a book!

During my break I wanted to shop. Everyone that I have asked where I can find a good leather jacket (since that is my mission in Spain) they try to say Zara or H&M. I don't want to shop at places that we have in the states. I am beginning to think that I may just buy something to say "I bought it in Spain". The vintage stores here are nothing like our thrift stores and they are WAY overpriced. I got an empanada on a side street and made my way back to the second half of the tour. We went up to Parc Guell, which is a park that Gaudi was commissioned to build. It was intended as an oasis for the rich but they said it was too far away from the city and so it became a park. It wasn't my favorite, but it is a pretty place. We headed over to La Sagrada Familiar, which is the church that Gaudi built, however it is still in construction and will probably be another 15 years before it is finished. Gaudi was an interesting man, he was never married or had children and was killed after being run over by a train.

After completing that tour I decided I was going to shop a little bit. Brother, I got you the coolest mosaic elephant (it reminded me of grandpa). I then bought myself some shoes. I didn't get any sort of deal on them, but I liked them so I bought them! Tomorrow I am going to head to Figueres and see Dahli's museum. Barcelona, the actual city is very small and easy to get around. Figueres is about 60 miles out of the town center but I hear it is a place I must go. I hope you're having a good Monday at work :)