Barsa, Barsa, Barcelona

Welcome back to Trappings!

 

So I was looking back on my last posts and I realized I completely left out a chapter in my Summer 2015 series. Spain!

After a month and a half in Europe, my father came to visit us. So he, my mother, and I went to Barcelona for a few days.

 

 

In case you haven't heard, a very famous architect named Antoni Gaudi built very cool buildings in this city, including La Sagrada Familia, a cathedral that has been under construction since 1882.

 

 

Apparently Antoni Gaudi lost his mind trying to finish this project, and he actually died trying, so it's still an unfinished project.

 

 

The inside of the cathedral there are these amazing stained glass windows that cast an array of different colors across the pews.

 

 

At one end of the cathedral is Jesus and at the other stands a dark, unmarked figure. I was really surprised to find this representation of the devil, and I found it very ominous.

 

Unfortunately, my mother was in charge of the camera when we visited and didn’t snag a picture.

 

So, more colors.

 

 

Gaudi had a very modern style, as can be seen in his architecture around the city.

 

 

These are apartment buildings, by the way... Not too shabby, right?

 

After two days in the city, we flew to a tiny coastal town southwest of Barcelona called Sitges.
 

A high school friend of mine, Ariadne, actually lives there, so we got to meet up and take some pretty seductive snapchats. (Don't ask me why she's wearing a scarf, I'm not entirely sure.)

 

Anyway, the beaches there were just gorgeous and it was so hot that the town was very quiet.

Also, don’t touch an octopus… This bad boy jumped up and tried to eat my face. I mean, not really, but I shrieked and it was embarrassing.

 

Anyway, when I started this blog last semester, I proposed that I would be describing trips I want to make in the future as well. Seeing as I kind of lost that idea somewhere along the way, I’ve decided to enliven it again.
 

Like I mentioned, I was only in Barcelona for four days total and, although we walked around the city and sightsaw as much as possible, I still didn’t get a feel for it because we were really only there for two days.
 

That being said, I think I want to go back for the National day of Catalonia. This national holiday commemorates the defeat of the Catalonians in the war of Spanish Succession.
 

Yes, you read that right, they celebrate the fact that they lost. How funny is that?

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Anyway, it’s an all-day festival in which political protests and rallies are often held and everyone celebrates their culture and what their ancestors sacrificed for modern catalonian autonomy.

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I really like the sense of nationalism Catalonians demonstrate, and it’s interesting that they separate themselves so vehemently from Spanish culture.

Also, does anyone want paella? Because I hear there are communal meals made up of paella cooked in pans 12 feet in diameter…

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