Harry Scooters and Sagrada Familia
06.03.2010
My sister was able to deposit some money into my bank account back home so now I have money! This morning I set out to find Harry Scooters, a place Fa, a Couchsurfer in Santiago de Compostela recommended I go check out. I found it and proceeded to make a complete fool of myself and babble on like an idiot to the guy who owned it. Yeah. Cause that's how I roll..... He had some beautiful scooters, including a few Vespas and some Lambrettas. I took a few pictures and left.
Today was also the day I conquered Sagrada Familia. My friend, Sarah Gensert, had been prodding me on Facebook to go. I had been fighting it because it was 12,50 Euro to get in plus another 2,50 Euro to take the lift to the top of one of the towers. I really just wanted to go up in the lift, but that wasn't an option either. The main reason I didn't want to spend the money is you are essentially paying a cover charge to go see a construction site of a church that his not even CLOSE to being completed after one hundred plus years of construction. However, it is probably Gaudi's final masterpiece--he dedicated his final years to it, before dying a mysterious death.
First, I walked around the outside, walking on the sidewalk, looking at it from afar. It was pretty amazing! The detail in the design and the thought that went into all of it was quite impressive. I went inside and there was not much to look at. I think the prediction is for the main nave to be completed in 30 years. There was a lot of construction going on and I probably could have spent a while in there watching everything being done.
Instead, I went to the line for the lift since it was going to be a bit of a wait. It took about an hour, but I finally made it to the top. Then my slight fear of heights took over for a bit, before I relaxed and took some deep breaths. I couldn't believe how high up we were! It was a beautiful day in Barcelona and I got some great pictures of the city. From where we were you could also see the work being done on the spires and for some of them, you were very close and could see quite a bit of detail.
I took the stairs down and stopped periodically to pop my head out an opening to take a pictures. It was the highlight of the visit for me. I also went down to the museum which details the history of the building. There was also a really neat exhibit on how Gaudi's interest in nature influenced his design of Sagrada Familia.
I went back to the Pension for a nap before running errands on Las Ramblas. I had to go over there to pick up the Tot Montseratt pass at the Tourism kiosk. I'm heading there tomorrow and this pass pretty much covers everything I want to see/do up there for a reasonable price of 38,45 Euro. With the pass, I get Metro, RENFE train, cable car, funiculars, museum admission, and lunch. It's a really good deal.
My sister was able to deposit some money into my bank account back home so now I have money! This morning I set out to find Harry Scooters, a place Fa, a Couchsurfer in Santiago de Compostela recommended I go check out. I found it and proceeded to make a complete fool of myself and babble on like an idiot to the guy who owned it. Yeah. Cause that's how I roll..... He had some beautiful scooters, including a few Vespas and some Lambrettas. I took a few pictures and left.
Today was also the day I conquered Sagrada Familia. My friend, Sarah Gensert, had been prodding me on Facebook to go. I had been fighting it because it was 12,50 Euro to get in plus another 2,50 Euro to take the lift to the top of one of the towers. I really just wanted to go up in the lift, but that wasn't an option either. The main reason I didn't want to spend the money is you are essentially paying a cover charge to go see a construction site of a church that his not even CLOSE to being completed after one hundred plus years of construction. However, it is probably Gaudi's final masterpiece--he dedicated his final years to it, before dying a mysterious death.
First, I walked around the outside, walking on the sidewalk, looking at it from afar. It was pretty amazing! The detail in the design and the thought that went into all of it was quite impressive. I went inside and there was not much to look at. I think the prediction is for the main nave to be completed in 30 years. There was a lot of construction going on and I probably could have spent a while in there watching everything being done.
Instead, I went to the line for the lift since it was going to be a bit of a wait. It took about an hour, but I finally made it to the top. Then my slight fear of heights took over for a bit, before I relaxed and took some deep breaths. I couldn't believe how high up we were! It was a beautiful day in Barcelona and I got some great pictures of the city. From where we were you could also see the work being done on the spires and for some of them, you were very close and could see quite a bit of detail.
I took the stairs down and stopped periodically to pop my head out an opening to take a pictures. It was the highlight of the visit for me. I also went down to the museum which details the history of the building. There was also a really neat exhibit on how Gaudi's interest in nature influenced his design of Sagrada Familia.
I went back to the Pension for a nap before running errands on Las Ramblas. I had to go over there to pick up the Tot Montseratt pass at the Tourism kiosk. I'm heading there tomorrow and this pass pretty much covers everything I want to see/do up there for a reasonable price of 38,45 Euro. With the pass, I get Metro, RENFE train, cable car, funiculars, museum admission, and lunch. It's a really good deal.