Live from Lyngby

Valencia/Remains of Las Fallas -> Barcelona -> Copenhagen -> Lyngby

Thursday March 20th

Waking up early is never fun.  Especially on about two hours of sleep.  Luckily, I was able to wake up at 5:50 and quickly said my goodbyes to Evan and walked for about 35 minutes or so to the train station of Valencia in order to catch my 6:40 train for Barcelona where I would hopefully meet up with my sister.

There is something eerie about walking around a city by yourself in the early morning hours.  Especially when the streets are littered with debris and piles of ashes remain from the night before.

I made it to the train in good time and got on my way to Barcelona.  I slept for about the first two hours of the trip until the train began to have trouble and causing me to end up arriving around eleven o'clock, rather than ten.  Thankfully Bethany was paying attention to the arrivals and was waiting for me when I did finally show up.  It was very good to see somebody from home after such a long time.  We took some time to get our bearings straight but we were soon our way to drop off our stuff at the hostel and allow me to get a shower.  The hostel was a lot further than I had thought and we arrived about an hour later.

Bethany had decided she wanted to see Parc Guell today so we went and got some food for a picnic and started walking towards the Parc.  Parc Guell is a park designed by Gaudi and I must say it was pretty incredible.  There were a lot of people hanging around but it didn't feel overcrowded just as though everyone had the same idea to take in the gorgeous weather.  It provided for some incredible sights.









After taking in the park, we walked up a large hill to get a good view of the city.  It really is quite a sight.



I had never before had the impression that Barcelona has so many hills around it.  The city is very well confined in a range of hills that lie on the outside of the city and really provide some amazing views of the city.

After this we were off to take in arguably the best view of the city.  Tibidabo is the highest point in the city.  Once you reach the top of the mountain there is a church and some really amazing views.  Bethany's friend had told her it was her favorite thing in the city, so I figured we had to check it out.



At this point it was about six o'clock so we decided to head back to the hostel for a small rest.  When we got back there was a nice family having some snacks in our common room.  It turns out they were from Texas and visiting their daughter on spring break.  Her daughter and her friend were studying in Alicante for the semester.  As fate would have it the mother and father would be sleeping below Bethany and I this evening.

After resting up we headed downtown to grab some dinner and watch some of the Barcelona v. Valencia soccer match.  At halftime Valencia was up 2-0 so we headed back to our hostel.  We got back with a few minutes left in the match with Valencia ahead by what would end up being the final score of 3-2.  I think I'm really starting to like watching soccer, although I am quite sure I really just like watching any sort of competition.  We were both exhausted from our travels and ended up crashing fairly early in order to be ready to go around the next day.

Friday March 21st

...and the blog must go on.  Even I'm getting bored with this right now so I'm sure you are.  I'm going to say just a few words about today and the rest will be my day in pictures.  Bethany got a little sick but ended up feeling ok.  I ran into Lyman and his visitors at Sagrada Familia and would go out with them and also Laura Foit and Lindsay Garst later that evening.  Also, no pictures from Museu Picasso because they weren't allowed but honestly one of my favorites.

Here it goes...

Sagrada Familia...











Parc de la Ciutadella...









La Rambla and the Waterfront...









Reminders of the University of Maryland...





...and finding the greatest 21st birthday present for Mike Carey.  I feel almost 100 percent confident that I could mention exactly what it is right now and he would still not know until his birthday in August.  Still I won't take that chance.  Really it was quite a nice day.

Saturday March 22nd

Today was our last day in Barcelona.  We really tried to take advantage of it.  We started off by finding a local flea market and seeing exactly what this entailed.  They really are a spectacle.  Bethany was a little intimidated and I suppose I was as well because we spent no more than twenty minutes there before continuing to walk into the city.  We took a side track through the Parc de la Cuatidella to check out a fountain we had missed the other day...



...and an elephant as well.



After the park we continued through to see the gift shop of the chocolate museum.  It was here where I scared Laura Foit by sneaking up behind her and also where we saw a chocolate display of the FC Barcelona crest.

We didn't stay there long before we went off to climb a large hill to see the old fortress that was once used to protect the city.  It really was quite impressive and provided some great views of the city.







On our way down the mountain we stopped by the 1992 Olympic Stadium and also saw where the torch.





Around the corner was a fairly famous telecommunications tower...



...and for anyone keeping score, this is the third major city out of the four I've traveled to so far with buildings designed by Santiago Calatrava.

From Malmo, Sweden ~ The Turning Torso:



From Valencia, Spain ~ Ciudad de las Artes i las Ciencias:

     

From Barcelona, Spain ~ Montjuic Communications Tower:



And for anyone who really cares, this is the second spring break in a row where I have visited a city with his work.

From Toronto, Canada ~ Brookfield Place:



ANYWAY...

After taking the stadium in we walked further down the mountain (I say mountain because honestly, at this point that's what it felt like) to the Palau Nacional.  This not only provided a great view...



...but also was an impressive looking building.



It also provided us with a nice break and some great entertainment.  There was a street performer playing his guitar and he really blew me away.  Here is a video of him playing the end of With a Little Help from My Friends by the Beatles.



After this we headed back to our hostel to rest up and have some dinner and get things packed since we were leaving at seven o'clock so Bethany could catch her ten thirty flight.  Eating dinner in the hostel I met a very nice woman from Newcastle who had been recently in Africa.  As I have said many times before, it is so nice to meet people even for just the briefest amounts of time.

A few hours later Bethany and I would head out to meet up with Lyman, Lauren, and Brian to go to a bar called "Shots."  Well, it was whatever "shots" is in Spanish.  It was a shot bar.  With over 300 different types of shots, I had never seen anything like it.  I personally don't enjoy shots so much, however I do enjoy roasting marshmallows over a burning bar top and having sparklers burn out in my drink, so it really wasn't that bad.  Around one thirty we headed out to get a little rest and the other group had to pick up their bags from the hostel since they had early, early morning flights and would not be spending the night at the hostel.

Sunday March 23rd

Easter Sunday and I didn't go to church.  Considering my record so far this semester it is not so surprising but I do really feel as though I can't wait to start getting back into a regular groove with Sunday mass.  It's consistent things like that that let you know there will always be some sort of stability in the world.  My day would consist of getting Bethany to her flight, sleeping a few hours, eating lunch and catching my own flight to Amsterdam.  There I would kill a few more hours before catching my flight to Copenhagen.  Once in Copenhagen I would take the metro back to Lyngby and miss the last bus by four minutes.  I would walk the 25 minute walk home and crash shortly after walking through the door.

An absolutely remarkable spring break by all accounts.