tuesday continued...

Then I found the Gothic archways that are made out of stone like the ones at the edge of the open patio. They made me feel like I was seeing a model of the interior of the Cathedral, like the foundation for the more refined stones in the Cathedral. These stones were a nice, warm beige color.




I wandered through the first set of archways and then found another. On top, there was a band and a wall. The wall curved in at several planters on top of columns and had seating between planters.


From there, I decided to go back see the front view of Parc Guell. I’d clearly come in a side entrance. I went down some stairs next to the patio to see the columned hall underneath. There was a man playing music underneath it too, perhaps more than structurally needed. Between columns, there were rounded impressions in the ceiling. They reminded me oddly of a soccer ball based on their juxtaposition. Near the center, there were a couple of mosaiced areas.

I saw some stairs at the far side of the building and went up them, distracted already from seeing the front entrance. I found more stone Gothic archways. These ones seemed to be precariously tipped onto their side.

At the far end of them was another set of archways. These ones were around rounded protrusion out of the rock. It went in a sort of U. These columns appeared to be spirals. They were really neat. They had a rock rail around their edge because below them was another set of arches also made of the same pieced stone.

Then I FINALLY went around to the front of the park. I looked at the 3 mosaiced fountains at the front. The most famous one has a lizard in the center. I had to wait a long time to get a picture of it without someone posing on it.

He’s in the center of the stairs leading to the building with all of the columns. On the sides of the stairs is another blue and white checker pattern on the curved walls that open out to welcome you in. On top of them are protrusions like different sectors of a crown. Along the stairs, closer to the main gate is another fountain. This one is a head on a circle, like a hunting trophy. It’s spitting out water into a pool with plants growing in it. The first one inside the gate is a little bit chaotic, with plants growing in all directions.

I went to the gift shop because it IS the building with the checkered chimney. I went upstairs and bought a bookmark shaped thing off of the postcard rack. It’s got a nice picture of the view of the city. Outside, the sidewalk is practically mosaiced in gothic rocks too.

Then I exited the park.

On the walk home, I was following a family with 4 kids. As they passed apartments, they doorbell ditched every one they could reach. The parents weren’t trying too hard to stop it. As I walked behind them, I heard various “Alo?” and “Si?” replies.
I saw a park with its stairs strategically place to create a cross. I was pretty impressed.

As I walked, I realized I was on the main street next to my friends’ apartment. I cut in back toward my house. I decided to stop at the “Take out Crep” shop. When I arrived, no one was there, not even a shop keeper. One appeared. I explained I didn’t speak Spanish and was directed to the English menu. I only read the creps and chose Nutella and strawberries. Then I read under Galets (I think) about one with ham and brie. Oh snap! I asked if I could get that one instead. The woman picked the crepe off of the cooker and threw it in the garbage. She was happy to please me, not mad. She put away the strawberry she’d started slicing (that I hadn’t noticed) and got out ham and cheese. I felt bad but excited. When the crepe was done, she folded it up into a long thin slice. Then she put it into a box that was the same shape. I got a soda and ate it at the bar in the store. It was amazing. The crepe was super butter and delicious. The ham was Spanish ham—sort of weird and dried/raw looking. I can never quite decide. It’s dark but with a fair amount of fat on it. That part was pretty salty and really flavorful. Overall: amazing. I decided I might go back tomorrow and have the strawberry one for my dinner. On the way home, I wondered how far I'd walked during the day.
At home, I played on the computer. I'm officially not getting a job with BCN because I'm an American. Also, Blogger refused to upload my pics! LAME! I decided to experiment with making them smaller before uploading them and that helped immensely. I organized my notes for our grammar quiz tomorrow and thought a little bit about my lesson. I can’t believe it’s my last one for TEFL! I had trouble focusing on my lesson though because the blog was rather distracting. Pretty pictures are so much more fun than making up a lesson if you're not super keen on the topic. :/