Barcelona: Day 4

Barcelona
70 degrees, sun sun sun

I wouldn't say that I am all about Gaudi... but I am all about Guadi.  Especially after today.  I have two words for you - Sagrada Familia.  This is, hands down, the most interesting church I have ever been to.  It may be the most interesting building I have ever been to come to think of it.  It has been under construction since 1882.  What blows my mind is not that it has been under construction for so long ( what with all the siestas this country takes that isn't all that surprising) but rather that Gaudi designed this building so long ago.  He designed this well over 100 years ago --

Amigos, if you are ever in Barcelona - go see this!!

more tomorrow.  

buenas noches 

Barcelona: Day 3

Barcelona
71 degrees, sunny

Carolyn and I decided that today we were going to wander around Montjuic and that's as far as the planning went...

Montjuic is a park with the mediterranean to the south and the city to the north.  The park is essentially a small mountain and so has truly spectacular views of the city.  This is definitely one of my favorite spots in the whole city.

The first building we came across in Montjuic is the National art museum, which is massive.  And gorgeous.

National Art Museum of Catalunya

View from the steps of the Nat'l art museum

From the museum, we climbed a bit higher into the park and came across the '92 olympic stadium.

Olympic stadium

Inside the olympic stadium

I cannot tell you how much I enjoyed walking around in the olympic park.  You can really go wrong in a place like that on a day like today.

Outside on Montjuic Carolyn and I decide to check out the architecture scene.  Well it was more like we came across it unintentionally.  Nonetheless! we came across it and that is all that matters.  Before I show you the main attraction I will show you the building next to it.

I don't know anything at all about this building but I am guessing that when it was built people probably though it was really neat and different.  And then Antonio Gaudi shows up and drops the proverbial modern-architecture hammer. 

Barcelona: Day 2

Barcelona
67 degrees, sunny

Buenos días, gentes

We kicked off our second day in the city with a walking tour of the old, gothic city.  We walked through so many side alleys, back street, out-of-the-way courtyards, that I honestly couldn't tell you where we went.  But, I can tell you that it was absolutely beautiful.

Plaça Reial

We began here in the Plaça Reial which is a large square that one can only imagine how glamorous and regal it must have been when it was first built.  Narrow streets lead out of the square on all sides and down one of these we went to the pine church.  One of the oldest catholic churches in spain.

Across from the church- the oldest decorated facade in the city

We walked through the old jewish quarter where the streets are some of the narrowest in the city and the houses are stacked one on top of the other.  

street level looking up

We passed through the city hall square,

and on to a wing of the national catherdral that contained a beautiful little park with thirteen white geese (the number of geese has to do with the age and the number of time st. eluelia was tortured during one of the many religious purges that took place in spain- can't say i remember which one it was)

The guide took us into a secluded church and courtyard where Gaudi went to pray every day.

Most of the walls were damaged like this in the civil war.  It gives this tiny square a lot of character.

At the end of the tour, at the recommendation of the guide, we stopped into a hole-in-the-wall chai tea shop and had some outstanding chai and indian pastries.

We went to La Boqueria mercat afterwards.  There is something here for every culinary taste.  And not just something- heaps and piles of somethings.  Check it

you get the idea...

We also stopped into an espadrilles shop where I got my very own pair of handmade shoes.  

stacks of handmade espadrilles

I love them despite the rather unpleasant blisters they are causing on the bottoms of my feet.  Maybe not a "walking around" shoe after all.

So many wonderful moments all in one day.  It's hard to keep track sometimes!

Marion, Annie, Carolyn, Alex, and Lauren outside the modern art museum.

look at those rays.

Barcelona

BARCELONA
66 degrees, sunny!

FINALLY
some sun!

I set off this morning at 5:00am from Copenhagen.  I could not have been happier to be traveling to more temperate climates as I walked through rain and fog to catch my train to the airport.  By 7:30 we were taxing down the runway WOOHOO.  25 minutes later- we are heading back to copenhagen because we don't have enough fuel to get to Barcelona.  WHAT?! COME ON.  A little more gas, and an engine check later we were back in the air.
Barcelona was worth the wait.

I took this picture on La Rambla, which is the big walking street in the middle of the city which leads to the water.

There were lots of cool things to see on and around La Rambla.  For example, there was a stand selling..... wait for it... chipmunks. yup

Cool!

There are also tons of amazing buildings lining both sides of the street.  

I am here with five other girls and we had a great time walking around today.  We stopped into a little bar right off the street for mojitos and then went to dinner.  On the menu - tapas.

I am a big fan of tapas.  Its like having six different mini dinners all at once a la six dinner sid.  

More soon.

Adios

-Allison

Parliament

CPH 

48 degrees, rain

 Today I took the most memorable elevator ride of my life.  Enter the Paternoster.

This is one of only four left in Denmark and can be found in the Parliament building, where I went today for my Danish Politics class.  This may have been the most interesting aspect of my visit to Parliament today.   Just kidding.  But maybe I'm not...

Anyways, I love this elevator, so efficient, so clever.  Well played Denmark.

The rest of the building was beautiful as well.  Go figure

 

There are 800 clocks in Parliament such as this one here.  All 800 must be changed but hand for daylight savings.  Yikes

(The A and M at the bottom is not in fact AM, as I cleverly suspected.  Rather, 7 minutes before a meeting of parliament the M flashes and the clocks chime.  And 7 minutes before parliament is to vote the A flashes.) 

I also stopped into the Royal stables on the way out.  Pretty nice digs if you are a horse, or a human. 

All the horses had guilded name plates over their stalls.  This here is Consula.

Back on the home front now, I was recently paid a visit to by two Danish Jehovah's witnesses who were going door to door.  I was spared a bible sermon because their bible was in Danish and I just. don't. speak. Danish.  They seemed more disappointed by this than I.  

And speaking (or not) of Danish, let me just say that it is a tough nut to crack as far as languages go.  A tough nut indeed.  The grammar is not difficult, neither is spelling for that matter, and many of the words are very similar to english.  But the pronunciation!  Well, that will get you every time.  There is a certain je ne sais quoi about the way you have to gargle the letters in the back of your throat that makes speaking particularly challenging.  

My danish oral midterm in two days will be a real spectacle.  I'll let you know how it goes.

vi ses 

Weekend Update

CPH
50 degrees, rainy

Yo wazup

Let me tell you about where I've been for the past week

Last friday was Copenhagen's annual culture night.  Kulturnatten.  I will preface the description of this event by saying that every city in the world should have a culture night.  Once a year, 200+ cultural institutions open their doors from 5:00pm - 1:00am for a city-wide celebration of Danish culture.  A little kroner up front and then the whole city is your playground.  You can visit art museums, Parliament, the zoo, restaurants, castles, gardens, etc.  There are more destinations than you could ever possibly visit in one night so its good to have a plan set out ahead of time.  Carolyn and I went first to the zoo which has an incredibly diverse group of animals.  One of my favorites was the anteater, which I have never seen in real life.  After the zoo, we headed to the environmental house - a house that is made by all sustainable materials and operated in a completely sustainable way.  The house had solar panels, and a composting toilet, you know the usual eco-suspects.  I am all in favor of the green revolution, don't get me wrong, but composting your poo?  Too far, tooo far.  From here, we headed down the main walking street (Strøget) where almost every store was open serving beverages and food.  There were tents filled with everything from Nordic apple varieties to medieval replica swords.  We saw ice sculptures, tasted organic Scandinavian foods, listened to live music, and watched kids played the biggest Jenga tower I have ever seen.

We headed to the Black Diamond Library to see a photography exhibit and to explore the library itself.

Pictures are technically "not allowed" but I figured since it was culture night it would be alright.

Culture night isn't just for visitors in fact it is mostly Danes who were out and about, which is what makes it such a great event.  It's really authentic and you can tell that this is a country with A LOT of pride in their culture.


Fast forward a few days to Wednesday- field study time.  This week I headed to the Danish resistance museum and the Danish Institute for Human Rights.
At the resistance museum we learned about the different stages of Danish resistance and although it had a weak start ended on a strong and pretty violent note (that is to say, violent for Denmark).  We also the movie Flammen & Citronen (which I would recommend) about two of the most famous members of the Danish resistance movement Flame and Citron.
Cool museum.

On the way we passed by the grounds of Fredericksborg castle which is really beautiful especially now that the leaves are starting to fall.

Later, at Danish Institute for Human Rights we heard presentations about the current human rights challenges in Denmark namely discrimination and immigration.  Immigration is one of the most controversial issues in Denmark today. And, it was very interesting to hear the topic presented from a Danish perspective.  But, I will save the politics for another venue.  

peace and love

Allison 

It's Danish

CPH
50 degrees, sunny


On more than one occasion I have been surprised to learn about the Danish origins of toys, movies, actors, books, music etc. Here is a running list of Things you never knew were Danish


Coming in at #1- LEGO.  So all you nerds, past (that's me) or present (me again), out there can thank the great nation of Denmark for all the memories

#2- AQUA.  That's right- Barbie Girl... came straight from Denmark.  Barbie however is not danish and neither is Ken.

#3- Viggo Mortenson.  You know... Aragorn from Lord of the Rings.

#4-  Mads Mikkelsen.  The villain form Casino Royal who cries blood (best way I know how to describe him)

#5- Lars Ulrich- Drummer for Metallica

#6- Lone Scherfig - directed An Education




I am also frequently surprised about the American culture you never appreciated until you came to Denmark

1. Jock Jams

...but I won't make that list