Arto Teräs - Meeting friends in Spain, 28.10-5.11.2000

Part 2: Admiring Gaudi and climbing Montserrat

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In my opinion, the most interesting sight in Barcelona are the various works of Gaudi, an architect who became famous for his unique design at the end of 19th and the beginning of 20th century. The buildings are distributed across Barcelona, but the most famous is the cathedral Sagrada Familia. It's construction began already in 1882 but especially the interiors are still far from complete - they have a plan to finish it in about 20 years.

Another nice of example of Gaudi's design: the Casa Mila. The exposition on the top floor presenting the guidelines of his architecture is worth a visit.

On Monday night we met the other INSA exhange students once again, this time we had arranged an appointment on top of the hill Tibidabo. Usually the metro works fine in Barcelona, but we were a bit late and took a taxi for the first time. On the way Rodrigo had a chat with the driver, who clearly felt more patriotism to the Catalonian region than Spain.

Barcelona by night.

On Tuesday morning Marius took a train back to Lyon to see his parents. I continued with Didi and Rodrigo to see Montserrat, a monastery situated on weirdly shaped mountains about 50 kilometers north-west of Barcelona. The region around is rather flat and the peaks rising to 1236 meters are quite impressive.

The monastery itself is an important site for the catholics who come here to see the place where the Virgin Mary is said to have appeared a thousand years ago. We didn't want to wait in the queue to see the sculpture, but took a look of the interiors of the church.

Montserrat is also a great place for a few hour hike up, but we didn't have enough time and took the cable car. However, it still leaves a good walk before reaching the top. We tried one path and ended up between two peaks, but a nice view anyway.

A group photo near the cable car station.

After Montserrat Didi called his friends, Austrian exchange students at Valencia who had promised that we could stay at their place when visiting the city. We also received good driving instructions and didn't have any major problems to find the place even without a map.
Most of the students in Valencia didn't live on the campus. There were students residences available, but the apartments on the free market were cheaper. Paying less than 200 euros per person people had their own room each and shared kitchens and living rooms with good facilities. Stephen (on the left) lived in this one with ? (please send me the name) from France (second from the left) and two more guys from the States.

Didi stayed with Stephen, me and Rodrigo at another place nearby. Our hosts from the left: Rainer (?), Wolfgang, ?.

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Last update 17.8.2001.

	In my opinion, the most interesting sight in Barcelona are the various works of Gaudi, an architect who became famous for his unique design at the end of 19th and the beginning of 20th century. The buildings are distributed across Barcelona, but the most famous is the cathedral Sagrada Familia. It's construction began already in 1882 but especially the interiors are still far from complete - they have a plan to finish it in about 20 years.
	Another nice of example of Gaudi's design: the Casa Mila. The exposition on the top floor presenting the guidelines of his architecture is worth a visit.
	On Monday night we met the other INSA exhange students once again, this time we had arranged an appointment on top of the hill Tibidabo. Usually the metro works fine in Barcelona, but we were a bit late and took a taxi for the first time. On the way Rodrigo had a chat with the driver, who clearly felt more patriotism to the Catalonian region than Spain.
	Barcelona by night.
	On Tuesday morning Marius took a train back to Lyon to see his parents. I continued with Didi and Rodrigo to see Montserrat, a monastery situated on weirdly shaped mountains about 50 kilometers north-west of Barcelona. The region around is rather flat and the peaks rising to 1236 meters are quite impressive.
	The monastery itself is an important site for the catholics who come here to see the place where the Virgin Mary is said to have appeared a thousand years ago. We didn't want to wait in the queue to see the sculpture, but took a look of the interiors of the church.
	Montserrat is also a great place for a few hour hike up, but we didn't have enough time and took the cable car. However, it still leaves a good walk before reaching the top. We tried one path and ended up between two peaks, but a nice view anyway.
	A group photo near the cable car station.
After Montserrat Didi called his friends, Austrian exchange students at Valencia who had promised that we could stay at their place when visiting the city. We also received good driving instructions and didn't have any major problems to find the place even without a map.
	Most of the students in Valencia didn't live on the campus. There were students residences available, but the apartments on the free market were cheaper. Paying less than 200 euros per person people had their own room each and shared kitchens and living rooms with good facilities. Stephen (on the left) lived in this one with ? (please send me the name) from France (second from the left) and two more guys from the States.
	Didi stayed with Stephen, me and Rodrigo at another place nearby. Our hosts from the left: Rainer (?), Wolfgang, ?.