O Jet Lag...

Well it's about 7 am right now back in the states, however I've already been up for an hour or so. I was quite dismayed when I popped out of bed at 6, hungry for lunch, only to realize what time it really was. What made it better was I woke up so confused as to where I was, and I wondered why the hostel beds had all of a sudden become so comfortable.

So, I figur

ed since I've got some

time before the rest of the sensible world wakes up, I'd get in a

final blog.

Our last day has been pretty well covered I think. We saw three Gaudi

sites, and had some more free time to ourselves. The Gaudi tour convered La Pedrera, Park Guell, and La Sangrada Familia. My favorite part of the day was La Sangrada Familia. The cathedral is absolutely gorgeous! Construction started in 1882, and won't be complete for at least another 20 years! I hope someday to be able to go back and see it after completion; I can't imagine it being any greater than it is now. The intricacy of the design and decoration is amazing.

Of course La Pedrera and Park Guell were amazing as well. Park Guell was a great exhibit some of Gaudi's best and most famous tile work. We also determined that The Cheetah Girls 2 was filmed here. :) La Pedrera, or La Casa Mila, was a great tribute to Gaudi's mind and the surreal aspect of his art. Dali himself was photographed on the terrace of the house.

Finally, I'd just like to send a shout out to all of the wonderful people that made this trip what it was. All of our fabulous conductors and fearless chaperones, as well as our host families and tour guides, and of course, good old Joseph. It was a fabulous two weeks, and I'm extremely grateful for all the work you guys put in to make it so, It was a great way to end my senior year, and I'll remember it forever!

For the last time,

Thanks,

Dana

Sweet home, Chicago!

Plane just touched down at 6:00pm.  It will take a little while to get bags and go through customs, but we're almost home!

Up and at 'em

Students are up, almost all packed, and just about ready to head to the airport!

Thanks, Josep!

For the duration of the Spain part of the tour, we have had a wonderful and very knowledgeable guide with us named Josep.  Thanks to Jo for teaching us so much about your beautiful country and city!

Our Last Day in Spain!

Our last day in Spain was spent touring the rest of Mont Juic, the parts we were not able to see on our first day of sight-seeing due to the Harley Days Festival.  After Mont Juic, we headed to experience three works of Antoni Gaudi, a celebrated Catalonian architect.  (Barcelona is the only city with Gaudi's works, which makes this city quite a special place to visit.)

The first was Casa Mila, more commonly referred to as La Pedrera, which translated means "the quarry."  The building is named this because it looks very much like a stone quarry.  Initially built to be apartments, the building was hard to occupy with tenants because most people found it very difficult to live in due to its absence of right angles and oddly-shaped rooms.  The building is now owned by the Caixa Catalunya bank, but three apartments continue to be inhabited.  Inside, we were able to see what a bourgeois apartment building looked like when the building was used exclusively as apartment buildings.  We were also able to go up onto the beautiful terrace.

After La Pedrera, we headed to Park Guell, where we enjoyed a sack lunch and walked around the park marveling at Gaudi's work of creative genius.  Park Guell is where some of Gaudi's most famous tile work can be seen, including the giant iguana.

Our final stop was La Sagrada Familia, a church built, in part, by Antoni Gaudi.  Construction of the church was started in March 1882, and it is not finished yet!  If you ever have the privilege of visiting this work of art, you will understand why its completion is taking so long.  The building is the most extravagant building I have ever seen, and it isn't even completed.

I know my camera takes pictures, but it doesn't upload them right now.

Hello!

We visited the Gaudi designed apartment today, La Perdera, and La Sagrada Familia , the Gaudi Cathedral that still isn't finished. It was very very cool! 'm am sooo grateful to have been able to take this trip because I know I won't ever get a chance to visit such a beautiful country for a looong while. As I write this, Spain is winning 3 -1 against China and I'm very excited about that. I am soo looking forward to sleeping in my own bed and seeing my family. I miss them both dearly (Haha!). I am a little worried about my bass getting from barcelona to munich and munich to chicago, but I am sure all will go well. I apologize for the length of this. I would have more if my camera was working. We also finished seeing Montjuic today. Thank you Josep Maria very much for taking us around such beautiful place and showing us things I couldn't ever imagine seeing. The Sagrada Familia is definitely something I hope to see once it's finally finished! Parents, we are coming home tomorrow! I think it is a bittersweet moment because we all love it here, but we miss home soo much. I am, however, very excited for the German students to come and stay with us in August. Good luck to them in their travels as well.

See you all very soon!
As my last blog from Europe,
So long Barcelona and goodnight!
Marisa Bellie

Final Day!

Unfortunately, today is our final day in Europe and there has been ice cream eating almost everyday since arriving to Spain. More importantly, there are two flights tomorrow, and most people want to get back on the time schedule back home. I'm especially freaking out because Sunday morning I have to get up relatively early to drive to to Champaign and attend their Saxophone camp for the week.
Also, I'm sorry that I didn't get many pictures up (especially since arriving in Spain) and that so much has happened this week that I don't think I can blog about much of it.
One thing that was awesome about this week was the day we went to the Flamenco show, because they celebrate the Solstice here in Barcelona, and made awesome bread with sugar and fruit on it just for the occasion. But anyways, we ran accross the street after the show was over, and there was immediately fireworks due to the holiday -- and they continued to go off the rest of the night. That's something I find very odd about Barcelona... I don't know if it's a city thing, if that's just the way things work around here, but it will be midnight and I'll still hear tons of people talking in the alleys and even children crying and such. What's especially annoying about the streets in Barcelona however, are the vendors. They put these weird metal discs in their mouths, and make different sounds -- a bird tweeting, a cat screeching, and squeeky toy, etc. It's just weird walking the streets and having to deal with that. On the plus side, I haven't gotten anything stolen! YAY!
Today, we went to this abosolutely incredible cathedral. Words can't describe it. I think the majority of my photos actually came from that one building this trip. It's work from the arcitect, Gaudí, and the construction of the cathedral began in 1880. But it won't be finished until I'm about 40. It blows my mind! The craftmanship is unlike anything I've ever seen. We also traveled to another beautiful area today, but it's name escapes me. I got to bargain though!
The other day, I felt really bad after we got to go to the market. There were tons of booths to buy food at (this was really more like a grocery store if anything) and I had to buy coconut. It wasn't as good as I expected, so I shared with my friends, and then when I went to throw it out, I saw a man rooting through the trash. He didn't like anything like a homeless man to me though, he was wearing some decent looking clothes, and he looked far from starving. But I still threw it out nonetheless, and then after I walked back to where my friends were, I saw I picked up the box and proceeded to eat it. I felt really bad. I also feel bad about all the things I've bought on this trip, although I don't think it was quite as bad as some amounts I've seen kids raking in this trip.
Well, I have to go finish packing now, but it's been a pleasure blogging on this trip! Everyone is DEFINITELY ready to come home!

See everyone soon,
Callie Sorce