Cataluña

You just got done with your Western Europe train trek and what do you do next? You go to the information desk, find the hostel that is farthest away thinking it will be the most relaxed and cheapest, and walk across the city with your baggage. Actually, it was a really relaxed walk. The only bad thing though was that this hostel ended up being about 100,000 miles about sea level. Well, not really. I probably got there in about 4 hours though (I took some breaks). I am happy I went though because this place was pretty amazing for a hostel. It was a former school for Polish children after WWII that looked like a mini palace. The art work inside and architecture were pretty impressive. They even had a light breakfast for everyone. And, the place was very relaxing since it had some grounds on which you could walk around. Some pictures are below.

This picture above is of the churches in Barcelona that sit even higher up than my hostel, but not too much higher.

As you may know, in Cataluña, one of the autonomous communities that makes up Spain, Catalan is spoken as well as Spanish. I am hoping that Grossos means dogs.
The subway. I took this picture thinking that I would be leaving in the morning for the next city to join up with friends. The bus though, did not leave til that night, so I had all day to tour Barcelona. I put my luggage in a locker, got out my camera, and enjoyed another free day.
Barcelona's Arc de Triumf

There were tons of statues and monuments all around the city.
Barcelona is famous for the artist Gaudi. His works can be seen all over the city. His final major work still under construction is the Holy Family Church. The details and shapes are amazing. Many of those shapes came from ordinary things or movements we see in nature.
The back side of the cathedral. So much detail!
Before I went in, I had to try some FCB potato chips. And when I say try, I mean just look at them. I'm not going to pay that much for a bag of chips.
One of the sets of doors in the front. The door shows Jesus in Gethsemane. The picture below shows a closer look at a smaller section of the door.

Another set of doors in front with all the names of Jesus.
These are some stairs inside. I said that many shapes and designs come from nature. The design for the stairs was said to come from the spiral of the helicopter seeds that fall from maple trees.
The pillars look like forests.
There's still lots of work.
Here's another small explanation for other shapes in the church. This shape, as it says, was designed by the shape of a budding young plant.
Scale models in the work shop.
So if you remember, there was the door in front with the pictures of Gethsemane. This also is in front just above the doors. If you keep going up making an S as you go, you slowly retrace Jesus's last day before he died. Then, on top in the next picture sitting in between the towers, you can see the risen Christ. It is very interesting how much of this was thought out and planned.

These are buildings down the main shopping street in Barcelona most likely designed by Guadi. The balconies in the picture below look to me like skulls.

Here I am in the plaza de cataluña which had been recently remodeled in 2008. In the background you can see fountains where there are some small reminders of the Spanish Civil War that occurred.
Here are some pictures, including above, of the cathedral of St. Eulalia, the patron of Barcelona and a martyr during Roman times. She died a pretty horrible death. Here is what wikipedia has to say about it Eulalia_of_Barcelona. The cathedral was constructed between the 13th and 15th centuries.
The church was being remodeled, so tourists got to take advantage by going to the roof. In the background, you can see the Mediterranean.
Holy Family Church.
One of the many chapels in the cathedral. I am pretty sure one of the saints in St. Catherine (I took it for Katie).
The crypt of St. Eulalia
Here, you can see on the right a small part of the original Roman aqueduct.
The cathedral from the front.
For some reason, there were all kinds of animals where you might expect gargoyles or something.
There were many narrow streets in the old part of the city. If you looked up, all you saw were balconies filled with drying clothes and sheets.
An interesting sculpture with the post office behind it.
The Marina.
Here is another church, but I can't remember what it was called.
Walking back to the bus station (while also losing my map) I came across this place. Luckily I found my way back, and found some water for the road (below). The bus trip would last 11 hours.

On the road, well railroad

This blog is of the 25 hours on the railroad I spent starting from Bremen at about 2pm. I had 3 transfers, one in Cologne, one in Paris, and another in Cerbere, France.

I had about 1 hour in Cologne. I went to the biggest, closest thing, the Cathedral of St. Peter and Maria in Cologne, which also is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Very interestingly, its construction began in the middle 1200's and was only finished in 1880. It was the tallest structure in the world at one point, until the Washington Monument was completed. It is one of the largest churches in the world and has the largest facade of any church. So as you can guess, this stuck out like a sore thumb. And it certainly helped that I was able to follow the crowds going to this church (about 30,000 daily).

The main doors in the front.
Inside the cathedral.
A beer cart being propelled by the patrons pedaling
A very tiny glimpse of Brussels as we passed through on our way to Paris from Cologne.

A rainbow somewhere in between Brussels and Paris. Remember, this is in the North close to the Sea where the UK is located.
In Paris, I had to go across the city to another train station where my sleeper train would leave. So, while I did not get to walk around at all, I did see just a tiny bit when the subway train went over the Seine River. I was very thankful that the information desk spoke English because getting to the other station was not very obvious. In fact I got to the first station and did not even know that I would have to change stations.
But I did get to that other train station of course. Here is the sleeper train I went on that ran through France as I slept with 5 others in a small compartment with 6 beds.
When I woke up, the landscape had changed. It was drier, warmer, and there were vineyards.
This is Cerebere, where I made my last transfer. It sits on the Mediterranean right on the border with Spain. I had just enough time to grab a baguette and yorgurt for the road. Below is it's public bathroom toilet. My next stop was Barcelona.