So much to see…so little time!

June 9, 2012
OK so lets just say there is very little sleep to be had in a monastery with hundreds of young adults when you have to sleep with the window open to keep you cool. Chattering and drunk laughter echoed into our room every few minutes as groups came and went. I don't know if everyone was in by 4am or if I just tuned it out at that point. It will suffice to say that when our alarm went off at 7am I wasn't ready to get up. Conrad and I had a lovely chat as I stood in the hall! We had quite a day ahead of us and Cait and I wanted to get to breakfast promptly at 8am. I feel so bad for the nuns who are feeding us. You can imagine how little respect they got as people complained at every meal. It was cafetiera style. I wish I would have gotten a picture. I thought the food was good and besides it was included. I guess people will find anything to complain about. Were in Spain people, whats to complain about?? It was a cute dinning room, with large windows. After filling up we all met at the bus to head out to the Caixia Forum Art Gallery where there is a fantastic exhibition of some of Goya's paintings and etchings. 

Of course Armondo Jr. was an amazing tour guide. He gave us the inside scoop on Goya. He was a painter for the royal family however he apposed the monarchy. He sympathised with the French Revolutionists. Until that too became disappointing as it did not live up to the expectations the people had. Power corrupts on both sides. Studying Spanish history doesnt sound that much different than what we deal with today.  Goya fell into a dark space in his mind as he felt humans were more like animals. His work went from very light hearted to very dark depicting donkeys dressed as humans and evil faces, which were very devil like. Of course no photos. I snapped one of the early ones. Very interesting artist!
We walked up the many stepts at Montjuic, "Mount of the Jews" which as you can see is a strategic place from which to defend the city, so since ancient times there has always been a fortress on top. In 1751 they built the present castle , designed by Juan Martin Cermeno , which during the War of Spanish Independence was occupied by the French.

The Museo Nacional d'Art de Catalunya is housed in this castle. Let me tell you there is so much art in here as you can see below.  The museum is broken down into sections-Romanesque, Gothic, Renissance/Baroque, and Modern. Again we learned so much my head was spinning. Here you could take pictures, just no flash. :)  Hope you enjoy. 

Armando Jr told us how in the Romantic period as demonstrated above in these murials above Jesus was always depicted in an almond shaped nimbus.

I loved this piece by Joaquim Vayreda.  It was the one that stuck with me.  I would love to get a print of it!

I love how the womanly body was depicted with curves.  No stick figures here.  Makes me feel better about the few extra pounds I carry.  ;)

A quick visit to the Olympic Villiage was nice and we got to see the inside stadium. It was much smaller than I had expected it to be. I guess I didn't pay attention to the torch lighting ceremony when I watched the olympics because as they discribed the archer lighting the torch from the field and it sounded so romantic. Isnt it funny how everything seems much more romantic as time passes.

  We were discussing how people never seem to appreciate the time period in which they live.
We went back to the montesary for lunch and then we had a few hours of free time. 

This is where we ate our meals.  Isnt it gorgeous.  The whole grounds were.  The appartments where we stayed were a newer addition and much less romantic!

After taking a few pictures of the grounds Alyssa and I rode the metro down to the pier and enjoyed some sea life at the national aquarium. They had quite a wonderful display which was mostly meditteranian sea life, or so they said. 

Alyssa is super afraid of sharks.  She was quite cute and tried to brave her fears.

I loved seeing the sail boats and it really inspired me to come back here with Conrad to live on the boat someday. 

We walked around the Rambla which was insainely packed with people, artists, and musicicans. 

They love their dogs as much as we do! :)

We headed back for dinner at the montesary and then everyone loaded the bus for the Light and Sound Show at the fountain in Montjuic. It was a really fun time. 

Ashton, Kathryn and Kae posed for a pic...

Ashton...my pretty lady!

Finally Alyssa got her donut!

There was some modern music and some classical music so it was a nice variety. Again there were people everywhere. Armondo told they bus they would drop anyone off down town who was wanting to hit up the night life. It cracked us up because the entire bus got off but 4 of us. Alyssa, Cait, Alicia and I stayed on the bus to go back. I know I was tired from the day and ready to go to bed. No one got home until 5am!  I was happy to have slept! :)