Peyton Keller
Today started off great. We got to sleep in and have a big breakfast! No better way to start the day than with a full 8 hours and some Nutella toast. We got the activities for the day started with a walking tour of Barcelona in the Gothic Quarter. We passed the Arc de Triumph where we snapped some quick pics.
We then left the main street to go back in time 2000 years where the Romans used to call Barquino, and is now known as Barcelona. We passed by the Roman wall where we learned only the big stones are the original pieces of the Roman wall, and the rest had been rebuilt. We got to see the one of the oldest pieces of architecture in Barcelona, the temple of D'August, which had been hidden for 2,000 years and was recently discovered 150 years ago.
The gothic cathedral is not of traditional gothic design, it is Catalan where it lacks the ornate designs and verticals heights. It is simple because it allowed the simple people of Barcelona to be closer to God.
We stood in La Plaza del Rei, the king's square, where we saw the king and queen's personal church, their residency, and the building that housed the military. This is the location where Christopher Columbus told the king and queen he had discovered America, but this is also where the Spanish Inquisition held their executions. The buildings are all made of stone, however stone was hard to get into the city so they recycled old Jewish tomb stones which is a beautiful way to represent how interconnected Spain is with religion.
We got to go inside the cathedral and see the stained glass windows and the sculptures and it was a beautiful sight to see. The gardens are a quiet place to pray and holds 13 geese to commemorate Santa Eulalia, a Christian martyr, who wanted to help the poor, but was tortured 13 different ways and died at the age of 13. She is the Patron Saint of Barcelona and this is her shrine.
We saw a protest against Monsanto, the agricultural company, for their use of pesticides and transgenetic genes.
We then saw another cathedral built by the Catalan people for the Catalan people. They would carry stones from nearby mountains which was a 2 day walk. It took 55 years to build this cathedral, and follows the Catalunya gothic style. Inside the cathedral, we got to see a wedding and the artistic design of the Catalan people. After our walking tour of the Gothic Quarter, I went to the Olympic museum to learn more about the Olympic Games and where each sport originated. Outside the stadium was a wonderful view of the mountains, city, and water.
Afterwards we went to a light show that was on a fountain to end the night.
We then left the main street to go back in time 2000 years where the Romans used to call Barquino, and is now known as Barcelona. We passed by the Roman wall where we learned only the big stones are the original pieces of the Roman wall, and the rest had been rebuilt. We got to see the one of the oldest pieces of architecture in Barcelona, the temple of D'August, which had been hidden for 2,000 years and was recently discovered 150 years ago.
The gothic cathedral is not of traditional gothic design, it is Catalan where it lacks the ornate designs and verticals heights. It is simple because it allowed the simple people of Barcelona to be closer to God.
We stood in La Plaza del Rei, the king's square, where we saw the king and queen's personal church, their residency, and the building that housed the military. This is the location where Christopher Columbus told the king and queen he had discovered America, but this is also where the Spanish Inquisition held their executions. The buildings are all made of stone, however stone was hard to get into the city so they recycled old Jewish tomb stones which is a beautiful way to represent how interconnected Spain is with religion.
We got to go inside the cathedral and see the stained glass windows and the sculptures and it was a beautiful sight to see. The gardens are a quiet place to pray and holds 13 geese to commemorate Santa Eulalia, a Christian martyr, who wanted to help the poor, but was tortured 13 different ways and died at the age of 13. She is the Patron Saint of Barcelona and this is her shrine.
We saw a protest against Monsanto, the agricultural company, for their use of pesticides and transgenetic genes.
We then saw another cathedral built by the Catalan people for the Catalan people. They would carry stones from nearby mountains which was a 2 day walk. It took 55 years to build this cathedral, and follows the Catalunya gothic style. Inside the cathedral, we got to see a wedding and the artistic design of the Catalan people. After our walking tour of the Gothic Quarter, I went to the Olympic museum to learn more about the Olympic Games and where each sport originated. Outside the stadium was a wonderful view of the mountains, city, and water.
Afterwards we went to a light show that was on a fountain to end the night.
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