the sederbergs: Bar-th-elona

In Spain, the c's are spoken like th's. At the airport, we had some trouble finding our luggage so I asked a lady for help. She directed me to Terminal "th." I didn't understand, so she said it a few more times and then said, "'Th' as in casa." Ah. I had forgotten we were in Spain. Now for the adventures:

Our first few days in Spain were spent in the city of Gava, about 30 miles outside of Barcelona. While Matt did his tradeshow thing, I bought sunglasses and soaked in the sun at a beach along the Mediterranean Sea. I read Victor Frankl's Man's Search for Meaning, a wonderful book about using positivism to improve your life. I highly recommend it.

Then we went to Barcelona for the next few days. Barcelona is famous for the architect Antonio Gaudi, who used the city as the playing ground for his creative releases. Here is a good shot of some of his architecture in the city from the viewpoint of a park he designed. (I thought the mosaic benches were really cool--I really want to do a mosaic something in our house.)

More Gaudi architecture: the Sagrada Familia. This Catholic church was Gaudi's biggest design project, which he began a little over 100 years ago. He died before it was finished, and it is still under construction. "Sagrada familia" means Sacred Family, which is detailed in the above picture on one of the outside columns of the church. It was beautiful--and a bit avant-garde.

Here I am trying to figure out some of Gaudi's architecture--or maybe trying to make sense of the joke Matt just made. :)

Another church, this time built and finished in the 14th century. It is called Santa Maria del Mar and is hailed as one of the most true-Baroque churches ever built (thanks to its hasty building, which only took 20 years). We happened upon a Catholic wedding while there and enjoyed how delightful a string quartet can sound in the open vaults of a church.

The above pictures detail our ascension to Montserrat, a mountain monastery retreat. I say retreat because the area has been turned into a big tourist attraction with various hotels, restaurants, and shops. Since we went on a Sunday, Matt and I instead enjoyed nature by walking along a trail to a more secluded area. It was breathtaking to be so high up on such a steep mountain.