Our adventure begins with the train ride. When Rachel and I bought our tickets for the trip, we noticed that the train leaves Pau at 16:38 and arrives the next day. The problem with this is that we didn't want to use two days on our Eurail pass (an overnight train counts as the next day if it begins after 17h00.). We asked the guy who sold us the ticket and he said it was fine. As might be expected, this is where the problem begins. On the train, the conductor came and told us that we need to use another day of our eurail pass because that particular train began at 22h00 and is an overnight train (we had put down 7/25 which was when our trip began). Since I dont have another day left, I would have to pay a fine. We told him (in French) that the guy who sold us the tickets told us that we could do that, that we don't have to use another day. He (in Spanish) disagrees. This went on for a while, with neither side backing down until we have to stop because of a new wave of passengers coming on the train. Afterwards, he came back and we continued our argument. In the end, he allowed us to stay on the train and changed the date we had on our passes to 7/26 (when we kept emphasizing that Pau is where we came from). I believe that he thought that we had made other trips over the day and was trying to cheat?
We arrived at the station in Barcelona and tried to change my reservation to a ticket. There was few problems with that. 1) They don't speak English and we don't speak Spanish. 2) The train was booked(the next available one was either Monday or Tuesday). 3) They didn't think I could change a reservation to a ticket. In the end though, the guy went to talk to another guy and I was able to get my ticket.
After we dropped off our stuff at the hostel (which is located in a mall), we left for the Sagrada familia. It is very different from all the other churches I have seen so far. For one, it is very detailed. For another, it is designed very differently. As we learned later on, the Sagrada Familia raised its money through private donations. It is for this reason why the entrance fee was so high. It is also not going to be finished anytime soon.
The exterior
Detail of the exterior
Stain glass window
Columns within the church which are influenced by trees(because Gaudi loves nature)
1 comment:
man i guess it is kind of weird that the train leaves before 7 and then you continue taking trains. it's too bad neither of you guys spoke spanish.
germany was weird; the first day i was completely by myself with my elementary german...yah that was interesting. i basically didn't say much except to order and to pay.
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