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| Our professors, Turner and Martin along with Carlos. |
Our last day of school was more of a wrap up day with each of us presenting a short speech about our two most memorable cultural experiences and two things that we learned from our lectures and/or site visits. To me, I truly enjoyed the Leadership lecture at Synthon Pharmaceuticals and the site visit at DKV which focused on Corporate Social Responsibility. As for the cultural experiences, I was most in awe of Gaudi's works and the trip to Montserrat. At noon we went to a room to enjoy a lunch together of Catalan chicken and a coffee gelato dessert. Wine and champagne were served, as well, along with a nice cup of espresso. After eating, a large group of us journeyed over to the FC Barcelona stadium to purchase our tickets for the Sunday night game. I have to say, it was fun watching the guys in our group try to figure out the best way to the stadium and we spent a little extra time in the metro station while they studied the maps and routes of the various metro lines.
After that fun adventure we called a few of the group who did not go down to the stadium with us as we were ready to explore Gaudi's Casa Batllo. I am not sure I can explain the wonders that awaited us inside this house that was completely designed by Gaudi. While the outside represented the dragon's scales on the roof and the bones of all its victims, the inside was a completely different story of an underwater fantasy. We were treated to six floors of simply amazing architectual wonder along with a visit to the roof where we could look out on the city. There are no straight lines used anywhere within the house and at the attic level it was designed such that we were within a whale and the arches were its rib cage. The way that he manipulated light in the house and found ways to get the best results is simply amazing. I would recommend anyone visiting Barcelona to make sure that this tour is on their list. A little bit pricy (14.40 Euro with the student discount), but worth every Euro we paid.
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| The main living room. |
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| The back patio off of the dining room. |
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| Lightwell in middle of house. |
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| The roof. |
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| The attic, the "ribs". |
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| Casa Batllo |
Afterwards, we located a wine bar where the group enjoyed a glass of wine and for myself, instead of wine, I had a nice cup of cafe con latte. We decided to go back to the hotel at that point as the temperature had dropped significantly and I needed to get a coat before we headed back out for dinner. We chose to stick close to the hotel that night as we had had a very long day, so we went up to metro stops and found a little local place where I ordered a very greasy pepperoni pizza. Not the best meal I've had, but it sufficed for a quick dinner. Yet again, though, another terrific day in Barcelona.
After that fun adventure we called a few of the group who did not go down to the stadium with us as we were ready to explore Gaudi's Casa Batllo. I am not sure I can explain the wonders that awaited us inside this house that was completely designed by Gaudi. While the outside represented the dragon's scales on the roof and the bones of all its victims, the inside was a completely different story of an underwater fantasy. We were treated to six floors of simply amazing architectual wonder along with a visit to the roof where we could look out on the city. There are no straight lines used anywhere within the house and at the attic level it was designed such that we were within a whale and the arches were its rib cage. The way that he manipulated light in the house and found ways to get the best results is simply amazing. I would recommend anyone visiting Barcelona to make sure that this tour is on their list. A little bit pricy (14.40 Euro with the student discount), but worth every Euro we paid.
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