Flowers, Architecture, and Turbolasers

I'm behind on posts [edit: now caught up], but I'm going to write this one now rather than the older ones because so much happened. I took a record 1300 photos today, haha, and I don't want to forget too much...

In Barcelona, it's a balmy 23-24 degrees Celsius. This means I get sunburned pretty quickly because it's cool enough that I don't notice the sun. I step outside my hostel, pretty disoriented since I arrived by taxi, and find a nearby park.

The park

The Spanish have their own Arc de Triomphe for some reason

which is the beginning of the park

There is a castle

and iguanas

There are people blowing bubbles so I take pictures through those for a while. It's really hard to focus on a bubble in motion.

This park is so full of different colours, it's incredible.

and a combo

plus a lot of trees with yellow blossoms

OK, enough flower pictures. Some larger ones:

Elsewhere

Thoroughly sunburned, but not yet realizing it, I went to relax in this bar/restaurant called Story (couldn't resist), then outside where dangerous creatures lurk

but I hide in the grass with the yellow petals, and I'm safe

near the ships

In that last one you can see Christopher Columbus. Cool harbor bro.

I figured out how the metro station worked and found a skateboard park and actual mandarins GROWING IN FRONT OF ME

and other things.

Had lunch at a heavenly pasta place with wifi which directed me to..

La Pedrera (La Casa Milà)

Gaudí is Barcelona's most famous architect. This is one of his works:

It's designed to follow patterns in nature such as waves and bone superstructure. Nice lighting effects too, it looks like it's sunny even when it's not

Somewhat strange decorations on top

with spiral staircases that curve up and to the left -- I guess Gaudi wanted to break with medieval tradition here [most people right handed => defender wants right side with the most space as retreating upwards].

I really don't envy the brick laying guy's job here

although the inside does feel very organic.

The closest thing I can compare it to is the set of the Farscape TV show (which features an organic ship called the Leviathan). Very cool hexagonal floor tiles

which were shamelessly copied in the metro station outside, haha

I can't imagine the expense of living in a place like this though, let alone building it. The suites are huge. They probably cost like ten million dollars each. Let's just say, the entry fee for students to view it was 16,50 euro.

The Fountain!

At 9:30pm on certain days of the week, this famous fountain goes live. I met an Indian couple on the train and directed them to it, although I was fuzzy on exactly what the fountain would do... lights, water, music.

Getting there, the sun is setting, so I take absurd pictures

(those are reflections btw). I'm early, but so is everyone else

so we're all watching some street dancers

It's crazy how many people come, I have no way of counting but I would guess perhaps three thousand

There is trumpeting and the fountains gradually turn on. (There are small ones that some people had been sitting on without realizing there would be water coming out of them. Haha, oops.) I took many hundreds of pictures, but here are a few for your enjoyment

There were normal sprays and also very diffuse ones, which looked almost like aurora borealis as they moved in slow motion. There were other lights and fountains too. The Spanish sure know how to put on a good show.

Those laser-like lights are still, unlike lights from a club or from a blitz. Their very steadiness makes them seem peaceful. This fountain was my favourite.. here I am playing with flash and shutter effects

Even higher up the mountain, there is this

and a Roman living the dream. Fire starboard turbolasers!!!

OK, I congratulate you if you read this far, and here is one last picture -- the main fountain on time-lapse with about 1/5 shutter speed.

I took a couple's picture because their camera battery had died. I'm writing this here to remind myself. I can't believe I took so many pictures. What was I thinking?

Good night.