Jenny Cristina Barcelona: May 2011

Monday, May 30, 2011

Parc Güell y Opera y Flamenco

After having a wonderful Peruvian lunch at the home of my favorite Peruvian student, Marta, I walked to Parc Güell to re-visit some of my favorite Gaudí structures there. The Parc never ceases to amaze me...and neither do the crowds! It is always crazy there... :-( You have to muscle your way in to get a chance at the good photo ops...but it's definitely worth it...

This evening, I went to an Opera y Flamenco show at the Palau de la Musica Catalana. It was amazing! The artful combination of opera and flamenco was beautiful...and the performers, dancers, singers, and musicians, were all extremely talented. To see this performance while also soaking in the beauty of the Palau de la Musica was definitely an experience.

Marta and I on her balcony...

Entrance to Parc Güell

Parc Güell

Palau de la Musica Catalana

Opera y Flamenco Musicians

Opera y Flamenco Performers

From the Barri Gottic to the Top of Tibidabo

On Saturday, I finally went inside the Barcelona Cathedral...what a pleasant surprise! I had walked by this church at least a dozen times and never went inside...either I wasn't dressed properly (shoulders need to be covered) or I was on my way to somewhere else. I loved the lighting and thought it was a really beautiful church to shoot. Because there is restoration going on inside there is a lot of scaffolding, but the dim lighting was a great disguise!

Later on, I took a trek up the mountain to Tibidabo. From there, you can see the entire city of Barcelona. There is also an old-time amusement park and a beautiful church on the top of the mountain. This church can be seen from many vantage points in Barcelona and has always intrigued me so it was great to finally see it up close.

On my way home, I stopped to check out the Barça fans who had gathered at the Arc de Triomf to watch the European Cup match. The match was being held at Wembley Stadium between FC Barcelona and Manchester United. They were showing the game on a HUGE screen TV against the backdrop of the Arc de Triomf (only 1/2 block from my apartment). What a sight! Barça went on to win 3-1 over Manchester United...and I could have told you they won without having ever seen the score! The crowd was quite excited, to say the very least :-)