We sit here, mourning the fact that we are within the final hours of our trip. With 3 countries visited (4 if you consider the wishes for independence of the people of Catalonia), many beds slept in, many people met, and countless sights explored, we are preparing for our travels home. But before we allow our tears to wet the keyboard, let us inform you of the exciting activities of the last few days.
On Friday, we traveled back into Barcelona. We had received high regards of the Joan Miro museum from Liz´s dad, so we checked that out. Nestled within the seemingly neverending beautiful scene of grasses, gardens, and fountains that is Montjuic, we found the modern art museum. We really liked the large-scale exhibits they had out, like a spider web made of wire and glass balls that filled an entire room. However, Miro´s modernism and avant-garde style almost started looking like kindergarten artwork after an hour of viewing it. We walked around the rest of the park then, seeing the Olympic stadium from 1992, winding pathways lined with carefully shaped topiaries, and a great view of the city due to our high altitude. We then made our way into the main city to patronize some vintage stores, and enjoy what we thought was the last of our many gelatos we´ve enjoyed while here.
That night, we were very excited and more than a little anxious to check out Festa Major, Terrassa´s annual town festival. All that Lissa would inform us of was that we needed to be fully covered, that there would be fire, and that it would be great. Hmmm.... Well, that turned out to mean a frenzy of what was literally dragons spitting fire, firecrackers going off every which way, men dressed as devils holding gigantic sparklers, and of course, the hoards of well-covered people that we´re dancing around the dragon in circles, ducking their heads to avoid being majorly burnt by the sparks. As terrifying as that may be, it was infinitely more fun and we could just feel the tradition and the community of Terrassa. That night, we went out with Pau and his friends, the son of Lissa and Alex´s neighbor to see the way that the young people of Terrassa celebrate Festa Major. And celebrate they did! We enjoyed the banter across the language barrier, getting to know the difference of Spaniards from Catalonians (e.g. gross guys that hit on us are Spanish; cool, funny guys are Catalon), and the masses of people partying in the park.
All my love and hugs within the final hours of my time abroad,
Grace (and Liz)
After being up the latest we had since the begining of our travels due to the fact that in Terressa the partying doesnt start till 2 am, we took our time getting started the next morning. Alex and Lissa took us out to what it is safe to say was the best meal of the whole trip. The restaurant was a vegetarian place tucked out of the way in an alley. The only way this place is heard about is by word of mouth. The restaurant was the kind I had so longed for in Paris- it was run, cooked and managed by only several people and on a chalk board outside they prolaimed the two meal options for the day. The highlight of the meal was the chocolate chocolate cake Lissa insisted we try. It was chocolate cheesecake with chocolate sprinkles on top and drowning in a puddle of chocolate fudge- it was hormone heaven.
The afternoon and evening was composed of more Festa Major fun. The parade in particular was spectacular, over an hour long and filled with dancers, devils, marching bands, more dragons, and kids with squirt bottles filled with water spraying down anyone who looked like they least wanted to get wet. But the highlight was without question the giant human towers that were built. The towers begin with a base of around 20 people give or take depending on the height. more and more people then climb up using the heads sholders and belt worn around the waist as stepping stones. On top is always a small child of around four who scrambles up like a monkey, raises one hand to show the tower is finished and then books it back down before the tower can collapse. One of the towers we saw had a close call that caused us both to have a minor panic attack. A women on the fourth floor of the tower started shaking like a leaf and the kids on the top had to crawl down before they could finish the tower. That evening we had again our last gelato and Grace, being adventersome, went for a interesting sounding flavor whose name we could not decipher, but thought looked intriguing since it was the only name in quotes. We still do not not wht it was but it was bright pink and filled with gummy like balls. Grace was not impressed.
+ Dancing in the fire the way the locals do
-Due to the rain, we had to sleep inside instead of on our "rooftop queendom," which makes us go a little crazy
+ Learning very amusing swear words in Catalon
- Firecrackers exploding on our feet
See you all soon!
Liz (and Grace)
P.S. A giant thank you the height of the 8-level human towers to Liz´s real and Grace´s now adopted aunt and uncle, who generously hosted us for this week in Terrassa! It would not have been the same without them!
