Well yesterday I saw something I thought I would never see in my life...the Holy Grail. It was so exciting. I was one of the ones who jumped on the bandwagon and read the Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown. It was a brilliantly written book and I rather enjoyed it, but I never in a million years thought that I would be able to actually see it. When we went in to the cathedral I just wanted to skip everything else and go straight to the Grail, but my friends wouldn’t let me. I´m glad they made me stick around and take a gander. I saw so many other interesting things like a Painting by Goya that had St. Francis in which he is performing an exorcism. The man lay dying in the bed refusing to repent his sins. Behind the man there are two demons lurking at his side waiting to take him. As morbid as it may sound this by far has been my favorite painting I have seen while in Spain.
The Valencia Cathedral held many chapels inside. There was one chapel in particular that I found extraordinary that would be the chapel in which St. Vincent the Martyr’s intact arm lies in a glass box. While listening to the audio tour I was looking at this arm in the box trying to figure out why they would just randomly put it there. Well to my astonishment it is the actual arm of St. Vincent, and it is in fact still intact.
Overall I would have to say that my time in Valencia was well spent. I’m am so glad that I had the chance to see such art and history all once.
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Natural art with man made art.
Barcelona may not have been my personal favorite, but it still had a lot to offer. Spain as whole has such beautiful architecture, and its all wonderful especially the Parque Guell done by Antonio Gaudi.
Antonio Gaudi was a brilliant artist who combined natural art with man made art. Normally you visit a park thinking you see some pretty flowers, some trees, maybe a pond or a river. You would never walk in and expect to see arches, pillars, domes, and mosaics. At Parque Guell that is exactly what you get. When I saw how he incorporated his art to blend so well with nature I was astonished. I had never seen anything like that before. It felt as if we were in a different world. It was like something out of a fantasy. Technically we were in a fantasy, his fantasy.
Another place we visited was Sagrada Familia. This church is amazing. It was started in 1882, and it is still in progress. The 330 ft. towers are considered local landmarks. Gaudi was considered different and unique because of how he would combine different styles to create one. The church was a mixture of medieval and modern elements. The fact that that it is still unfinished will make that much more unique, because now there will be more modern feel that still follows his pattern.
After seeing these two great pieces by Gaudi, me and some other students decided to go look for a lucky turtle. This turtle was shown in the Disney Channels Cheetah Girls. It is said that if you rub the turtle you will have good luck for a year. So the whole time we are looking for the turtle I’m thinking that its pretty big statue of a turtle. Well it turned out to be a medium size sculpted turtle that was on a wall. It was pretty funny all of us were rubbing the heck out of that turtle. So far nothing really lucky has happened to me so we’ll see if the turtle really works.
Antonio Gaudi was a brilliant artist who combined natural art with man made art. Normally you visit a park thinking you see some pretty flowers, some trees, maybe a pond or a river. You would never walk in and expect to see arches, pillars, domes, and mosaics. At Parque Guell that is exactly what you get. When I saw how he incorporated his art to blend so well with nature I was astonished. I had never seen anything like that before. It felt as if we were in a different world. It was like something out of a fantasy. Technically we were in a fantasy, his fantasy.
Another place we visited was Sagrada Familia. This church is amazing. It was started in 1882, and it is still in progress. The 330 ft. towers are considered local landmarks. Gaudi was considered different and unique because of how he would combine different styles to create one. The church was a mixture of medieval and modern elements. The fact that that it is still unfinished will make that much more unique, because now there will be more modern feel that still follows his pattern.
After seeing these two great pieces by Gaudi, me and some other students decided to go look for a lucky turtle. This turtle was shown in the Disney Channels Cheetah Girls. It is said that if you rub the turtle you will have good luck for a year. So the whole time we are looking for the turtle I’m thinking that its pretty big statue of a turtle. Well it turned out to be a medium size sculpted turtle that was on a wall. It was pretty funny all of us were rubbing the heck out of that turtle. So far nothing really lucky has happened to me so we’ll see if the turtle really works.
Mellow atmosphere.
Right now I´m in Valencia. We´re having lunch on a patio of a cafe. This is just how I imagined it. Sitting down and just watching th world go by me. It feels so hot you can literally feel your skin toasting. I was in the sun no onger than five minutes and I already have tan lines. Its worth it though.
Valencia is so relaxing. It reminds me of the beach back home for an exception of the water. The Gulf of Mexico is more like river water, and here the water is more like a saphire blue. I didn´t get a close up of the beach but what I saw was more than enough to get me to come back.
Lunch was great. Being from Texas I´m used to eating fried fish, and i normally don´t eat fish any other way. This fish that we had at the restraunt was so juicy and full of flavor I just couldn´t resist. It was baked and smothered with butter sauce that had some lemon in it. After that we had baked apples. I had never had baked apples, and I´m gladI tried them. It was a whole green apple, like the granny smiths, covered with carmel baked to perfection. The apple itself was still crunchy on the outside becuase of the skin, but it was nice and soft on the inside. Most of the juice from the apple came out and blended with the carmel.
What made the meal even better was the entertainment. A man just sat off to the side playing his guitar and singing. You could tell that he took his art very seriously becuase he showed up with an amp and a microphone. Normally the street performers show up with just an instrument and box for money.
Valencia has a mellow atmosphere. The people are friendly, the weather is comfortable and the experience is one of kind. Well I´m off to see another one of a kind article...the Holy Grail.
Valencia is so relaxing. It reminds me of the beach back home for an exception of the water. The Gulf of Mexico is more like river water, and here the water is more like a saphire blue. I didn´t get a close up of the beach but what I saw was more than enough to get me to come back.
Lunch was great. Being from Texas I´m used to eating fried fish, and i normally don´t eat fish any other way. This fish that we had at the restraunt was so juicy and full of flavor I just couldn´t resist. It was baked and smothered with butter sauce that had some lemon in it. After that we had baked apples. I had never had baked apples, and I´m gladI tried them. It was a whole green apple, like the granny smiths, covered with carmel baked to perfection. The apple itself was still crunchy on the outside becuase of the skin, but it was nice and soft on the inside. Most of the juice from the apple came out and blended with the carmel.
What made the meal even better was the entertainment. A man just sat off to the side playing his guitar and singing. You could tell that he took his art very seriously becuase he showed up with an amp and a microphone. Normally the street performers show up with just an instrument and box for money.
Valencia has a mellow atmosphere. The people are friendly, the weather is comfortable and the experience is one of kind. Well I´m off to see another one of a kind article...the Holy Grail.
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