We bid farewell to two students today, Marina, from Russia is returning to Russia, and Caroline, from New York, is off for a week or so of travel to Budapest, Prague, and another city I can't remember. She is going alone, so I really tip my hat to her. I think it is ok to be alone for the way I am staying in Barcelona, but if I were off sightseeing, I think I would want to have someone with me to share it with. Along the same line, I met a student from France who is off to the USA for a "road trip" when she gets done at Enforex. She is also going alone, but will be traveling in a small van with about 10 other people. She said a road trip across the United States is everyone's dream. I always thought it was for people in the US but never thought that it might be the same for people from other countries. I hope she has a great time.
The after school tour of Montjuic was great. We met at Nou de Rambla and took the funicula most of the way up the mountain. (it is really just a high hill, just a meter more than the height of the Sagrada Familia when it is done. It is said that Gaudi believed "his creation should not surpass God's.") (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sagrada_Fam%C3%ADlia) From the funicula, we walked to the top of the hill where the fort is. There were splendid views of the port and of Barcelona. Farther on we saw the outside of the Joan Miro Art Museum and then we walked to the Olympic Stadium which hosted the opening and closing ceremony and some of the the track events in 1992. Our guide told us that the Olympic torch was lit with a flaming arrow shot by a Paralympic archer. I looked it up in Wikipedia and it said that the archer overshot the target (for safety reasons?) and that it was lit by remote control. In recent years, the stadium was used for soccer (or futbol as they call it here), but now is used very little. At one time the roads around Montjuic were used for the Spanish Grand Prix, but this was discontinued after a fatal crash in 1975. Near the arena are a number of sporting venues including the Palau Sant Jordi indoor arena, a sports science center, and the venues for the swimming and diving events. There is also a telecommunications tower designed by the architect Santiago Calatrava. It is no ordinary tower and is supposed to represent an Olympian holding the Olympic flame. This Wikipedia article says it also functions as a sundial http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montju%C3%AFc_Communications_Tower
Further below is the Palau Nacional which houses National Museum of Catalunyan Art and the Magic Fountains. We finished our tour just before 7pm which was just in time to view the Magic Fountains. The streets were lined with people waiting to watch. It was a spectacular display of lights, color and music. Our guide left us there to watch, saying it was very tourist thing and we should watch our belongings because the pickpockets also attend. I watched for a while and then set off for home. This tour left us off in neighborhood of the school so I had not so far to go for home.
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