Barcelona: This city isnt letting go of me...

So tonight is our last night here. Tomarrow we are off to Madrid and then not too sure where. All i know is that by the 11th im going to be in Lisbon Portugal. Im excited to see more and to continue my journey. But Barcelona is too hard to leave. In Rome, when the day came for us to leave, i was ready. Walking to the trainstation in the rain, it couldnt have been a better day for us to leave Rome. But here in Barcelona, tomarrow is the day to leave, but it doesnt feel like im ready. I dont feel like iv gotten enough of this city. Iv seen everything iv wanted to see, but it just feels like i should stay. I could easily stay here for another week.
But I wont, it'll be hard to leave, but it will also be nice to continue on and see more places. Basically one month from today i will be back in London, half way home. Barcelona was a great place to celebrate my one month point in my journey. But now i have one more month left of travelling around Europe.



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So we went to an IMAX theater here in Barcelona. It was my first time ever going to one, it wasnt too bad. The 3d part was really cool. There were two movies, one movie was about these guys who traveled around antarctica a really long time ago. Not to sure when, but it was a really long time ago. The second was about underground wild life and it was narorated by a turtle, all in 3D. That was cool. They were both documenteries like you would see on the history channel or discovery. IT WAS ALL IN SPANISH! We couldnt understand anything, no subtitles, all just spanish. So that is probably the main reason why i couldnt tell you what year that first, and really i cant tell you anything else about either of them, i couldnt understand anything.

Sunset at the Port


This is the Sangrada Famalia. Developed by Antoni Gaudi. An Architecht that some consider a genious. After I saw this and walked through it and read about it, i am one of those people. Everything about this place and all of Gaudi's idea derived from nature. From just basic ways of growth to the technicalities of the lines in a leaf to the crystalization process of minerals. He integrated all of it into this Temple. He spent the entire last 15 years of his life developing this temple. The construction began in 1886 and here it is, over 1000 years later and its still not finished. The projected date for completetion is 2026.


Prime example of nature. He didnt want to use the typical nightmar-ish creature for the gargoyals around the Temple, instead he went with amphibeons and reptiles.




You can see some leaves sculpted into the structure here.


Incredible.



The working area. Construction zone.


This is one part of the inside. The only part that you could walk through. The basis of the pillars and columns come from the way trees grow naturally and when a branch is broken off how the tree fixes itself from the wound. Then idea of the cieling came from a process of crystaliztion in a certain mineral. I cant remember which one it is.


All of these windows will eventually be filled in with stained glass.


Just like this.


And this


Pretty amazing looking. You can see why it can take over 1000 years to build this place. There are so many small details i on such a huge structure.



These numbers here have some kind of significance. I cant remember what it was, but they make equations and what not. I think it has something to do with the measurements of the Temple.


Reminds me of a castle you would find in Candyland or something...


I dont have much to say about these statues. Other than they are incredible. One thing i did notice though, was he choose for humans to look very inhuman, as you can see, very square. I wonder if this says something about how he viewed humans against nature.












You can kind of tell what parts are newer. See the Statues?

Barcelona: Proud to be American

So lastnight I was awake untill a little bit past 3 in the morning watching the polls and refreshing web pages to keep up on the breaking news that was literally happening almost every ten minutes. Just before I went to bed they announced that Ohio went for Obama, and it was then when i was able to get to sleep and have the best night of sleep since i got over here to Europe. Once they announced that Ohio went Democratic I knew Obama won, right there.
Now, listening to his acceptance speech, there is this little person in the back of my head saying that I am actually kind of proud to be an American. I know there are still people out there who judge other people by their skin color, or their religous beliefes, or their sexual orientation, or handicap, or anything that creates a difference between us. But I now KNOW that those people, who judged the minorities, are now the minority. And I couldnt be anymore happier about that. To know that the country i live is able to elect a person of a different skin color to be our president. Its a good feeling. Its great that Obama is now our President, but we still have problems to fix and changes to be made. Lets hope that he can do it.

But again, like i said before. If you truely want change, for yourself and for the people around you, dont wait for Obama to do it for you, it is us working together that will make that happen. Working together as a community and as friends and family. There is never anything wrong with taking the initiatve and taking matters into your own hands. Participating and making small changes just for youself makes for a broader difference that you will learn how to appreciate more than anything else, more than any material that you go out and buy. I have learned so much from the people around me and from my family that this is the truth. It is your morals and principles and ideals that make you who you are, not the clothes you wear or the sport you play or the music you listen to, or even the clique of people that you hang out with. If you are true to yourself and everything you stand for, and you truely have the need for change, not just now, but always, then there should be no limitations to who you know or who you hang out with or who you are even nice to, everyone should be nice to everyone, no matter what. Everyone should respect everyone. That is when we can truely work together. No one should ever be afraid of someone else.

Barcelona: US Presidential Election Day.

We are golden.

Barcelona: Second Clear Day. The cost of living.

Hello Barcelona. This is a view from Parc Guell. A park that was designed by this Architect named Antoni Gaudi. He was pretty out there. Most of his work is done here in Barcelona but he has a couple in France. And actually one of his designes was consindered to go in where the Wrold Trade Centers once stood. But look him up, google search him or something, there is alot to be said about him and i wont even come close to doing him justice. But the man was a genious. Actually if you look closely at this picture you can see the Sagrada Famalia, which was a project of his...that is still being built. The construction of it began in 1886 and its not set for completetion untill 2026. He dedicated the last 15 years of his life to this thing, and its still not finished.
I forget the name of this building, but to sum it up, its the building where Spain was founded. It had these gargoyals going all around it, and as you can see, you can see right through their mouths. This one in particular was set right above the enterance. But, whenever there was an unruley crowd or person, or just an unwelcomed person really, they would dump hot oil through the gargoyals mouths.
This picture, unfortunatly you cant see the hole building, but trust me, your not missing much. It was built in the 70's and its rather BLAND and boreing looking. Well its an Architecture University and this drawing on the front of it was done by Picasso, on a napkin. I forget what artist it was, but it was one that he would argue alot with. Picasso would sit and drink absinth with this artist and argue about why his drawings were childish and why Picasso would put noses coming out of womans forheads. Well, this was a drawing that Picasso did on a napkin while making fun of this other artist. This school decided to put it on the front of their building.
This is a part of the Roman wall that once ran through the city of Barcelona.
Space invaders....remember, i saw this in Paris too. Who is this guy?

This is where Picasso learned his artistic craft.
If your ever in Barcelona, look for the George Orwell plaza, there is an AWESOME vegan resteraunt here. Iv eat'n here two days in a row now.

This light post was designed by Dali.

So today we hopped on a free walking tour of the gothic part of Barcelona. It was pretty cool, im glad i did it i learned ALOT. Our tour guide also spoke english! unlike the last tour guide we had before we got stranded on a desolate island in the middle of the mediteranean sea!
Our tour guide was actually from New York and our tour was her first tour and i thought she did pretty darn good. Ran us through the history of Barcelona and Spain and Catalonia, showed us some cool parts of Barcelona, told us some funny stuff about Barcelona. And I also asked her about the cost of living in Barcelona. She hasnt been living here too long and she says that living here is actually cheaper than, say, living in New York, or Chicago. In the gothic part of barcelona, which was a pretty cool part, pretty much in the center of Barcelona, you can get a room in a flat for about 500 euro a month. Meaning you have your own bedroom and you share a livingroom, bathroom, and kitchen with a couple other people. Or you can get a hole Apartment to yourself for about 800 euro. But Barcelona, in general, she says it can get as low as even 200 euro a month. So, clearly Barcelona is a city im interested in moving too.

Tomarrow, everyone, tomarrow is the day we vote, well, you vote. For a new President of the United States of America. The next President has alot of influence on our future and even the next generation of kids and the generation after that...and after that. That means, us, and the children that WE will have, and their children. The next President has alot of influence on the entire World. This may be one of those getting caught up in the moment feeling for alot of us, but this is also kind of the truth: The next President may MAKE or BREAK America. As if America isnt already broken enough, yes, it could get worst. Think of wars, between race, class, religion, friends. Think of oil prices, water prices, and the effects these will take on not only us in the country but everyone in the entire world. Think of the nature and the loss of nature. We have already done some things to this world that can not be fixed, that wont ever be what they used to be, that will forever be broken now, because of us. A lot of that part depends on us, individually, to change. We, all together, can make a huge change, remember that. Working together, as a community, and helping one another out, we can create change for the good. But our President, is who we are choosing, to represent US, the people, to the world. Our President, is who we are choosing to lead us, for change. To lead us in the correct direction for change. But again, dont forget, if WE work together, even without a President, we can create alot of change. But because of the government, that we have choose for ourselves, we elect this guy or girl, we give them a TON of power over the entire country and the world that we live in. So, in all reality, on a grand scale, it is the President, who makes the largest, most important calls about our future.

Barcelona: Celebrating one month in Europe!

So these pictures are a bit backwards, starting with the end of the show, the aftermath...aftermaff, if you will, at the top and the begining of the show at the end. So, the show was amazing i though. Russian Circles played so well. I have never been let down by any of their shows that iv seen. This was also the first time I saw them with their new bassist, who is also the bassist of These Arms Are Snakes, and also ex-bassist of Botch. He was good, he added a new sound to their old songs. One criticism i have is that he never uses a clean sound on his bass, even though the rough dirty sound he has is pretty powerful and intense, i think if he switched it up a bit he could add a little more to the sound of the songs. Adding a different mood. You know? I do.
After Russian Circles was These Arms Are Snakes. Now iv seen Russian Circles probably about 10 times id say, if not more. Seeing them here in Barcelona was so amazing. As for These Arms Are Snakes though, i have never seen these guys play, and i was impressed. I havent seen this much energy braught to the stage since the first time i saw the Blood Brothers play....about 6 years ago. They're preformance was awesome, musically and entertaining.

The show was my way of celebrating my one month mark here in Europe, i guess. Really i was going to the show no matter how long i had been here, it just so happened they were playing in Barcelona the same time i was here. But officially i have been travelling away from home for one month now. I have already exceeded all expectations, expiriance, learning, adventure, meeting, seeing, everything. And I still have a little over a month left before i head back to London.


THe Aftermaph


These Arms Are Snakes


These Arms Are Snakes and crowed.


These Arms Are Snakes


These Arms Are Snakes


These Arms Are Snakes


These Arms Are Snakes


These Arms Are Snakes


These Arms Are Snakes


Russian Circles


Russian Circles


Russian Circles

Russian Circles, as you can see, there werent to many photo opportunities for Russian Circles. They had smoke machines going pretty much constantly. Im pretty sure they were malfunctioning because i heard them joking and laughing about all the smoke in between songs and it was blowing all onto Dave and his drum set and they were trying to push the machines away from him but...it was already too late. It set the mood though, thats for sure!
Seeing Russian Circles here, for me, was quite the expiriance. Knowing that when they guys first started out, I booked them in Traverse City a couple times. Just after they started playing shows, I booked them on a whim on a sunday night, we werent expecting too many kids to show up because it was a Sunday. But I think everyone was suprised at the turn out, and everyone had a great time. So they wanted to return to Traverse City and I already had a show booked featuring a bunch of bands from Friction Records, I think it was Ari Ari, Man At Arms, Victor!, and T.Suit maybe?? I cant remember, and Im pretty sure there was another Friction band, but it turned into a Friction Records Showcase and Russian Circles wanted to be added to that show. So quickly that show turned into one of the largest shows in attendance i booked, next to the 31 Knots and The Planet The show. It had a huge attendance and every band was awesome.
So to think, these shows happened when Russian Circles were just starting out, im not exactly sure how long ago this was, 4 years ago maybe. But now here I am seeing them in Barcelona, Spain.

I plan on going to some more shows while here in Europe, actually thats the way I plan on passing my time the fastest (I hope) while im travelling alone. Its hard to explain how the time goes by, as you can already guess. Iv said multiple times, It feels like Iv been here for sooo long now, it feels like iv been away from friends and family and home for years it feels and i think so much about when i come home and what its going to be like. So with that said it feels alot like time is just crawling by so slowly, like how am i going to fill all this time here? I dont know. But then I think back and its like "Wow, it feels like i was JUST in Paris last week!" But last week i was actually on Lipari Island in Sicily, swimming and climbing volcanos, and since then iv been back to Rome and been in Nice, france for a couple days. So im both suprised at how fast time is going and also how slow it is going.
So in the next coming month i have mapped out the cities and stays by the shows i want to go to. The next show i was going to go to was going to be To Kill in Italy, on the 14th, but it looks like their van burnt down, so that show has been put in jeapordy. After that The New Year is playing in Berlin on the 21st, then on the 22nd, the night after is Verse and Ceremony in Rosswien, German, which is about an hour train ride from Berlin. Then there is Squarepusher in Amsterdam on the 28th and on the 8th of December the Locust is playing with Fanotmas in London and im giong to try to convince Simon to go to that show, im not sure if he digs them or not. But I can try...

Even though its been rainy here in Barcelona pretty much everyday we've been here, its been a great time. I really enjoy Barcelona. Its a fun city and I can actually communicate with peope here a bit. My spanish is coming back from the whole two years i took spanish back in highschool. Also pretty much everyone speaks english and they are all really nice. Its really easy getting around, walking and taking the metro. And there is a BUNCH of stuff here to see, history and new. This is definatly a place I will come back to.

Barcelona: first clear day.

Cool Building, pretty cool graffiti.
Street Preformer. Aliens Vs....no, not this one, this one is called: Aliens, Meet Humans. It almost looks like the Alien is nicer than the human...or is it???
So, first clear day here in Barcelona. The day after Halloween. I ended up not going out last night either. No one was ready untill after midnight and i just wasnt feeling it then. I had lost the momentum, so i just stayed in and hung out and slept. It was good, i guess. Today I woke up around 10 and ate some breakfast and did some laundry and I was out by noon. I took the subway to Las Ramblas, i think is the street name. It is the popular street, where everything is and where all the cool people go. So i went there. I walked around for a bit and went to the Picasso museum.

I have developed a pretty large appreciation for Museums over here. Its one thing seeing pictures of your favorite paintings, but its another thing seeing the actual original painting. Seeing the brush stroke, the thick oil paint that looks like smeared toothpaste, and seeing the erase and sketch marks on the actual painting. At the National Gallery in London there was a painting by Monet that he did on a beach and you could actually see sand stuck in the paint. Its amazing, im telling you. I get to see paintings that I learned about in Art classes and here I am looking at the ACTUAL painting. Its incredible. Really, you should try it! The Dennos museum is okay and all in TC but, these are incredible. One of these days in Barcelona, not tomarrow because its not open, but I will be going to the Salvador Dali museum...I cant wait.


I baught my first material good, that is a scarf. It is getting colder now, even here in Barcelona, and I dont have a jacket or even a hoodie, so i got a scarf and hoping that at one of the shows i go to i will score a hoddie or something. Untill then, i have a comfy nice scarf that i plan on being with for a long time!

Currently i am trying to make dinner. The stove in this hostel is VERY inadequet though! Its taken almost an hour now to boil some water, iv given up on the water and i just threw the noodz in...so here i am now, waiting for those things to get soft...or soggy. which ever comes first.

Tonight im seeing Russian Circles and These Arms Are Snakes, im pretty excited. Its going to be fun seeing these guys over here in Barcelona. Last time i saw them it was in Grand Rapids. So im pumped. Hopefully the noodz will be done cooking by then though, theyv got about 5 hours, so im hoping something happens with them.