Day 7, May 31 (Barcelona)

Today is the first day on our tour in which we've spent the entire day in one city. We began with breakfast at the hotel, which was the most elaborate of any we've seen. We loaded our buses at 9 am for a guided tour of Barcelona. We began near the city center and worked our way up Montjuic, one of the two mountains that surround the city. The Romans used the limestone from this mountain to build the city in the first century BCE. In 1992, the mountain became the home of several sporting sites built for the Olympic Games. There is also a beautiful cactus garden, a castle, and a large fountain at the top, which provided us with wonderful views of the city and Barcelona's large harbor.

We then drove through the central part of the city, admiring, among other things, a huge, smiling sculpture of a lobster and another sculpture by Roy Lichtenstein. We then began a kind of pilgrimage to several buildings created by the famous Barcelona architect, Antonio Gaudi (1852-1926). As we travelled on the Passeig de Gracia (Barcelona's answer to Paris' Champs-Elysee), we saw two beautiful and playful apartments built by Gaudi for two prominent families. Further north of the city center is the Park Guell, which Gaudi intended as a residential subdivision but which now has become the city's most visited public park. Only three houses were built, along with a market square (capped with a 880 foot long bench) and an iconic symbol of Barcelona, a huge sculpted salamander. But the ultimate Gaudi structure is the yet-to-be-completed cathedral, La Sagrada Familia. What is completed, however, is stunning--stone carvings and spires like you've never seen. The foundation which manages the construction of the cathedral is hoping to finish by 2026, just in time for the 100th anniversary of Gaudi's death. Most of the locals in Barcelona don't see that happening, however--only about 1/3 has been completed, and the architects working on the project don't always agree on how to fulfill Gaudi's plans.

We had a free afternoon, so many of us ventured down to the beach to soak in the warmth of the sun and feel the cool, blue waters of the Mediterranean. Others ventured to the Picasso Museum and other sites in the city. Miraculously, we all made it back for a group dinner at 5, followed by a rehearsal at Santa Maria del Pi, a 14th century church with beautiful stained glass windows. Just before 8 pm, we walked to the concert venue, the Church of Sant Jaume. As it turns out, the church had the best acoustic we've encountered so far--nice and spacious but not too boomy. To our surprise and delight, there were already 50 or so audience members waiting for us, and by the time the concert began, another 250 came to listen. At one point, a crowd had gathered outside the church doors on the street, as there was not even standing room inside the sanctuary. Choir member Felix Palpica provided on-the-spot Spanish translations for Craig Arnold's comments, to which the audience responded warmly. The crowd also responded to the singing they heard, rewarding the choir with two standing ovations. Here is a sound clip:

Spiritual/arr. Helvy, "Ezekiel Saw the Wheel"

On a personal note, I listened to most of the concert from the rear balcony, where I had a better perspective to take pictures. I discovered that the rear wall contained two lovely stained glass windows, depicting a group of musicians playing and singing together. It seemed as though this was the right place for us to sing in Barcelona, and a large number of local residents and tourists took time to listen. We'll leave this city wanting to stay longer, but also looking forward to our final destination, Madrid.