Barcelona→ Majorca→ Madrid→ Toledo
Barcelona, Spain - 1996
A Class Trip
At the conclusion of Eighth grade, my Spanish teacher organized a trip to Spain for fourteen students. For whatever reason this idea took root in my brain and my wonderful parents made it happen as a Christmas present.
These are some of the very first pictures I remember taking and while some are passable, I estimate a lot are very unremarkable. But for me they evoke favorable memories and feelings. Pictures like this call to mind the idea that photographs are the lasting fragments from younger versions of yourself which no longer exist, and represent what that person thought was interesting, beautiful, or just neat.
Saying goodbye to my parents at the airport. I guess technically my Dad took two of these.
First impressions walking around were bouyant. Long avenues stretched in every direction and there were balconies with greenery everwhere. It was a beautiful day and I was in a strange and worderful place. There was a guy in a suit on a motorcycle. Mind-blowing, apparently. We walked Las Ramblas and saw street performers. I got a Coke and they put lemon in it.
Next up we went to La Sagrada Familia Cathedral; under construction. I didn't really get that the unfinished nature of the building was a feature of the site, I must have been staring up when they told us it started construction in 1882.
We stayed in a hotel! Remember I blew two frames of actual film on these. But it was all novel and new, and only partly to prove to my parents that we were well accomodated.
We spent some time near the harbor. I don't have any distinct insights I recall from there. That statue was kinda crazy I guess. Oh and the group photo! Remember when you had to sit there while one person worked their way through a pile of 15 cameras so everyone had a copy? Wow. Simpler times I suppose.
We walked between the Venetian Towers and up the hill to the Palau Nactional. I remember being impressed. By outdoor escelators. Yes the buildings were beautiful and impressive, but young me didn't consider that they were specifically built to be impressive. Buildings just were.
While at the top we took in the vistas and enjoyed various other features of Parc de Montjuïc. The Olympic staduim stood out to me with the Olympic torch still burning away. The final picutre is a mini-golf course on top of a shopping mall.
