Looking inside

A. had seen the outside of Gaudi's Sagrada Familia several times but had not been in. While all but five of his classmates were on an extended field trip it seemed like a perfect day to ditch school and take our own field trip. Listening to the audio guide was a great educational alternative.

Outside the cathedral is a cryptogram that

adds up to 33 all these different ways.

Here's a bit more information.

Sant Cugat monastery, picture from November

We had also been to the monastery in town many, many times and have been to the museum, but we hadn't been inside the sanctuary. A.'s school's music department had an end-of-the-year concert, which was an ideal chance to go inside. Photography (and every other electronic action) seemed to be allowed.

Time to do all the other things we thought we would have infinite time to do!

Culture

As an early present to ourselves we went to Palau de la Música for a concert.

Part of the pleasure is not only the music, but the building.

part of the ceiling

just one of the mosaics

a little part of the ceiling

the grand staircase

It was hard not to go around and gawk and take pictures of everything!  There are great photos here. 

I don't usually complain but I will a little.  I think if you have an old building with old plumbing and you have a concert you should bring in a port-a-potty if your toilets are not working.  The other complaint may not be valid, but it certainly was visually striking.  There were nine first violin players and one was a male.  Can you guess the sex of the concertmaster/mistress?  There were six cello players and one was male.  Can you guess the sex of the first cello?  There were twenty-three non-string players.  One was a woman.  Can you guess the instrument she plays?  Did you know the Vienna Orchestra had no female musicians as permanent members until 1997?  Maybe conductors are next.