Barcelona, Spain is one of the great cities in the world. Toby and Al were well aware of this as the headed off for what they were expecting to be a great summer vacation. Toby is an architecture major in school and he has studied the works of Antoni Gaudi and is greatly looking forward to seeing his work in person. Al is a business major, and while he is a strong student his biggest intent while he’s in Spain is to have the time of his life. He is more interested in the nightclubs, the beach and while he will certainly go to a museum or two, that is not the focus of his trip.

The two friends arrived at one of the luxury Barcelona hotels and while Toby was hungry and tired and wanted to get something to eat and go to bed, Al was eager to get out and dance the night away in a disco. Toby decided to make a compromise and they two of them had a great meal of tapas before hitting the dance floor in the El Raval area. Toby was more than ready to crawl into bed when they returned, though Al could have been happy to find a new place.

The next day Toby found the neighborhood where much of Gaudi’s works are located. He also found La Sagrada Familia, which is a giant temple and one of Gaudi’s most famous buildings in Barcelona. Toby noted the difference in colors from the front and back of the building and recognized some stylistic changes and deviations. This was actually a slight controversial element with the temple. Since the building is not yet completed, it has been under construction since 1882, there are Gaudi purists who say that the building is not how he planned it. Guadi himself was constantly making changes and requesting modifications in the work until his death in 1926. This was all extremely fascinating to Toby, though Al was anxious to stop off at a local club. The two friends did have an amazing vacation, though it seemed in part to be a constant pull between their interests.