If Claudia had any jet lag, it was not fast enough to catch up with her. She has hit the ground running and is covering the sights. Today is Gaudi’s Sagrada Familia. She has a 10:00a guided tour for 2 ½ hours. I have an 11:00a admission ticket (no damn tour guide) and, with the crowds of people, I hope I last 20 minutes.
My hat goes off to her – her first international trip and she is going to see it, do it and taste it all.
This is all the history you are going to get – you can skip the italics and scroll down if history doesn’t interest you.
The Basílica i Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Família is a large Roman Catholic church in Barcelona, Catalonia (Spain), designed by Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí (1852–1926). Although incomplete, the church is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and in November 2010 Pope Benedict XVI consecrated and proclaimed it a minor basilica, as distinct from a cathedral, which must be the seat of a bishop.
Construction of Sagrada Família had commenced in 1882 and Gaudí became involved in 1883, taking over the project and transforming it with his architectural and engineering style, combining Gothic and curvilinear Art Nouveau forms. Gaudí devoted his last years to the project, and at the time of his death at age 73 in 1926, less than a quarter of the project was complete. Sagrada Família's construction progressed slowly, as it relied on private donations and was interrupted by the Spanish Civil War, only to resume intermittent progress in the 1950s. Construction passed the midpoint in 2010 with some of the project's greatest challenges remaining and an anticipated completion date of 2026, the centenary of Gaudí's death.
The basílica has a long history of dividing the citizens of Barcelona: over the initial possibility it might compete with Barcelona's cathedral, over Gaudí's design itself, over the possibility that work after Gaudí's death disregarded his design, and the recent proposal to build an underground tunnel of Spain's high-speed rail link to France which could disturb its stability. Describing Sagrada Família, art critic Rainer Zerbst said, "It is probably impossible to find a church building anything like it in the entire history of art" and Paul Goldberger called it, "The most extraordinary personal interpretation of Gothic architecture since the Middle Ages."
Not the best photos -- I was smoking mad by this time.
I take the metro to the basilica for my 11:00a admission and cannot download my ticket, they send me from one side to another and then back again. I am worn out just circling the corral. Next they send me to a Starbucks way down the way “for better Wi-Fi” so I truck down there. It still doesn’t download; by this time I text Claudia and tell her to have a good time – I am heading back to the apartment.
Katie (who has done Camino de Santiago), this one is for you:
Becky, I think this is going to be the only cat I will see in Spain. All dogs are on a leash (and trained). She was in the check-out line in front of me at the grocery store.
AND THEN…………………………… came the rains. I didn’t make it back to the apartment before the heavens opened up and it poured. This was not any kind of dribble and it was less than a deluge, but I was grateful for my rain pouch -- my shoes were totally soaked.
Dave, it was coming down so hard Marilyn wasn't out on her balcony.
I know – it isn’t a pretty sight, but you do what you have to. I have been here 3 1/2 weeks and haven't seen anyone I know.
Sunday I will take another try at Sagrada Familia. Even though it stopped raining about 3:00p today, we are scheduled for rain tomorrow.
Sunday I will take another try at Sagrada Familia. Even though it stopped raining about 3:00p today, we are scheduled for rain tomorrow.