We slept in once we realized that the weather had turned cold and it was raining. We decided to see the local sites and leave our trips to Monsterrat, Sitges and Girona and Dali’s city for the fo9llowing 2 days. In Barcelona we started our day by visiting Gauldi’s two main pieces of architecture; his home and the basilica the Sagrada Familia. I can imagine that the people of his day either loved or hated his work as they are so different and are masterpieces of architecture and imagination (much like how our Opera House stands out from the city).
The basilica is truly amazing and is still under construction and expected to take another 20 years -that will be 145 years in all. It is like no other basilica I have ever seen. On one hand it is the Bible cast in stone with each of the 3 main entrances depicting the 4 stages of Christ’s life; his birth, death and resurrection. Of these 3 entrances only 2 are as yet complete and Gauldi only saw one completed before his death in 1926 when he was killed after being hit by a tram at the age of 74. The one he finished (the Nativity and his first crypt) has been declared a World Heritage site. During the Spanish civil war much of the structure was damaged and the basilica lay dormant for many years, now it is being completed by anonymous donations. Gauldi knew he would never see his basilica completed and if asked how long it will be until the basilica is complete he would answer “that is of no concern, my client has all the time in the world”. Inside the interior is also like no other as its inspiration comes from nature with the columns and ceiling representing stems and flowers. It is also quite an experience to go inside a basilica that is still being built – there was scaffolding and workman everywhere. Looking at the photos we have not done the basilica justice – it is truly amazing and we hope to be able to come back and see it when it is finished.
After wandering the basilica for hours and then the streets of the city we set off to visit the local discount mall that was approx 40kms from the city. Interestingly the shops open from 10am to 1pm and then shut until around 3pm, staying open until somewhere between 7pm and 10pm. By the time we arrived at the discount mall it had turned very cold (5 degrees), was teaming with rain and had gotten very dark, all of which after a long day of sightseeing was not conducive to a good mood for shopping. However, Ron found a great trendy, cold weather jacket for his trip to Montreal and with a Starbuck’s coffee in our bellies our mood lightened and we headed home. As we edged the perimeter of the city we were met by Barcelona peak hour – it took 30 mins to travel 4 blocks and we could not get over into the right lane to turn off to our hotel which lead to us having to travel another 4kms to wind our way back. Fingers crossed tomorrows weather will be better.
The basilica is truly amazing and is still under construction and expected to take another 20 years -that will be 145 years in all. It is like no other basilica I have ever seen. On one hand it is the Bible cast in stone with each of the 3 main entrances depicting the 4 stages of Christ’s life; his birth, death and resurrection. Of these 3 entrances only 2 are as yet complete and Gauldi only saw one completed before his death in 1926 when he was killed after being hit by a tram at the age of 74. The one he finished (the Nativity and his first crypt) has been declared a World Heritage site. During the Spanish civil war much of the structure was damaged and the basilica lay dormant for many years, now it is being completed by anonymous donations. Gauldi knew he would never see his basilica completed and if asked how long it will be until the basilica is complete he would answer “that is of no concern, my client has all the time in the world”. Inside the interior is also like no other as its inspiration comes from nature with the columns and ceiling representing stems and flowers. It is also quite an experience to go inside a basilica that is still being built – there was scaffolding and workman everywhere. Looking at the photos we have not done the basilica justice – it is truly amazing and we hope to be able to come back and see it when it is finished.
After wandering the basilica for hours and then the streets of the city we set off to visit the local discount mall that was approx 40kms from the city. Interestingly the shops open from 10am to 1pm and then shut until around 3pm, staying open until somewhere between 7pm and 10pm. By the time we arrived at the discount mall it had turned very cold (5 degrees), was teaming with rain and had gotten very dark, all of which after a long day of sightseeing was not conducive to a good mood for shopping. However, Ron found a great trendy, cold weather jacket for his trip to Montreal and with a Starbuck’s coffee in our bellies our mood lightened and we headed home. As we edged the perimeter of the city we were met by Barcelona peak hour – it took 30 mins to travel 4 blocks and we could not get over into the right lane to turn off to our hotel which lead to us having to travel another 4kms to wind our way back. Fingers crossed tomorrows weather will be better.
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