Barcelona

KLM lived up to expectations with our flight from Amsterdam to Barcelona.  When we arrived at the airport, ours was the only flight on the board that showed delayed (by 45 minutes).  After a last-minute gate change, they started boarding and then discovered that they could not close the luggage bay doors.  After additional delays they put us on another plane, at yet another gate.  We finally departed a couple of hours late and were a little worried our bags might have gotten lost in the transfer.  When we arrived, we picked up our bags (yeah!) only to discover that they had snapped a wheel off one of our large suitcases.  Bill reported it and that led to a whole thing where we had to go to a store on the far side of Barcelona where we swapped it for a new one (similar but not as good as the old one).  We are beginning to think KLM is the Spirit airline for Europe (and we will be avoiding it in the future). 

On arrival in Barcelona, we were grateful to find palm trees, warm sunny weather and this time our Airbnb was great, located in an upscale area, with a great grocery store, and five minutes from some of the main attractions.

View From Our Airbnb

Barcelona seems to be a city of buskers.  As we walked through a park we saw strolling bands, skaters, tightrope walkers, marionettes, and musicians everywhere.  There were guys on the corners that would lay out trinkets and handbags for sale on cloths with ropes tied to the corners, so when the policia came along they could snatch them up.  I made the mistake of stopping to take a pic and they started yelling at me, but I got the photo anyway.  The city’s fountains looked pretty sad because they were all turned off due to a drought.  Our first full day was a Sunday, so the timing was not good for us to go into the Barcelona Cathedral, but we visited the Mercat de Sant Joesp de la Boqueria (market), Basilica of Santa Maria del Mar (The Cathedral of the Sea), the Gothic Quarter, and Casa Batillo.

Sad Fountain

La Sagrada Familia

One of the main attractions in Barcelona, is La Sagrada Familia, the largest unfinished catholic church in the world.  Designed by Antioni Gaudi, construction began in 1882 and is currently expected to be completed in 2032.  Gaudi devoted the last 44 years of his life to the project, and when he died it was less than one-quarter complete.  He is buried in the crypt below the Sagrada.  Construction relies solely on donations and revenue from ticket sales and it is unlike any other church in the world.  While there are only 8 towers currently, when completed La Sagrada Familia will have 18 spires in ascending order representing The Twelve Apostles, The Virgin Mary, The Four Evangelists, and Jesus Christ.  The church is a combination of Gothic and curvilinear Art Nouveau, with three facades all with Gaudi’s distinctive twists.  The Nativity Façade is typical of catholic churches with extremely concentrated ornate images representing the birth of Jesus and elements of his life, while The Passion façade is a total contrast in its austere representation of the crucifixion with lots of bare stone and deep shadows.  Construction on the Glory façade began in 2002 and was still blocked off when we visited.

La Sagrada Familia Nativity Facade

The interior though is what is truly original and amazing!!  Nothing about it is typical. It is very bright inside, with light colored walls and floors.  The ceiling rises to 200 feet supported by columns that branch out about three quarters of the way up giving the appearance of trees. The structure is in the shape of a cross with beautiful large stained-glass windows, that throw rainbows across the floors and columns.  One side of the windows was in reds and oranges, and the other side was blues and greens, and there were no images in any of them, just fantastic colors.  Above the alter is a figure of a crucified Christ hung from a large yellow baldachin that looked like a huge umbrella.  We went up the Nativity tower in a tiny elevator, then had to walk down the 400 step winding staircase, getting peeps out of small windows at the roof (with all the construction materials and scaffolding), and the city below.  We took over 600 photos during our visit (we have of course narrowed down the number of photos we are sharing) since it was such a unique church and it is well worth the cost to go inside (if it’s a sunny day) and experience the beautiful light. 

Beautiful Light From The Stained Glass In La Sagrada

Park Guell was another significant attraction on our list and it was also created by Gaudi.  Most of his artful architecture is sort of Dr. Seuss like, with the exception of La Sagrada.  Built from 1900-1914, it was originally a public park built on a hill and represent his “naturalist” phase.  The entrance is flanked by a pair of strange buildings in the Gaudi style with fantastical roofs, odd shaped walls, and decorated windows, and between them lies the Grand Staircase.  Our tickets were for the first timed entry of the day and we tried to hustle to the staircase to get pictures before the crowds gathered.  For some reason several of the paths were blocked off dead ends, but we did manage to get a few shots before the masses descended (TIP:  we could have gotten better shots of the grand staircase before the park opened by going to the exit and shooting over the gate).  Above the staircase is a wide terrace encircled by a long serpentine bench, decorated with a ceramic mosaic.  The roads within the park were supported by angled columns of rough stone with cave like pathways beneath.  It was interesting, but not nearly as wonderful as his church.

Park Guell

With great weather, wonderful architecture and of course plenty of custard filled baked treats, our first stop in Spain was great.  We’re off to catch the train for our next stop – Valencia.

…Dessa and Bill

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