We spent our day today sightseeing at two major Barcelona sights: Antoni Gaudi's unfinished masterpiece, the Sagrada Familia, and his Park Guell, part of an early 20th century upscale housing development. Gaudi was a 19th century Barcelonian architect famous throughout Spain, but especially loved in his native city. We had to secure timed entry reservations for both sights and the earliest I could get us in to Sagrada Famila was at 12:15, followed by tower access at 2:15 and then Park Guell access at 4:00. When Rich saw the schedule he wanted to know when we were having lunch, given that Park Guell was a good 45 minutes away from Sagrada Familia by Metro (oops!).
Spent a leisurely morning at the apartment and then left for our walk to Sagrada Familia at 11:30. The first sight of this cathedral is overwhelming. It towers above everything around it and the exterior facade is very "busy" (Rich calls it ugly). As you look closer, however, you realize that each exterior side has a story to tell: the Nativity facade, the Passion facade and the Glory facade. Gaudi designed the interior to reflect nature, with the columns representing tree trunks blossoming with leaves and the colors of the stained glass windows reflecting the sun's path from east to west: cooler colors on the east side gradually changing to warmer colors on the west side. It's beautiful the way this colored light bounces off the interior walls. I was absolutely captivated by the cathedral, while Rich didn't care for it at all and didn't understand what all the fuss was about (I guess the old saying is true that beauty is in the eye of the beholder).
Initial view of Sagrada Familia - this is the Passion Facade
Can you see the" tree" branches and leaves?
Stained glass window
On our way to Park Guell we bought sandwiches and had a picnic lunch in the park while being serenaded by street musicians singing songs such as "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" and "Circle of Life". After lunch, we entered the Monumental Zone of the park, where we saw more of Gaudi's fanciful architecture, including a pair of gingerbread-style houses and a spectacular view terrace lined with colorful undulating tile benches. Afterwards, we walked @ 3 miles back to our apartment. All told, today was an 8+ mile day and my feet are tired!
Park Guell
Another view of the pillars supporting the terrace
Park Guell gingerbread house
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