My first impression of Barcelona was how lovely and clean the city is. We were up early to get to our tour. Today we are starting at Park Guell and then going to see Sagrada Familia. Both of these were the visions of Antoni Gaudi.
We climbed a lot of stairs up into the park which is built on the side of the hill. I was so glad when we began our descent down through through the park. There were lot of interesting architectural features that are representative of his work. The coloured tile throughout the park was beautiful. Often it appeared that the tiles which were designed for this installation were deliberately broken and then pieced back together with grout. So they were never displayed when they were complete and unbroken.
There were a lot of parrots throughout the park. It reminded me of San Francisco when Pam took me on a special walk down the hill. There were parrots everywhere! These looked and sounded much the same as the ones we saw there. It was so nice to have shared that experience with Pam and now to have the memory refreshed today.
Soon it was time to leave the park and go to the Sagrada Familia. Did we walk out the exit at the bottom of the park? Nooooo we had to walk up the same stairs as we had before and even more stairs to the top of the park. By the time we got on the bus, I was very grateful that I had arrived alive.
We had some free time to find a cafe with internet and have a bite of lunch. We have certainly had some tasty bites and delicious coffee. First in Italy it was Cappuccino and then in France it was cafe au lait. Now that we are in Spain we ask for cafe leche
So onto the Sagrada. We were gobsmacked. Although every picture I have ever seen attest to its beauty, to see it up close is magnificent. Our tour guide first walked us around the outside to show us how the life from birth to death of Jesus is depicted in the scenes and statues. Everything that is the architecture of the Sagrada has meaning. I.e., the 12 towers represent the 12 apostles. (That is the one significance I remember) I found it very fascinating, but I didn't retain the information. Good thing there wasn't a test.
When I first walked inside, the colours from the many stained glass windows playing on the alabaster columns and walls rendered me speechless! I know impossible as that seems, it really happened. The immenseness of this cathedral is difficult to comprehend - even standing inside.
Antoni Gaudi's Sagrada Familia has been under construction for almost 100 years and still there is no date for completion. Actual completion requires the demolition of some adjacent apartment buildings. Those residents are not cooperating, so who knows if will ever be finished. So glad I got to see this beautiful structure!
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