Saturday, August 29th - Barcelona, Spain

I was up early and had breakfast as I was going to head off to Montserrat.  I had my ticket already but it was valid for any day.  After talking to the tour director and finding out that things had been rearranged slightly, I decided to postpone Montserrat until tomorrow and spend the day touring around Barcelona with our little group.

Randy's sister and husband and brother an wife (Donna, Jim, Kirk, Marilyn) arrived at the hotel around 10:30 a.m..  They had been flying all night but did get some sleep.  We gave them until noon to freshen up and rest and then we went out touring.  The goal was to keep them out until at least 8 or 9 p.m. so they'd sleep well and be awake early in the morning and adjusted to the new time zone.  I'm not sure it worked but we had fun anyway.

For those of you who have been following my blog, I should also note that Marilyn brought me my new alarm clock so I now have that problem solved.  It's not as compact or as well thought out as my original one but it work and that's what counts.

Shortly after noon we headed out to see the city.  Our included tour of Barcelona, which we were skipping, went to Gaudi's Sagrada Familia but did not go into it.  Randy and I both thought they should see the inside so that was our first destination.  We took the metro, which I think was a scary prospect for some of them and perhaps a first-time experience in a foreign city, but they handled it well.  They were even aware of the pick pockets who got just a bit to friendly with some of them.

There was of course a line up at Sagrada Familia so we stood in line for quite a while and then discovered we could go faster if we used credit card so we did.  The first visit time available was 3:15 so we took that and went across the street to a little cafe to have a bite to eat while we waited.  The timing was perfect and when we finished our meal we went back to the church. What an amazing place!

Construction on Sagrada Familia started in 1886 and the expected completion date is 2026.  It was designed by Gaudi who devoted the last part of his life to the project.  After his death in 1926, construction slowed but picked up in the 50's.  The costs of the project are all covered through donations.  The building is an operational Roman Catholic Church and it is now a UNESCO World Heritage Sight and in 2010 the Pope consecrated it as a minor basilica.  6,500 people were inside the church for that service  so that gives you an idea of the size.

We spent an hour or so there and I don't think I can even find the words to describe it except it is beautiful and amazing.  I heard some people say it didn't feel like a church and then others say they'd never seen a building more holy so I guess everyone takes away something different.  Personally I could have just sat there for hours in awe of the play of light around the room and the glimmer of brightness everywhere.  I did wonder what it would be like on a dark day or a night but I'm betting it would still be spectacular.

There are tall narrow stained glass windows that let in the most beautiful shafts of coloured light.  The interior itself is mainly white.  The pillars are all slightly different and all change as you look up.  The bases may be ribbed or smooth, round or square or octagonal or all of these as it moves upward.  They are like different tree trunks and at the top they branch out in different directions and patterns.  Gudai wanted you to feel like you were in a forest.  The height of the interior varies by location from 50 to 60 to 75 metres.  Looking at the ceiling is like looking at an incredible geometric and curvy design in grey, white and gold.  Even the floor is unique in places as you can see into the crypt below at times.  The balconies and stairs and every aspect of the interior has a curved and flowing feel to it.

The exterior is so ornately decorated that it's truly hard to describe.  There are 8 upside down cone shaped spires that rise from one angle.  Apparently there are 18 spires in total and when completed it will be the tallest church in the world with the central spire of Jesus having a cross on top reaching 170 metres, just 1 metre less than the nearby hill of Montjuc and Gaudi believed that man made should not be higher than God made.  To me the outside looks Gothic with all its designs but they call it a modernist style.

The church facades are incredible with so many carved Bible stories and characters.  The Nativity facade, the Passion facade and the Glory facade are the three main entrances.  The first two are basically complete and you could spend hours just looking at each of the individual scenes.  The detail is unbelievable.  The nativity scene with shepherds and sheep and wisemen and angels all tell the story and then there are other symbolic figures as well.  A turtle and tortoise meaning land and sea and also timeless and unchangeable, while a chameleon means change.  You really need a guided tour of each facade just to see everything that is included.

Okay, that enough of that but boy is it spectacular.  If you get a chance, do go see it.  I saw it in 2005, but so much of it was under construction then that we didn't actually see anything of the interior except the workmen and the supplies.  At that point we were allowed to climb around the spires and the room in certain areas.  Now you can see the interior totally but I don't think you can climb around the spires.

We took the metro again, this time down to the waterfront area as someone wanted to see the aquarium.  It took us a while to get there because it is out on a point and we started toward the building but didn't realize there was no way to get there from that direction.  Eventually we made it and we went in.  It's a large aquarium and has some exhibits that are really well done, like walking through the tunnel with the fish, including sharks swimming all around you.  While most people are excited to see the sharks and sting rays, my favourites are still the small colourful fish you find on a reef.

We spent an hour or two at the aquarium before heading back to the metro to go to Placa d'Espanya.  We walked up to where we knew they were having the water fountain show or magic fountain.  We were almost an hour early but there were already people gathering.  We found a small cafe and had a snack - definitely nothing healthy but it was something - while we waited for the show to start at 9 p.m.  By that time the place was packed and there was only standing room and in places it was 5-6 people deep and there was a large viewing area up and down the stairs around the fountains.

The show was actually really good.  There was music and the fountains were lit and did many different patterns.  It wasn't the Bellagio or anything but our waitress told us it was way better now than a month ago and they are apparently still working on it.  We stayed for about half an hour as we had read that the show was only 20 minutes and then just kept repeating, and we wanted to avoid thhe rush.  We walked back to the metro station and caught it back to our hotel.  The metro was only a couple of blocks from our hotel, which was good because I think a lot of people (myself included) were ready to drop at that point in time.  But I'm sure we all slept well that night!