Fortified by our tapas, we set out for our main objective of this day, the Sagrada Familia (http://www.sagradafamilia.cat/sf-eng/?lang=0). It’s difficult to find the right words to convey the sense of awe that strikes as you walk out of the subway station and turn around to face this structure. It’s been under construction since 1882 (yes, more than 130 years!) and faced numerous challenges. The building began with a Gothic design, but the original architect resigned after disagreeing with the patrons. Enter Anton Gaudi, an innovative (to say the least!), free thinking architect (http://www.gaudiclub.com/ingles/i_vida/i_menu.html). His design and construction concepts are best exemplified in buildings around Barcelona (seven of which are UNESCO World Heritage sites, http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/320). Gaudi not only examined cutting-edge ideas, such as using nature to guide structure and layout for his architecture, he infused others with the quest to try something new.
We had seen pictures of the Sagrada Familia, but still weren’t prepared for what awaited us. Everywhere we turned, whether inside or out, we found more details. The closer we looked, the more details we found. Fortunately, we had booked a guided tour to help explain some of the details. We discovered that one of the sculptures on the west side (which reflects death with the setting sun) had Gaudi’s face and that several panes of stained glass had names of important cities on them (e.g., Constantinople). More than the details, we were struck by the departure from traditional architecture, especially the Gothic designs in most of the Spanish churches. The Sagrada is open and airy. Columns are trees, spread to the heavens. Everywhere you turn, nature was on display. The Sagrada flows gently from one area to the next, because Gaudi saw no reason to break it into starkly delineated areas. While those Gothic cathedrals are beautiful, the Sagrada is much more individualistic and natural. The pictures of the Sagrada can only give you a taste of the feeling of being in a forest, instead of a church. After recovering from sensory overload, we returned to the hotel and rested before going out for dinner.
