We slept in a bit later than we
originally planned. We had breakfast around 8:30 and were on our way to the bus
stop by 9:30. We walked back to the Torres Agbar taking a slightly different
route to get a closer look at the tower.
We
walked through a little park and Michele noticed that the noisey birds flying
overhead looked like parakeets. I (Rob) was unable to get a good picture of
them. Later Ray told us that he saw that they were tagged.
We got on the bus
and headed towards our first destination of the day, Park Guell.
Traffic today (Saturday) was much lighter than yesterday. After we hopped off the bus at the Park Guell stop, we had to hike a short but very steep .5 miles to the park entrance. The Park was much larger than we had expected. There were interesting buildings (designed by Gaudi) as well as paths that snaked around the hill side park.
We could only spend 30 minutes
in the park before we had the start our way back for our 2pm tour of the
Sagrada Familia.
The hike
to the cathedral was about 1.5 miles, mostly down hill. It was neat to stroll
along the streets of Barcelona. Many of the shops were closed for the weekend
but the food markets, restaurants, and farmacias were open and there were
plenty of people out and about.
We
stopped along the way at a restaurant to get lunch. We had an assortment of
tapas that did not disappoint.
The tour took us inside the
church and outside where the guide explained the designs, the history of the
church and the life of its famous and beloved architect Gaudi.
Gaudi’s
designs were all nature inspired. You can see how the inside column structures
branch out at the top. This not only looks beautiful but allows fewer columns
and opens up the space inside. 
The stain glass on the eastern side
of the church is all blues bathing the inside in cool tones when the rising sun
strikes the windows.
On the western side the windows
are red tones warming the inside in firey reds as the sun sets.
The church tour ended with us
going to the top of the passion towers. A short elevator ride up and at 65
meters, great views are available of Barcelona. We could see the mosaic grapes
and bread on top of the spires. One boy said he could see the cucumbers—meaning
the bread.
They did look more like
cucumbers than bread. The walk down is 400 steps. The first set of stairs are
very narrow with no railing. There are windows along the way to peek out of,
and the breeze came in. The second half had a railing and an open area to see
all the way down. It was hotter and a bit stuffy in this part, but worth the
experience. Once down we took more pictures of the windows in the afternoon
light.
The
church is still a long ways before completion. It has been under construction
for 135 years paid entirely by donations from people (not from businesses,
foundations, or governments). Construction was basically non-existent from the
1940’s until the 1970’s. Not until the 1992 olympics did tourism really takeoff
and with it the visitors to the church and donations followed. The church is
expected to be finished in 2026. The 100 year anniversary since the death of
Gaudi. We will have to come back to see the completed church.
We hopped back on the bus and transferred to the western route to see the other parts of the city including the Olympic stadium.
We just made the last bus at 8pm
when we transferred back to the eastern route. We took the eastern route back
to the Torres Agbar and had dinner at Gino’s. We had a Spanish version of a BBQ
pizza. The crust was very thin and very good.
After
our leisurely dinner (the Spanish are never in a hurry to get you out the
door), we walked over to the Torres Agbar so Rob could take some photos of the
tower all lit up.
We made it back to the room
around 10:30. Tomorrow we will board the cruise ship at set sail for 7 days.
No comments:
Post a Comment