Gym's Ramblings: Barcelona Day 2.5

October 3, 2016

We awoke too late for the breakfast buffet for the second day in a row. But the hotel lounge offers anything that you care to ask for along with a nice Americano coffee. Mrs. Gym basically had to settle for the Americano because their wasn't a Tim Horton's for thousands of miles.

This day was dedicated to a thorough exploration of Sagrada Familia. It was time we visited the number one attraction in Barcelona. We had purchased two tickets for a guided tour from the concierge the day before. In order to meet up with the tour bus we needed to hike up past the giant Christopher Columbus statue (I will come back to this landmark later) and then the length of La Rambla to Placa de Catalunya, a distance of about 2.5 kilometres.

At the appointed time we were to look for the people holding orange umbrella's in front of a bank. Gym was wondering what kind of a goat rodeo he had agreed to when all of a sudden there were the guides holding the orange umbrella's. Our particular guide was a very nice and very knowledgeable Barcelonian by the name of Arunxia, a rather unfortunate name for such a stand-up lady.

We boarded a bus which ran us through the upscale districts north of the medieval part of town and were let off about two blocks south of the church. Gym followed the group like a lemming because the buildings near the church blocked site of the church towers that were easy to see from further away. Then the guide announced that we had arrived at a good spot for pictures and Gym was startled to look up and see Gaudi's crowning achievement right there in front of him.

What an amazing place. We both agreed we had never seen anything like this modern wonder that today, over a century and a third since it was begun, is still only partially complete.

Now we are no strangers to Gaudi's work because we'd seen La Casa Mila a year ago. But Gaudi's residential projects, while very cool, are nothing in comparison to the work he accomplished and the vision he developed for the finished product of the Sagrada Familia.

On the exterior only the facades adorning the sides of the massive church are complete today. The front facade has not even begun construction and apparently when completed a bunch of buildings in front will be knocked down and 150 families moved to make way for a grand avenue which will lead up to the much-anticipated front facade.

The six central towers are what the current architects and contractors are working on. The main central tower dedicated to Jesus, is a major project on its own as it will be almost as high as Montjuic. Where does all the money come from you might ask? It comes from visitors like my sister Uno, myself and Mrs. Gym who have all visited the site this year and given 15 euros to the building fund. And don't worry, at four million visitors last year, those cranes can keep on, keepin on. They say they intend to have it completed by the hundredth anniversary of Gaudi's death in 2026. If you look at the model of the finished church as we did, you might bet against that proposition. In any event, it is definitely something you have to see when you get to Barcelona.

The bus returned us to Placa de Catalunya and we retreated down La Rambla but made a couple of stops on the way. First we stopped for dinner at an Italian place to have a salad and a pizza. Gym also pulled Mrs. Gym down a narrow alleyway to check out a really cool open market. The restaurant we ate at isn't worth visiting again but La Boqueria was really fun market to visit and thee is nothing like it in North America.

As Gym strolled by the huge statue erected in honour of Christopher Columbus, he reflected on the next leg of the trip. Later at the hotel Gym made a mental note to go up to the hotel's roof in morning to confirm that the Sirena had indeed arrived.

Gym's first view of the church. On the right is the Nativity facade and
that is where we started our tour.

The top of the four towers on the Nativity facade. This is the only side that
Gaudi saw to its completion while he was still alive.

The Nativity facade centers on the scene in the manger with baby Jesus, Mary and Joseph.
Around these figures are scenes from the nativity and below it are the green doors leading inside
from this facade on the eastern side of the church

Hark the herald angels sing...

the three kings bearing gifts for the baby Jesus

and what about the doors, how do they fit in with the nativity?

Gaudi built strong buildings but he also loved nature and
he said nature did not give us straight lines

in fact, nature gave us surprises. Here is a preying mantis on the eastern door of a church.
This is a pretty dar cool church for anyone raised in the catholic faith as a baby boomer.

Once inside you see the ceiling... it is awe inspiring

and over the alter, to the north, amazing!

looking down the east side of the church

looking across at two of the four pillars that will hold up the six towers on the roof, There are the four evangelist's
towers, the Virgin Mary tower and the Jesus tower.

The cool blue and green hues of the stained glass on the east side of the church

the warmer red and yellow hues of the stained glass on the west side of the church

The south facade is the last facade to be built but the south door has been installed.
On the inside of the south door which will someday be the main entrance, the Lord's Prayer has been
etched into the inside of the door in multiple languages. In this picture you can see, "give us our day our daily bread" surrounded by multiple languages including Hebrew.

On the west side facade you have the Passion of Christ which is the last 12 hours

the Passion might also be refered to as the Stations of the Cross. On the Western fascade the
Stations of the Cross form a giant "S". It is all there in angular modern shapes.