Southern Europe

Although i was due to make tracks towards Valencia, there were still a few things I wanted to knock off before I left. And since I had a later bus booked, I figured I would have the time. I started by heading to the Camp Nou, Barcelona FCs home stadium and the largest in Europe.

Unfortunately, as soon as I arrived at the stadium, disappointment hit. Without me knowing, the stadium was undergoing massive renovations, and so there was no access to the actual football pitch. As such, I arrived and participated in a virtual tour of Barcelona's history and trophies. It was cool but I wouldn't have paid more than 10 euros for it instead of 26 euros. In total, it took me about 40 minutes to get through, but seeing all the champions league trophies and Ballon d'or trophies that Messi had achieved at the club was really cool. But the rest of the time, they were basically trying to fill in time to make people feel like they weren't ripped off. I did see on the ticket that you got a view of the stadium, but this was even worse than the tour. You're probably only a few stories up, looking up at the former entry of the stadium that is basically rubble, and you're looking through a safety mesh that means you can barely see anything at all. It wasn't even worth the photo. After that, they tried to get you to spend more money in the store, but I was far too disappointed to give them any more of my money.

Given that this only took about an hour of my time, I had more time in my day than expected. As such, I thought I would go do my own Gaudi tour of Barcelona. Gaudi was a famous architect who had a lot of influence over Barcelona. His designs and projects are present all over the city and stand out as cultural icons. The first stop in the trip was Guell Park. Guell was the name of his associate who worked on the project with him. The park was designed to be a whole residential area, but in the end, the park only housed Gaudi, Guell, and another rich investor for the project. I think budget constraints and the war are the main reasons that the project was never fully completed. Gaudi also ended up spending most of his time designing La Sagrada Familia toward the end of his career. The park itself was atop a hill, which made the views amazing, but getting to the location was quite hard. The walkways and design concept he had developed were incredibly unique (much like the rest of his work), it was as though it was designed to seem like natural monuments while being laid out in an organised and structured manner. The columns holding up the walkways seemed like an ancient collection of rocks stacked together, with a similar design continuing above the walkway. Small spires extrude from the walkway with little plants on top of them. It is as though he designed each aspect to blend into nature while still being able to catch the eye as an impressive engineering feat. As you get to the main Plaza, more colours and standout shapes come into the fold, with mosaics of beautiful colours lining each seat and gathering area. Moving away from the natural feel to a more developed area. This was a nice way to end the tour of the park as it brought a different level of design to the park, which made it feel even more impressive. The buildings are colourful and interesting, and it was a nice change to the Gothic styles you see throughout a lot of Barcelona and Spain.

The next location was the world famous Sagrada Familia. This translates to the Holy family and essentially is built to represent the virgin Mary, Jesus Christ, and Joseph. The monument has endless symbolism to this family, the Saints, the cross, and Christianity in general. For starters, much like other churches from this time, it is designed in the shape of a cross, with three facades (or entry ways), at the bottom and both sides. The Northern section of the church (or the top of the cross) has no entryway and places the alter and the symbol of jesus christ on the cross. This is where church ceremonies would be conducted. On the eastern side, there is the nativity facade and represents hope, faith, and charity. Each facade tells a story, and within this facade, it represents the life of christ from a baby, to a boy, to a man. The detail and intricacies they fill into a simple doorway are stunning. They fill 7 or 8 stories of the bible into each archway, with symbols and statues. There are no empty spaces, and all spaces are filled with meaningful stories from the bible. This is also the only facade in which Gaudi at least saw partially completed. Although construction started in 1882, even then, everyone was aware that they would never see the completed church. As such, Gaudi designed this facade to become a template for other architects when his time came. But even still, he did not live to see the completion of a single entryway for a building in which he spent his whole life designing, knowing it would likely take hundreds of years to complete. The building first began construction in 1882, with this facade starting in 1893. Gaudis' death in 1926 meant he was still a decade short of seeing the completion of a single facade. Given that he was picked for this project when he was 31, a stat like this is remarkable. It was clear at the very beginning that this was a work to take many generations, and those who were initial investors would never come close to seeing the final product. Gaudi was sure to create models and drawings of his design for Sagrada Familia, but the Spanish civil in the late 1930s meant the church was ransacked, and thus, this was lost to time. Although some details could be preserved, the vast majority was lost. This meant the next architects to take over the project relied heavily on only a small fraction of the pieces of the puzzle and one facade to complete their sections. They would use this to imprint their own style into the building while ensuring the Gaudis life work would always be the dominant influence. The naturalistic style that Gaudi adopted at Guell Park is very present here. He incorporates trees, bushes, and animals all through the facade that, in the end, make it appear as though you are walking into a cave. A Japanese designer matched this style by incorporating a door with leaves and insects present throughout. The detail that is elicited on this facade provides a stark contrast to that of the other facade placed on the Western entrance. The passion facade.

The plans Gaudi had for the passion facade would be as if it were hard and bare, as if made of bones, when compared to the nativity facade. Designed by Josep Maria Subirachs, this facade is much more simple and austere, with statues constructed with straight lines and sharp edges. It is very opposite to the other facade. Similarly, this facade represents the death of christ where the other represents his life. Construction began here in 1954 and was completed in 1986. The facade is supported by six large and inclined columns, designed to resemble strained muscles, atop which 18 lighter coloured columns appear. These are to represent the ribs of christ. The two of these work to complete the designs drawn by Gaudi and provoke dramatic effect in the observer. The facade itself is split into 3 portico. The first is a representation of the last supper and multiple stories within (i.e., kiss of judas, and the soldiers gambling for Jesus' robes). The second represents the cavalry of Jesus and the three Mary's. The final is the resurrection of Christ. It's amazing that the design does exactly as intended. Going from one side of the church to the other, you can see the stark difference in detail and emotion that is elicited. The nativity facade overwhelms you with amazement and wonder, whereas the passion facade is daunting and intimidating.

The glory facade began construction in 2002 and is yet to be completed. But, it is expected to be the most striking and impressive of all the facades. Perhaps because this will be the main entryway, from the bottom of the cross, facing the statue of jesus christ on the cross as you enter. It is to be dedicated to the Celestial Glory of Jesus. It represents the road to God: Death, Final Judgment, and Glory, while hell is left for those who deviate from God's will. we were not given as much information regarding this facade, likely because it is not finished. Some googling tells me it will have 7 doors representing: baptism, confirmation, eucharist, penance, holy orders, marriage, and anointing of the sick. Although we could not see the main door, there were photos in La Sagrada, and it contains the lords' prayer in an array of different languages.

Despite all the beauty and work that went into the outside, the inside was far and away the most breathtaking and striking section of the whole church, and easily the most stunning thing I have seen so far on my trip. Entering from the nativity facade where there were endless detail and monuments representing the story of christ, I expected the inside to reflect this. In every Basilica in Europe, including St Peter's Basilica, every inch of wall and floor is covered by art, sculptures, or symbols that tell the story of christ. Given that this matched the facade in which I entered, I expected much the same. Instead, it was bare, futuristic, and escaped the Gothic / modern Gothic styles of Gaudi and instead leaned toward his more naturalistic styles. In fact, I don't think there was a single art piece in the whole location. The only sculptures that were present, was jesus on the cross above the alter on the Northern side, Joseph above the nativity facade, the virgin Mary above the passion facade, and Saint George, the patron Saint of Catalonia above the Glory facade to the South.

A part from this, they used the natural light and stained glass windows to accentuate the feeling of being in a forest. One side utilised green and red colours, while the other represents blue and red. Together, in combination with the columns that line the church, it truly felt like you were in a forest from the future. The sharp lines and white surfaces make it feel like you're in a spaceship, but the columns that expand and break apart to mimic the branches of trees (plus the beautiful colours from the windows), makes it feel like you're deep in a forest. They have even incorporated different thickness, colours, textures, and styles of each column to represent different tree species, only adding to the forest effect. The 2 final spires, protruding from the middle of the church, is expected to be over 170m tall and as such, the thickest columns are placed exactly here, to support the monumental weight of the final roof. It is expected to be the final part of construction, and an enourmas cross will be an icon for the whole city to observe. This height was no coincidence, as Gaudi wanted the building to be as large as possible but never exceed the height of the nearby mountain Montjuic. He is quoted as having said, "The work of man should never surpass that of god." This spire will partner the other 17 representing, in ascending order of height, the twelve apostles, the virgin mary, the four Evangelists and, tallest of all, Jesus Christ. As a result, each spire is topped with a monument to reflect the Christian symbol it denotes. The bull for Saint Luke, the eagle for Saint John, so on so forth. Heading underground, you can access the crypt, the first section of the church to be completed. This is where the actual church ceremonies are held, and the body of Gaudi is kept. I would have loved to see this, but i dont think it was supposed to be for tourists, and just for those wanting to pray. After this, the final part of the church takes you to the museum, in which you can see the models and drawings in which Gaudi had used to guide future architects in constructing La Sagrada Familia. It was cool to see the historical photos of the site and really put into perspective the monumental project that is being undertaken. Not only this, but we are luckily enough to potentially see the church completed. Huge tourist pressure and investment have meant that the government can put more money into the completion of the church and thus bring forward the completion date. 2026 is now the year in which we may be able to walk through the whole church. Words and pictures simply can not begin to portray the grandure and beauty that this structure holds, and as such, I will definitely be adding the finished La Sagrada Familia to my bucket list.

After the audio tour was complete and my mind was blown, I had to make my way back to the hostel, gather my belongings, and head to the train station. But, I hadn't yet had my Gaudi fix somehow, and so on the way home, I stopped by two more iconic buildings of Gaudi. These are far less significant, and I just took a few quick photos on my way through. Given how many other things I did today, I doubt I will be able to include them in the 20 photos, but we will see. I included the photos for Camp Nou, Casa Mila, and Casa Batllo in yesterdays log to ensure i could post just a decent fraction of the photos taken. These were quite cool, balconies with the faces of cats, wavy buildings, colourful murals, and more strange but fascinating design ideas. They were truly unique.

After this, though, my walking was finally done for the day, and I could collect my bags and head to the bus station. One issue was that I had walked many kilometres but had no accommodation to shower before getting on my bus. I felt for the person next to me, but there was no around it. I sat on the bus for about 4 hours on my way to Valencia. A short walk to the hostel and a very thorough shower later, I headed to bed to finally call an end to a very busy day.Read more