Day Twenty: Sagrada Familia and Old Town

Today started strong. We actually ate breakfast! Well, brunch. It wasn't breakfast food, but it was something. It was doner? Basically, it was donair meat with fries. It was the closest food we could find that wasn't too expensive. All the cafés we looked for were closed... and it was 11:00 anyway. Still tasty with the dill sauce. Off the famous Sagrada Familia! Unfortunately, not inside. Of course, everything is pre-booked. We get the next best, a walking tour with the hostel. As we walked out of the Metro, we headed over to the meeting place of KFC. Without even realizing it, I turned around to see the Familia just towering over me. It is such an overwhelming building to see in person. It's actually super cool that the shape of the church is all based on gravity. Guadi put weights on string to see how it would hang. Then, he flipped it and shaped the church based on the distribution. So it almost looks like it is falling towards the sky. It's such an interesting church, with each side being different and complex in every corner. There, in symbolizations facet of this church. The first side we saw was about life and birth full of nature and lots of noise. The other one which is built circles around death and the story of Jesus's last couple of days. This one is designed more minimal and abstract. None of the characters are realistic because they wanted to emphasize the feelings and emotions over the events. What is interesting about this church is that it is done completely by a private organization and isn't being built by any government or church. So actually, the church has complained about some aspects of the statues and art on the familia. For the one where Jesus is on the cross, he is nailed on the wrist and is completely naked. This is the historical method they used, which is more accurate than the churches depiction, and they vocalized their opinion but couldn't stop it because they are private. The church was also upset about their depiction of judas kiss of betrayal because it was too intimate for two men. The other side of the ownership coin is the fact they make a profit and don't release their revenue, all while not paying taxes. Apparently, all extra funds will go to charity when the church is finished, but no one knows how much money they are making. And to be a part of history, we took a selfie in front of the soon to be grand entrance of it. So, one day, when we are older, we can take another one to compare. And we can be in the history books of the construction of it! Afterward, we decided to walk up Parc Guell to at least go into something. So after 35 minutes of straight uphill, we realized it was sold out... so I guess it doesn't matter the time of year you have to pre-book everything. So afterwards, we walked down the hill, so much nicer, and went to the Gothic old city area. It is quite the contrast from the new area of Barcelona, which was built in squares compared to the narrow scrambled "roads" of the old town. Fun fact the diagonal corners of the squares where designed for the larger turn ratio of tram systems because it was believed to be the future of transportation. The old town was very nice, we got to go to a church from the 14th century too. But of course it was too late to go inside. We just walked down some narrow streets and stopped at a place for a beer. It really had great vibes. Even had a candle holder with, I swear, the only purpose to build the biggest wax tower. Then we just took the Metro home and bought 4 burger patties, tomato sauce, and pasta for only 8 euros. And it was actually good for how cheap it was! Then I'm early bedtime for our crazy early start tomorrow with the contiki tour!Read more