Vela Huang

So. There is a building in Barcelona, it's hard to miss, and we've seen it (her?) a few times the last couple of days. From the outside from afar it's one of those "yeah, it looks kinda cool" sorta buildings. You kinda get this feeling that it's pretty unique, the profile on the horizon is definitely a little different. As you get a bit closer, and you start to see the spires sticking out over the tree tops, you start to notice some of the extra little details; the stars on top of the spires, the fruit baskets scattered along one side, and you start to get an inkling that this is something special.

Then you get your first full glimpse of the cathedral. Ours was of the Passion facade. And your thoughts are suddenly "wow, okay that's really impressive." You have to take a moment to try and take in all the detail, but you might spend all your life staring at this one aspect and never see everything. Eventually you tell yourself to move on and walk around the building. We walked past the holy facade next, the eastern end of the church, not much to see here yet - the church is still under construction after all, and has been for the last 140 years.

Then you turn the corner and get a good look at the Nativity facade. It's beyond belief. This is one of the oldest parts since the Sagrada Familia's reimagining. The Nativity facade is a completely different style to the Passion facade. Where the Passion facade was blocky and had a "clean" feel, the Nativity facade feels busy, with a Gothic undertone. Again you feel like you could get lost in the detail. We spent a good 20 minutes just standing in what little shade we could find staring at this structure in front of us. So engrossed, we would likely have been easy targets for any pick pockets - fortunately not today! But the incredible nature of the facades didn't even come close to preparing us for what we were about to see...

We finally made our way through the Nativity facade and into the church knave. We just stood there. We were gobsmacked. Blown away. The stone exterior did not prepare us for what we had just walked into. The initial impact comes from the size of the interior. With massive stone columns reaching up into the rafters, where they split into smaller "branches" and then "twigs" to support the roof. The knave is aptly named "The Forest," and it feels like you're standing amongst ancient, giant trees of stones. And the leaves of those trees? The light.

And what light! Every colour of the spectrum filters in through the intricate stained glass windows, each window made up of hundreds, if not thousands, of individual panes. The inside of this temple of light is awe inspiring. We lost ourselves taking photos. Every nook, every angle, there was something new. And if you stay long enough, everything changes again as the sun drops lower in the sky. It feels like if we were to return tomorrow in the morning, the whole interior would be brand new.

It was a truly fantastic experience. Gaudi's vision is beyond belief. And this will most definitely be one of the highlights of our trip.

(Sorry for getting a little gushy)Weiterlesen