Barcalona’s Sagrada Familia. Wow!

I woke up with a cold! It’s not bad though. A runny nose and a bit of a cough. Not enough discomfort to stop us from doing things.

When planning what to do in a Barcelona, I realized that one could spend a lot of money visiting this city. It is full of interesting places,most, at a cost. We are travelling for 3 months so we have to make choices about what we want to see and do. The Sagrada Familia was one of the places that called out to us. There is a reason why it is the most visited place in Spain, boasting almost 4 million visitors a year and we were not disappointed.

I was able to book online senior entry tickets ($40 Cdn each) with an audio guide on Booking.com. Expensive for 1 hour but we didn’t feel too badly as the money does go towards the upkeep and continued building of this wondrous creation.

The end result was that both Chris and I were blown away by the genius of Antoni Gaudi. No wonder that the Sagrada Família is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, even though it still hasn’t been completed (started in 1882). It was supposed to be done in 2026 but Covid slowed things down. Now the completion date may be in 2030…

Inside and outside, it is spectacular. You just have to see it to believe it. The u-shaped choir lofts can hold 1,000 singers!

Gaudi wasn’t the original architect. Construction started under Francisco de Paula del Villar, who resigned in 1883, allowing the young 31 year old Gaudí to take over as chief architect.

The Sagrada Família has been built entirely with donations and has not been backed by the church or the government. Construction today is still funded with entrance fees.

To pay tribute to basilica workers, the builders’ faces were used as models and their images can be found sculpted in stone of the Portal of Mercy façade. In the on-site museum, you can see old photos of workers posing as models for the sculptures.

Gaudí is buried here. He died (73) on June 10, 1926, after being hit by a tram on his way to visit the Sagrada Família. His tomb can be found in the El Carmen Virgin chapel.

When you enter the basilica, you have to go through a security system similar to the ones in airports. Everything comes off and put on a tray to go through a scanner. Photo I.D. could be asked for. Spain wouldn’t want to lose this building to a terrorist!

I didn’t have earphones to listen to the audio guide but Chris lent me his left hearing aid and as long as we stuck together, it worked!

I am not going to write anymore, as whatever I write will not even begin to describe the splendour of being in this building. Neither will the photos… and I’m sure there are lots and lots of great articles and photos to check out online.

Afterwards we walked one block from the basilica to the Rosellan Hotel that has a rooftop terrace with great closeup views of the spikes and turrets from a different perspective. No one was up there and we just sat on comfy chairs in the sun and enjoyed the 360 degree views.

We returned to the hotel using our metro card and had a lunch of instant soup in a cup, an orange, and cookies and tea. Tonight’s dinner will be at the Honest Greens restaurant again, mmmn yum.

*Note to Karen and Rob - Chris got a phone leash today! Handy!Read more