Bucket List Central!

La Sagrada Familia

Antoni Gaudi's magnum opus (Basílica i Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Família) is unlike anything else. The massive Basilica takes up more than 40,000 square feet and has been under construction for more than a century. (They're hoping to be done by 2026 to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Gaudi's death.) This, along with its unique design and unmatched beauty, makes it an amazing place to explore.

We had the chance to go up the Nativity Facade today thanks to my mom's planning and research before the trip. [More information here] Seriously incredible - we took an elevator up to the top before walking up a small flight of stairs to the bridge connecting the two middle towers (visible from the base of the cathedral, right behind the Tree of Life). The views of eastern Barcelona were breathtaking... Both because you could see the bustling city and because of the winding staircases, containing more than 400 steps on the way down.

The Nativity Facade and the bridge we crossed at the top

Views from the top!

The dizzying, descending staircases:

Architectural Elements:

The Three Facades:

La Sagrada Familia is massive and has three entirely different facades. So far, only two have been completed but represent the unique styles of two famous Barcelonan architects.

Nativity Facade

The Nativity facade is (arguably) the most famous of the three - designed by Gaudi and completed in his lifetime, this facade flourishes with fabulous depictions of crucial moments. According to this, Gaudi originally wanted this one to be painted so that humans had the same vibrancy of life as the plants and animals depicted. It's ornate and beautifully sculpted, with many colorful and natural elements. Each column has a turtle at the bottom, depicted above in the architectural elements section of this post. (Side note - if I were to build a sand castle, I would want it to look like the Nativity facade!)

Passion Facade

The Passion Facade was completed in the early 2000's by architect Josep Maria Subirachs and his dedicated team of sculptors. This facade, especially in comparison with Gaudi's ornate Nativity facade, is striking, rigid, and grim. The sculptors used sharp lines and angles to create this grim mood on the facade and it's noticeable from a few quick glances at (or close inspection of) the details.

Glory Facade

The Glory Facade is still under construction - they started in 2002 - and won't be completed until other items are completed, according to the Sagrada Familia's website:

Towers of the evangelists - four towers
Tower of Jesus Christ - will be the tallest tower, and will have a large cross on the top of it, making La Sagrada Familia the tallest religious building in Europe.
Tower of the Virgin Mary - one tower
Work on the temple will finish with the construction of the main façade, the Glory façade.

Interior:

The four red columns containing the names of four apostles - Marc, Joan, Mateu, and Luc

Almuerzo

To celebrate seeing La Sagrada Familia, we ate an early lunch at Jamón y Vino. We enjoyed some sangria alongside some seafood paella (our first of the trip) and a series of tapas. Yum!

Arc de Triomf

We loved the Arc so much that we felt the need to jump for joy!

Ciutadella Park

Fun park to stroll around in and kind of reminds me of a petite version of New York's Central Park.

 

Basílica de Santa Maria del Mar

Barceloneta Beach

We took a cab to the beach to walk the boardwalk and enjoyed some drinks at a local beach bar.

Dinner

After a siesta, we got some dinner at La Cerveceria Ciutat Condal. We saw this recommendation on a YouTube video about where to eat in Barcelona and it was great! We tried the ham sandwiches, veggies, potatoes, salmon, steak, shrimp, and calamari. Yum!

QOTD: "Gaudi? More like Wow-di!" and "I wonder if Gaudi was inspired by asparagus" -yours truly

-and- "My client is not in a hurry" (referring to how long it was taking to construct La Sagrada Familia