I must say we have been sleeping well. It is warm here even at night (mid-70'), but we have a lot of breeze coming through the windows, With a breeze comes the city noise. The tenor reminded me of my first apartment on my own in Blacksburg. I lived at the corner of the busiest intersection in town (Main and Prices Fork). My bedroom window of my basement apartment was only feet from the busy street. Many mornings when the big trucks would roll through, my windows would shake. It was so loud!
One of the other things we've noticed is how dry the air is here. It again reminds us of California We're having to watch we're hydrated enough.
Today's adventure began early. We were up by 7:30 to get some great pictures of Sangrada Famillia. Peter and Ken ran back to the neighborhood market to get fresh bread, cheese, meat and apples for the day. It's nice having a kitchen (and did I mention filtered water on tap).
We started our tour of Sangrada Famillia around 9:30 AM. The line was only about 2 blocks long (it was much longer when we went by the day before). We had fun chatting with two couples from San Francisco. Making friends always makes time in line fly. Ken went off to purchase one of the t-shirts he was asked to get for some guys at work. Finally at the purchase booth, we decided to go for the audio tour instead of guided tour. It was a good decision.
The magnificance of this enormous Gaudi masterpiece cannot be understated. Our host had referred to it as the Tour d'Effile of Spain - over 6000 people per DAY visit. We had seen the original nativity facade from the window of our flat. This side was nearly completed in Gaudi’s lifetime (he died in 1926). Where we entered was the Passion facade. It was radically different in nature, but Gaudi desired it to be that way. Where the lines on the nativity were bulky and almost fluffy, the passion side was almost streamlined with lots of sharp edges. As we listened to our audio, it walked us through each piece of the passion. This facade was bascially designed around the stations of the cross, but all in one place. My favorite part was the heavy bronze statue of Jesus gently sitting on bridge between two towers high above the facade. The statute represented Jesus in heaven. I can imagine how shiny it was when they first placed it there.
After absorbing all we could we entered to see the nearly finished nave and the breathtaking front stained glass windows. Interestingly 2/3 of the windows in a section were colored. The windows at the top shaped like stain glass, but were done in clear and opaque glass to allow in more light. We hurried to get into the 30 minute line for the tower lift (a must see from the many guides I'd read). It was well worth the wait. Even after the lift, we had to climb 30 more stairs to reach the pinnacle. The views of Barcelona and its surroundings were amazing. What fascinated us most were the views of the uncompleted cathedral from above. The details was even more rich up close. Gaudi is famous for his tile and glass work. Most of the tops of the steeple had fruit made from mosaics of broken tile and glass. We traveled the many steps down from the tower. The stairs were narrow and sometimes hard to see, but the views on the way down were worth the trouble.
We continued our tour and learned more about the fluffy Nativity facade. It showed different stories from Jesus life as a young boy. There was so much nature it. Gaudi wanted everyone to enjoy the church. For the farmer, he included lots of animals. For the scholar, the lineage of Jesus and much more. There was a never-ending amount of detail to search out.
We finished our tour and enjoyed the gift shop. We were on our way to our next adventure when Peter spotted a Starbucks. We were hungry and thirsty and Starbucks was familiar.
No comments:
Post a Comment