Barcelona is the capital of the Catalonia region of Spain. It lies on the northeastern coast and has a soothing Mediterranean climate with warm summers and mild winters.
We visited Barcelona last year so we had some idea about what we wanted to see on our return trip this year. We'd been so impressed with the La Sagrada Familia designed by Barcelona's eclectic architect, Antoni Gaudi that we'd bought tickets online to take another inside tour of this magnificent Cathedral building. Buying tickets online is the only way tourists can avoid very, very long lines waiting to buy tickets. Even if you had the time to line up for hours, there is no guarantee that tickets will be available as over 1600 people visit La Sagrada Familia each day and ticketed people get preference.
We had a bit of a hick-up on our trip into the Barcelona from the ship. Our coach shuttle would not drop into gear so we travelled at around 3 km as hour for 20 minutes before another coach driver came and assisted us - all the driver had to do was to drive in reverse for a short distance and the correct gear dropped in. Arriving in the city we took a local train to the Sagrada Familia Station just as we did last year and we arrived outside La Sagrada cathedral with at least an hour to spare before our inside tour was to begin.
We decided to take a leisurely walk around the outside of this iconic building as we'd not done a full circumference of the outside last year due to time constraints and the massive crowds lined up around the footpaths. This year because we were so early only a small number of crowds of people had gathered so it was easy to walk around La Sagrade and see what sections of this massive project are being worked on this year.
We noted some additions in the number of cranes on the cathedral site than last year. Gaudi's outside design is full of surprises because none of the sides or angles of the building are typical of most cathedrals. The outside is ornate with spires, sculptures and other decorations in marble, tiles and mosaics. Each set of entrance doors, (there are at least six different entrances) has its own individual design: one door is covered in sculptured leaves with brightly coloured insects like lady-bugs, bees and butterflies. Another door is covered in all the different names for Jesus, like Son of God, The Word, The Way, The Truth, The Life, Messiah, The Light of the World, Saviour, The Resurrection, to name a few. These names have carved in different types of wood.
Antoni Gaudi I Cornet was born on June 25th, 1852 and was the son of a boiler maker. He had a good understanding of volumes and geometrical shapes from assisting in the boiler-making shop. After finishing high school Gaudi studied architecture at the University of Barcelona and it became the passion of his life.
In 1883, at the age of 31, Gaudi was given the task of building La Sagrada Familia Cathedral and he spent the next 43 years of his life planning and testing bold architectural ideas that would support all the creative and artistic enhancement of the cathedral he was designing.
In the last 10 years of his life Gaudi was totally dedicated to his task and he spent more and more time inside the building, even moving his bed downstairs into the area of the crypt so that he could start his daily tasks very early each morning and continue working until late In the evenings.
Gaudi was devoted to honouring God through his gift of architecture to the extent that he planned and stipulated that not one of his many ornate spires was to be taller than the mountains around Barcelona out of respect for the Master Creator of the mountains.
Gaudi died on June 10, 1926 after being accidentally run down by a tram one evening as he crossed the road outside his beloved Sagrada Familia church.
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