in Barcelona

Now We Are Six

:: April 4 - 6 ::

We settled into  our L’Eixample-neighborhood apartment in Barcelona Monday afternoon. A short walk brought us to the Plaza of Catalunya with many people enjoying the nice weather along with thousands of pigeons awaiting handouts.

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Monday evening, our family group became 6 when grandson Korcho arrived by train from Brussels. 

The next day we joined the crowds of tourists to walk the curving paths of Park Güell, the imaginative park created by the renowned architect Antoni Gaudí between 1900-24. The Park incorporates elements of Gaudi's modernism. His architectural elements mimic nature. Decorative, colorful mosaic tile art adorn the curving benches on the lookout point as well as Gaudi's dragon and other creatures on the entry staircase. Above this is the massive marketplace with 84 Roman pillars. 

Everywhere is art, color, magical design...hard to stop taking pictures.

Sagrada Familia:

It has continued to mature. 

In 2009 when we had visited,  we wove our way through construction stations in the main apse. This beautiful church, designed and begun by Gaudí in 1882, has been under construction for more than a century. Construction continues now after a 2 year COVID delay as the massive cranes hang over the church ; 

Eight towers are completed and the remaining 10 continue to grow. 

When Gaudí was tragically killed in 1926, only 1/4 of the church had been completed. Many architects, designers, and artists have continued what they know and have imagined Gaudi's plan to be. When finished, the central tower will measure 170 meters tall, and the Sagrada Familia will be the tallest religious building in Europe. 

Pardon our cliché, but there are no words adequate to describe this space with light streaming through the stained glass and columns resembling trees reaching high above the altar. We took a guided tour to learn more details about this inspired World Heritage sight.

Other Barcelona highlights included walks along streets with major historic houses (by Gaudi and others), as well as signs of support for Ukraine and condemnations of its attacker.

We walked the Rambla (La Rambla, Ramblas, Las Ramblas), 

with     a brief stop in El mercado de Boqueria,

We wandered into George Orwell plaza where the Sintobins found a tattoo parlor and scheduled the fulfillment of their Christmas resolution for a family tatoo.  (Nice result!) 

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