Sagrada Familia

As promised (and about three months later), our visit to Barcelona's #1 tourist attraction:  La Sagrada Familia, Antoni Gaudí.  First stone laid in 1882.  Completion set for 2030 if donations continue.  Wow.  That's what you say as you regard this massive cathedral, but not for it's grandeur, more for it's split personality design and detail.  Everywhere one looks there's something else to see and discover, and for that reason my children managed to enjoy our visit.  Really.  This is a close up of the front (or what is now the main entrance), more modern and almost cubist in design.

General view upon arrival.

Jesus overlooking the construction, making sure all is well.

Inside, hard at work and getting closer to completion.

Blurry photo of stained-glass.

Hardhats for the guys from the head office.

The statue of Jesus first confused me as I thought it was some avant-garde version, at least from far away.  I eventually realized he's wrapped for protection and will be unveiled from his spiderman prison in due time.

Very cool ceiling and columns, designed to appear as trees bend and support.

Color variation, nothing here is "normal," or expected (I guess you could say).

The rear of cathedral, much more gothic-looking and detailed to the max!  I forgot to take a picture of the famous Nativity facade, but it's in there.  You could spend hours just staring and straining to see all the work.  Good I Spy material.

Looks like it's haunted or melting even.

A rare picture of the kids and I.  Yay!

Mark and Nico strike a pose.

Managed to get all our heads in this one, but I am seriously lame at DIY photos.  Nevertheless, we had a great time and spent one of the most interesting days learning and laughing together.

Whilst touring and descending the top of church, one can wander through giant sculptures of fruit and veg.  Gaudí had a true sense of all things organic.

View of the city from the top.

The old botanical cross.  As mentioned, Gaudí loved nature and incorporated into his architecture--everywhere.

Cranes, cranes go away.  They ruined my lovely shot but they're everywhere, what can you do?  We took an elevator up for a small fee and the stairs down for free.  It was the only way, so there were lots of silent prayers that my children (i.e. Nico and Emma) would survive the spiralling descent since neither railings nor safety features existed to keep them from plummeting to their deaths.  Phew!!  We made it.  That concludes our visit, my next post will be a wrap up with some random photos from the rest of our trip, and then on to Israel.  It's my hope that I will soon return to regular blogging and include more meaningful events like birthdays, matches, concerts, etc.  Crossing my fingers!