Saturday in Barcelona – Gaudi’s Sagrada Familia

This afternoon, with Jill and Micah who we befriended last night, we headed out to see the infamous Sagrada Familia – a massive Roman Catholic church designed by Spanish Catalan architect Antoni Gaudi that has been under construction in Barcelona since 1882 and will not be complete until 2026!  We decided to walk to the Sagrada Familia via Passeig de Gràcia, a large street full of expensive stores and home to a couple of other famous Gaudi buildings, such as Casa Batlló and Casa Milà, so that we could see the architecture this area is known for.  Although we all were interested in seeing the Gaudi buildings, there were long line-ups to tour both Casa Batlló and Casa Milà, so we took some pictures of the outside and kept going.

As it turned out, the walk to Sagrada Familia was a lot longer than expected!  We had headed out of the hostel late because Paul had some work to do, and by the time we got to Casa Batlló we were all getting hungry so we started looking for somewhere to eat lunch.  When we got closer to the Sagrada Familia, we found a restaurant that had a suitable menu, but when we sat down the server said he couldn’t serve us because they were closing at 4 (and it was only 3:15!).  We wandered around checking out a few other restaurants, but nothing seemed to be able to accommodate Jill’s vegetarian diet (the fact that we didn’t know the Spanish word for vegetarian didn’t help! editor’s note: google translate came up with vegetariana).  We finally settled on a place that’s sort of kiddy-corner to the Sagrada Familia because it seemed like no matter where we went the menu was the same and they didn’t really have vegetarian dishes.  Paul and I ended up getting a small paella (which was mildly better than the one we ate in Madrid) and a pork chop with egg, and Jill had to order cheese on toasted bread with french fries

The four of us left lunch feeling pretty unsatisfied and hurried across the street to get in line to enter the church.  It was already 4:45 and the Sagrada Familia closed at 6, so we started to panic a little about the time crunch.  Thankfully the rather long line-up moved quicker than expected and we were at the front within a half-hour.  We decided to buy the combo ticket for the Sagrada Familia + Gaudí House-Museum since it was only a 2 euro difference from the cost of just entering the Sagrada Familia, and the ticket for the Gaudí House-Museum could be used on a different day; although we weren’t quite sure where it was and they didn’t provide us any info!

When we got to the front entrance of the Sagrada Familia and we could see the Passion facade (West exterior) up close, I began to see why construction will take so long to complete, even in our age of technology (Gaudi’s original plan was that the building would take hundreds of years to complete but modern technology has sped that up). Gaudi’s plans for this church were amazingly intricate and to execute his vision, a large number of  architects, draftsmen, sculptors and model makers have been involved in the project.  The attention to every detail and the grandness of the entire church are simply amazing and you can feel Gaudi’s passion to build the “last great sanctuary of Christendom.” (editor’s note:…..nevermind)

Inside the church, there was another line up to pay 5 euros to take the elevator up the towers.  Because we were so short on time, Paul, Micah, and myself decided to just go see the museum behind the church and Jill waited in line to take the elevator up by herself because she really wanted to see the top.  The museum was full of interesting information about the construction, Gaudi, his colleagues, and sample models and drawings of the construction.   I probably could have spent a couple hours here but we only had about 40 minutes!  The whole experience has given me a new appreciation for Antoni Gaudi and the Art Nouveau style he is famous for.

Seeing the Sagrada Familia in person was at the top of my list of things to do on this trip and it definately did not dissappoint.  Jill said we should all come back together and see it when it’s complete and I must say, I really hope that that can happen – but next time we’ll have to time out our day better! (editor’s note: I’m coming along next time!)