Sagrada Familia x 2

The Sagrada Familia is kind of the key site of Barcelona and we'd had a good start to Gaudi's works so we were keen to see what mattered most to him. The photo set are actually from two different days, first with the Setzer family when the huge line, extreme heat, and limited time together made this an easy skip on the interior. But in our 2nd week in Barcelona, we returned to see more of this Gaudi masterpiece (still very much in the works). The line was actually worse than our first visit (I bet it's smart to show up at 5 p.m. instead of morning/mid-day...) but it was a cool, overcast morning, so we gritted our teeth and got in line. The line moved steadily along as we played multiple rounds of 20 Questions, and after 40 minutes or so, we were finally in the door. Though the boys begged us to stand in yet another longer line for the tower and though we're always game for a set of tower stairs, Ed and I were of one mind and we weren't doing it. We told them they could come back to see it when they're 21. (Ha!)

There was plenty to see in the cathedral and yet there's nothing to see either because it's actually just filled with workmen and construction and dust (the last photo is one of the few shots I got that isn't completely spotted with particles flying about). There are some stained glass windows and Gaudi's clear architectural lines but the stuff of a church is still to come.

Instead of the tower, we went to the basement museum which was fascinating with its inverted catenary arch models and the history of how Gaudi ultimately worked and lived on the construction site in utter poverty, putting all his money into Sagrada Familia. I'm still not sure I fully understand why all the crops of Spain are on the tops of the spires (to the glory of God?). But there are a lot of amusing details (turtle columns!). Because almost all of Gaudi's plans and drawings were lost in a fire set by anarchists protesting the Church connection to Franco during the Spanish Civil War, what's going on right now represents the latest generation of cathedral/Gaudi experts' best guess. I'd say based on the level of activity at Sagrada Familia, there's plenty of money for its construction today.

Maybe we'll come back someday when it's finished. Of course then the towers are going to be even harder to climb!