That building is soooo Gaudi!!!

Saturday, July 10th, 2010

Today we missed the bus leaving the hotel, not realizing that it runs only every hour on the weekends, so we had to take a taxi from the hotel to the train station in Montmelo. After just one switch of trains in the city we arrived in L’Eixample and at La Sagrada Familia. La Sagrada Familia is Barcelona’s most famous building, and it is still a work in progress. Construction on the building began in 1882 and it is estimated that they could be completed by 2020, but judging by what I saw on the inside, I doubt this will actually happen. However, when it is complete, La Sagrada Familia will have 18 towers, all 100 meters or more high. The towers represent the 12 apostles, four evangelists and Mary, Mother of God, plus the tallest tower standing for Jesus Christ. The outside of the building is the most intricate, but the inside is pretty unbelievable as well. I really hope that they finish the building during my lifetime, as I would love to come back and see the finished product, as it is hard to imagine exactly how it will look when complete.

After leaving La Sagrada Familia we grabbed a quick lunch before heading back on the metro to Park Güell. Park Güell can be found up in the Grácia district. Park Güell was originally designed to be a self-contained community with houses, schools, shops, etc. The project did not succeed, but the city turned the “Dr. Seuss –style” plaza into a park filled with colorful mosaics and paths/plazas designed by Gaudi.

After walking through the expansive park we made our way back to the metro and to Passeig de Grácia. As soon as we got off the metro at Passeig de Grácia, we noticed a large number of people gathering with flags in what looked to be some sort of demonstration. Nevertheless we stopped in front of Casa Botlló and Casa Amatller to view their unique modernista facades, before continuing up Passeig de Grácia towards La Pedrera, Gaudi’s best-known secular creation. However, the closer we got the thicker the crowds of people with flags grew. Finally we stopped and asked someone what was going on. The gentleman informed us that it was an “Independence” demonstration. Apparently, Catalonia, the region of Spain of which Barcelona is the capital wishes to succeed from Spain. And just like that we all learned something new. We fought our way through the crowds to La Pedrera, and made our way up to its surreal rooftop terrace with its bizarre chimneys. La Pedrera was an amazing building, but I have to be honest, the hundreds of thousands of people who were gathered in the streets below us, kept drawing our eyes, and we probably spent more time watching them than looking at Gaudi’s work at la Pedrera. Walking out of La Pedrera we found ourselves right in the thick of things and had to fight our way through and walk several blocks to escape the crowds.

Once we did make our way out of the crowds we walked to the Placa de Catalunya and down La Ramblas looking for a place to eat. We finally made our way down near Port Vell before selecting a restaurant to watch the third place World Cup game between Germany and Uruguay. The boys were happy to find a place to watch the game and I was happy to finally sit down to have some Spanish tapas and sangria. We sampled Calamari Romano, Bombas, Croquettes, Patatas Bravas, and Pincho Morenos and we enjoyed them all. After the game was over we took the metro/train back to Granollers, where we were able to just pick up a taxi back to our hotel.