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Travel Adventures: A day in Barcelona, Spain

We only had 24 hours to spend in Barcelona, Spain, a city that could easily occupy me for a week.  There was so much that we could have seen, but given the time we decided to spend the day walking along the beach, then headed into the city to see the one thing I wanted to see in Barcelona:  The amazing, unfinished church designed by Antoni Gaudi, Basílica i Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Família , or Basilica and Expiatory Church of the Holy Family, more popularly called La Sagrada Familia.  The church is a UNESCO world heritage site.

Though construction of Sagrada Família had commenced in 1882, Gaudi became involved in 1883,taking over the project and transforming it with his architectural and engineering style—combining Gothic and curvilinear Art Nouveau forms.  I have always been a fan of the artistic style Antoni Gaudi (1852 – 1926), but seeing this famous church was more exciting than I imagined.  The construction of the church passed the mid point in 2010 and is expected to be completed by the centennial of the architect’s death in 2026.

We only walked around the exterior as we did not have the time in our schedule to line up for the 20 Euro tour of the inside, which I understand is fantastic.  Beggars spend the day playing to the crowds of tourists lining up by the bus loads to view the church.  I was especially amused by one enterprising young man who had a sign by his begging station saying ” Parents kidnapped by ninjas.  Need money for karate lessons”.

If you ever get an opportunity to visit Barcelona, I recommend that you do so.  I fully intend to return to see many of the sites that I missed on this trip.

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Posted on Friday, February 10th, 2012 at 10:00 am. Filed under: Travel Photography Tags: Barcelona, La Sagrada Familia, Mediterranean, Travel photography RSS 2.0 feed.