When we returned to Spain after our little side trip to Germany, we only had 3 full days left.  We had to finish up our video project along with getting to Barcelona at least one more time!  Some of our amazing new friends Jordi and Laura volunteered to take us to Barcelona.  Thanks a ton you guys!!  So, this trip we had two main stops… go inside the Gaudi cathedral (the Sagrada Familia)  and to visit the Gaudi park (Park Güell).  This blog will only focus on the cathedral.

To see some pictures of the oustide, click here to view a previous post…

Since we got there fairly early and there wasn’t a line to go up one of the towers, we decided to do that first.  So up the elevator we went.  There were some amazing views from the top of both the cathedral and Barcelona.

This is me and Laura

and her husband Jordi and son David!

Then we took the spiral staircase down – which was seriously the coolest staircase EVER!  (And if you tilt your head slightly to the right… you just might be able to see the very bottom!)

On the way down, we found another lookout… and look what we found!  They actually had a service going on – who knew?!?!

By the time we got back down to the bottom floor, there was a line that had formed to go up the tower.  We were extremely glad we did that first and didn’t have to wait.  Next, we walked through the inside.  It is highly under construction, but still breathtaking.  Words cannot even begin to describe how miraculous the cathedral is.  So much thought and effort went into the planning of every little detail… and then to construct it all!  WOW!  We did watch a short film on the history and making of the Sagrada Familia and found out that it’s only around 50% complete.  They’ve had their fair share of problems (like Gaudi dying unexpectedly, and a war breaking out and destroying part of the cathedral), but when it’s finished, it will be a stunning piece of art.

The inside of the cathedral was made to symbolize the inside of a forrest – pretty clever!

the original plans…

This is a picture of part of the back of the cathedral.  I love the architecture, but what’s even cooler is you can see where the building project stopped… and much later, continued.  The color differences between the two are neat to look at.

By:  Colin and Andre’a Feldhaus

{matchless}photography.com

This first building we went to is called the Batllo House.  From what I read, the porches were made to resemble a skull and the columns to resemble bones.  Noelia also told me that the whole building resembles a lizard.  You have the porches with they eyes and nose, the roof that looks like it has scales, and on the inside there is a staircase that looks like a tail.  It’s quite amazing and unique.  It’s very interesting because this building and the one next to it (you can see only a small part of it in the first picture)  are both very modern beautiful buildings.  However, this one just stands out so much more because of the different architecture and use of all the curved pieces.

The second building we went to was called La Pedrera.  It is my understanding that there is some apartments in this building.  I can’t imagine what it would cost to live here, but Esteban told us he thinks the apartments across the street that have a view facing this building probably run around 8,000 euros a month!  That’s not a small number!  As you can see in these pictures as well, there isn’t many normal straight lines.  Noelia told us that while this was being built, there was red bars in front of the windows to protect them from vandalization or thieves.  Apparently, Gaudi didn’t like that and came at night to cut the bars.  He shaped them differently so they weren’t straight up and down.  I guess since he’s the architect, he can do what he wants!

The third place we went was the Sagrada Familia.  This is a cathedral that Gaudi designed.  However, Gaudi died and because of space, the plans have had to be revised.  As you can imagine, it has taken someone a long time to study his work and try to redraw part of this cathedral so it still looks like Gaudi’s work.  Because of this reason, the cathedral is still being built.  The parts that are finished are absolutely stunning, and I hear the inside is even more beautiful!  Can’t wait to go inside another time.  This first picture is Colin and I in front of the main entrance.

The back towers and entrance.

The intricate detail is unbelievable!

A closer photo of the detail above the entrance.