Mr. Gaudi presents…. Barcelona!

On the surface, and if you left it all up to the Travel Guru’s, one would think that the reason for paying a visit to Barcelona, Spain would be to see Antoni Gaudi’s works of Architectural Art.

                   Left all by itself, this statement holds a lot of truths, but luckily for us, we found ourselves with a late afternoon La Sagrada Familia (the Holy Family) tour, which left us a lot of morning and mid-day time to experience Barcelona on its basic level…. A stroll on La Rambla or alternately Las Ramblas, which translated from Spanish means the boulevard. Originally this wide area was used as a (mostly dry and sandy) sewage ditch between the original gothic quarter “Old City” and the new El Ravel (the suburbs) quarter which is nearer to the Port. A map from 1400 shows this wide area distinctly separating these areas. Acknowledging the Muslim influence on Spain previously, Rambla in Arabic comes from the root word for “sand”, so it is interesting to see how different languages get assimilated into later ones and take on totally different meanings!  To us it sounds like “Rambling” which is exactly what we did with Harold and Sherry when we initially got off the ship in the morning. A shuttle bus was provided to get us from the port to the big statue of Christopher Columbus who is seen pointing in the direction of the New World. La Rambla starts on the other side of Chris and continues on for almost a mile.

                   Wide and tree lined, this wonderful, tiled walkway links several sections of the city with a “section” all its own. On it are many outdoor cafés, restaurants, and shops, both basic and high end. The surrounding area can be defined by that alternate name of Las Ramblas (plural) because these neighborhood streets have developed into side areas of even better shops, hotels, and finer restaurants.

                   Pedestrian Friendly is an understatement! This is actually an area that cars seem to shun, there are just two one-way lanes on each side of the wide esplanade while a subway runs directly underneath here in that old sandy ditch that was once here.

                   Our “Goal” for the morning’s expedition was to find an elusive perfume store by the name of Rituals, which is the source of a fragrance that two of Sherry’s daughters wanted. Armed with Google Maps and some friendly directions from the waiter at our first stop of the day, we sortied out. This initial inquisitive halt in the proceedings was at one of those street-side cafés for cappuccinos and (since this was an expedition requiring sustenance) a Red Bull, as they had no Monsters! According to The Trio, this was the best cappuccino yet of our entire voyage! The Red Bull tasted like a Red Bull, no exalted descriptions there, except the setting was definitely one of our favorites!

                   After some more direction findings we chanced upon our elusive prey situated on a square, a block off of La Rambla. Harold and I were happy to find some “Husband Benches” outside where we dozed off in the morning sunlight. Who knew it took that long to go into a store, pick up an item, and pay for it! Inquiring minds wanted to know, so that’s how we found out that the young lady inside hailed from Sherry’s neighborhood in Florida and had chosen Barcelona as her place to start her world-wanderings. It is indeed a small world!

                   Arriving at the northern terminus of La Rambla, we about-faced and started our journey back towards the ship. We wanted to have enough time to have lunch here in town, and still be back in time to start our Sagrada Familia Tour at 3:00 PM. Successful on both counts, we left Harold and Sherry sipping some awesome Sangria’s after our lunch of Vegetable Paella. Sherry has a shellfish allergy, so not wanting to take any chances, and since veggies are Paula’s favorite beings on the planet, we all opted for the Vegetable Choice. Even me.

                             Antoni Gaudi is Barcelona’s favorite son. Mr. Gaudi is most famous for his combination of combining Gothic and curvilinear  Art Nouveau forms. Examples of his style are found throughout the State of Catalan, mainly in its capital, Barcelona, and specifically at the Basilica i Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Familia or thankfully, simply la Sagrada Familia.

                   I am not sure how to describe his most famous work, this “church”. I can say that everyone that has ever been here and spoken to me has said that one must see it to fully appreciate its magnificence. It truly is a one-of-a-kind, and after visiting it, I can add my voice to that chorus of admirers that have been visiting this still unfinished masterpiece since 1882.

                   Unfinished you say?

                   That is correct.

                   Toni the Builder was the second architect to be involved. The first guy flew the coop after just one year (1883) and Gaudi took over, obviously with now enough time to instill his personal style into this project. The endeavor was funded by private donations so that explains part of the reason for the long construction period. Throw in the untimely demise of Mr. Gaudi in 1926 and the Spanish Civil War in the mid 30’s, WWII in the ‘40’s, slow resumption of work in the 50’s and we quickly arrive in the present where Covid screeched things to a halt.

                   Maybe that’s all not so bad because along with the delay in building came an increase in architectural technology that has helped make the remainder of this building a bit safer and stronger. Just as we saw with the Sydney Opera House, some of the technology to make these impressive structures needed to be invented along the way.

                   So, that brings us to today’s visit.

                   Our Group had timed tickets to enter Sagrada Familia, so we needed to tour the other sites before our scheduled entry. There are several buildings in Barcelona that embody Gaudi’s work and we did a “Drive-By” and then we were let off and we walked around the neighborhoods and went to the Building, which is a hotel. We did not go inside, the exterior had enough to see.

                   When we finally got to S.F. it was akin to entering a construction zone, which in fact it is. Gazing up at the exterior, it takes a while just to take it all in. Just when you think that you’ve got it all down pat, the Guide points out some other little nuance that lends another level of understanding to this Magnum Opus.

                   Viewing just the exterior is an exercise in sensory overload. There is not one square meter of unadorned or unworked piece of sandstone, or concrete. Everything is for a purpose, and there is nothing left unsaid. The Bible Stories are all there on display and every spire and tower has a purpose. For example twelve spires for the Apostles, Four for the Evangelists, one for Mary, the three main facades are themed as the Nativity, the Passion, and the Glory, each one stands on its own when telling the story. The outside is close to completion and was scheduled for 2026 which is the 100-year anniversary of Gaudi’s death, but Covid got in the way and the completion date has been extended.

                   The interior is complete. We were fortunate in a way, that our tour was so late in the day because the low angle of western sunlight shone through the stained-glass windows with quite the intensity. It was actually difficult to photograph successfully, but I did my best.

                   Under the church is a nice museum that chronicles the design and building of it. There are original workshop details and displays of the models that Gaudi used to make sure that everything was to scale and would “work” the way that he had intended. It was these plans and scale models that helped the succeeding architects, planners, and builders ensure that Gaudi’s vision would be carried out to the best of their abilities.

                   So who pays for all of this?

                   We did!

                   The costs associated with the completion of the construction are not underwritten by any government or the Church. Private donations have their place, but the bulk of the monies needed come from the three million Gaudi-Gawkers that come here to admire his work.

                   Hence, there seems to be no issues when it come to the talk of successful completion of Basilica i Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Familia !

                              Spain in itself is worth a visit, throw this in and you’ve got a slam-dunk!