Barcelona #6

Phew - I'm two days behind and new experiences and impressions just keep happening...

Yesterday (Wednesday) I took off early for the Sagrada Familia. On the advice of the nuns (another one of those conversations in gestures) I did not go there on Tuesday as I had planned. Instead they booked a ticket for me online, for which I reimbursed them. This meant that I could avoid the 3 hour+ queue for those buying a ticket on the spot!

I knew a little, but not much about the Sagrada Familia. That it was designed by Gaudi and that it had been under construction for the past 100+ years. What I didn't realise was just how much of it is still under construction. When the towers under construction are completed they will be half as high again as the present, completed ones. Given that the present towers look like this...

...then its finished form becomes mind-blowing. 

My photos can't come anywhere near conveying what it is like inside. It is huge. The craftsmanship is superb - sculpture, stained glass, stone work, metal work...

The interior pillars are tree-like. A forest of slender stone columns designed according to Gaudi's organic principles but also with strict mathematics underpinning the conception. 

Outside...

The famous Nativity Facade

New construction proceeding

Ditto

Did I like the Sagrada Familia? Um, not exactly. It's too decorative for me, especially the almost demented Nativity Facade. I feel more moved, spiritually, in a relatively simple space. But, as I learn more about Gaudi and other Catalan artists I am coming to understand better the nature of their art - the cultural influences, the symbolism... The lass who is studying architecture (and who is from El Salvador not the Dominican Republic as I claimed) is particularly interested in Gaudi. We had a good conversation about his work this morning. Gaudi pronounced with the emphasis on the 'i' not on the 'Gau' as I had always thought.

Am I pleased to have seen the Sagrada Familia? Absloutely!