We planned to be off the ship by 7:30 or 8 am and we hit the mark. We had tickets for 9 am to go to Spain’s most visited monument (with more than 3,000,000 visitors per year) Le Sagrada Familia and were prepared to take the subway.
We are at the half way mark of our cruise having completed 7 of 14 days so it is the end of the trip for some people and the beginning for others, but for us it marks the middle. The Enchanted Princess is rotating through three 7 day cruises through the Mediterranean this summer and we chose two of the three weeks for our wonderful girls cruise. So today as hundreds of guests are disembarking we thought there would be a queue for taxis. In fact there were plenty of taxis and there was no queue - so we hopped in one.
Our driver got us to Le Sagrada Familia by 8:35 am so we enjoyed viewing this beautiful church from the outside.
This building of this church began in 1883 with another architect, Fransesc de Paula del Villar, who built the Crypt below the rest of the structure. Gaudi was brought on in 1885 when he was just 31 years old, to take over the project. Gaudi ended up working on this project for more than 40 years, until his unexpected death when he was hit by a streetcar.
For the first 20 years, Gaudi followed Villar’s initial designs for the Basilica of the Granda Familia. However 20 years later Gaudi had become one of the greatest modernista architects and had built nearly all of his masterpieces - casa milla, casa battlo and park Guell. He felt prepared to present his overall vision for the Granda Familia. And so his vision has become the template for what followed and that basilica has continued to be built 140 years later.
Originally the work was funded by philanthropists, now people like our tour group paying 40 € for tickets inside and a guided tour help continue to pay for the completion of the building.
We entered the basilica a little before 9 am and were all surprised to see inside the stained glass. Outside, the detailed architecture captures your eye and you don’t event see the stained glass. Inside the stained glass is evident.
The green and blue hues come through in the east side of the building as the sun shine through into pillars intended to look like a forest.
We met with our guide Oliver at 9:30 am and were given headsets to hear his commentary as we moved throughout the church, beginning outside then moving inside. The tour was 50 minutes long and incredibly informative.
I bought a book from the Bookstore about the Sagrada Familia published by Escudo De Oro and am sharing a photo which is better able to show the massive size of this project - because the photo is taken from a drone in 2018.
There are to be three main entrances - this entrance on the West depicts the passion story of Christ (Last supper, soldiers casting lots for Jesus’s cloak etc, and ultimately dying on the cross).
I will add that work is able to continue on this mammoth project a century later because Gaudi insisted on making plaster moulds of his project so that others could see his vision.
The third version of Gaudi’s mould for the interior, demonstrating how he wanted nature to be reflected inside to be like trees in a forest.
Visiting the Sagrada Familia was a profound experience. We spent hours visiting and it was now time to move on. So we found a cafe across the street and had lunch outdoors, still with a view of the Basilica!
Our lunch time view.
ME went to purchase a SIM card for her phone, we all did a little shopping and walked torwards a condo complex, La Pedrera completed by Gaudi. DG and JP paid the 28 € to go into the complex, ME and I stayed out. We found a stone bench in the shade and breeze to rejuvenate while the other two toured and snapped photos.
Outside view of Gaudi’s La Pedrera without a straight line in it - and some fabulously ornate balcony railings.
DG photo on the roof of the condo looking down into the atrium. Amazing!
We walked further to Casa Battlo, another Gaudi condo. We had little time to visit this building, but we did find time to visit the gift shop on the bottom floor of the building!
We walked further to Casa Battlo, another Gaudi condo. We had little time to visit this building, but we did find time to visit the gift shop on the bottom floor of the building!
This is a replica of Casa Battlo found in the gift shop of the building!
And then we caught a taxi on the street back to the ship. We drove along Las Ramblos a very popular street (also known for pickpockets so I was glad to be securely in a vehicle) to return to the port. We needed to swipe in by 5 pm and we had 15 minutes to spare!!
A shower was in order after our 35 Celsius day in the full sun. We enjoyed supper in the dining room and were all very tired as we sat in the comfort of air conditioning and full bellies.
We spent some time posing for pictures with our matching shirts then enjoyed live music in the piazza. O’Malleys was full to hear the trio perform upbeat Irish music.
We all started out watching movies under the stars - I was the only one who stayed to see the end of the Whitney Houston: I wanna Dance with Somebody movie to find out newsflash, she dies, sadly.
We have a day at sea tomorrow - which means that all of you will be reading this a day or two later than Friday, July 29th, 2023, when it actually occurred!
We are heading for cooler temperatures in the 20’s in Gibraltar - and that will be a welcome reprieve.
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