This post was written on 6/7/19 and posted on 6/7/19.

First things first, we grabbed breakfast at bar/restaurant across from our hotel. Chocolate. Croissants. & Coffee.

Then we high-tailed it to La Sagrada Familia via Taxi. I did this crazy thing that I deleted all emails of a certain size off of my gmail (so that I would have room for all my pictures on my Google Drive). Well, when I did that I deleted all my tickets that were attached to emails, since they were a larger size. ::head desk:: Luckily, in my 11 page trip itinerary, I have all my confirmation codes, so we were able to look up our tickets based on that. Which is a double good thing, because the tickets to even enter the basilica were completely sold out for the day when we arrived at 10:00am. Anyway, La Sagrada Familia is one of the most beautiful buildings I have ever seen. It is known for its gothic architecture, which I always think of as dark and dreary. But I was wrong. La Sagrada Familia was inspired by Catalan (region where Barcelona sits within spain (Catalonia)) Architect Antoni Gaudi. Construction was started in 1882 and Gaudi took over in 1883 when there was an artistic difference between the architect and funder. This is an unfinished building, and the expected finished is in 2026.

Below, you will see many pictures of the exterior. I won’t go into detail, but there is just so much here. The first picture is of the door on the “Passion” side. The words on the door all relate to the Crucifixion or the Passion of Christ. The second and third pictures show the magnitude of La Sagrada Familia. The last picture on the top row shows the completed parts in gray and the uncompleted parts in yellow. As you can see, there is much to be done before 2026! In the second row, are more exterior pictures including the angels rejoicing the birth, the fruits on top of the spires on the Passion side, another view of the passion side, and a working model of the four main spires that are currently being worked on.

I was awestruck by the exterior of La Sagrada Familia, but the inside took my breath away. The stained glass is simply beautiful and changes the inside light as the day moves forward. One side, in blue tones, represents the morning, which is the same side as the nativity scene. The side that is red represents evening light and is the same side as the passion side. There are over 50 columns in the interior and Gaudi believed all columns should look like nature. There are just not enough words to describe the complexity and beauty of the interior of La Sagrada Familia.

We also could see the area in the basement. where the modelers are currently working on the project

Gaudi also built a school for the kids of the workers to attend and we visited it.

Antoni Gaudi has made an impression on me that I hope to never forget. I was so moved by the beauty of La Sagrada Familia and I hope to return to see it in its completed beauty in the future. If you go to Barcelona, DO NOT pass this up. It is a must see. Also, we did a guided tour that was about 50 minutes long and I couldn’t imagine appreciating it as much if we hadn’t done the tour. It was well worth the money, and we took the official tour so all the revenue went to completing La Sagrada Familia. I know in making this post I am leaving some of the beauty out and not getting all the pictures of what meant so much to me. It is truly remarkable.