The answer is , “Yes, I did see the Sagrada Familia!” I didn’t realize how many people I know who have been to Barcelona and the imperative was ,”You have to see….” How can you miss it? Even at a distance of 2.6 miles from our hotel, the 15 towers cut into the sky. You can find all information you need from a rabbit chasing search and a capable tour guide to navigate the crowds gawking (no other verb will do) at the towers at the Sagradra Familia. I was properly awe stuck by the building, though I still have questions about construction even after seeing the match-stick sized man doing work midway up a current tower. And then there is the man Antoni Gaudi, the visionary architect who left his mark all over the city until 1926. Our tour guide had a sentence that bought the vastness of his primere work to a live with size for me.”The outside is all sculptures of the story for those who don’t read, and the inside is the glorious light of God for all people.”
Two more Gaudi constructions. One was to look at houses of the :”rich folk” in the Gothic part of the city.The tops were eye-caching. Each building is eight stories. The living in part starts on what we would call the second floor and fhe windows are large so you can view what is special inside. The other floors are rented with each layer of windows becoming smaller. Gaudi’s private home had seaweed iron work decorating each window balcony and the view from the roof was breathtaking with one set of roof ornaments maybe being the inspiration for Star Wars soldiers.My most favorite creation was the Parc Gaudi – a real estate failure. A man wanted to sell forty lots to make an exclusive subdivision. The project was too far out of town and finally Gaudi was told, ‘Make a park.” It is quiet and shady and had a plaza or soccer field where I could sit while others walked in the woody areas. It had lovely undulating benches decorated with tiles he got for free from broken bits at a tile company.
Then these are the tidbits that defined the city for me. All corners have been cut off so one could see carriages approaching. and turn without having to cut too short. That means in 2023 with a little adapting by drivers, a stop light is not necessary at every corner. The marina with sailboats was right across from the hotel at the edge of the Mediterranean Sea. I am used to a ferry ride in Galveston with the other side visible the whole trip. A ferry ride from Barcelona to Mallorca is 7.5 hours. You can do it overnight if you wish and the advantage is you have your car when you get there. Oh, yes, the unloading lane at the hotel is decorated with maybe 100 plus large terracotta pots stacked four high and planted with succulents. I may have a few comments left for another time. While you are waiting, you can choose from 20 flavors of ice cream by just crossing the streets to the La Gelateria de Leonardo operating since 1957. Blessings of sights, tastes, sounds, feelings, and smell are given to us at every turn. Welcome them!
Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I rise on the wings of the dawn, If I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.
Psalm 136: various
Let Me Tell Ya 