Barcelona - 6

La Sagrada Familia

From my unTours Guide book:

Unlike any church you've ever seen - seriously - La Sagrada Familia (the Holy Family) is probably Barcelona's most popular landmarks and Antoni Gaudi's most well-known creation.  The church has been under construction for over 125 years ad still has a long way to go.  When questioned on this subject, Gaudi is known to have responded "My client (God) is not in a hurry."

 

Each facade of the church is to represent a biblical scene, specifically: the birth of Christ (Nativity Facade) which Gaudi lived to complete; the crucifixion of Christ (Passion Facade) designed by Joseph Subirach (which has received a lot of criticism due to its break from Gaudi's style) and the future Glory facade to represent Christ's resurrection.  Gaudi died in 1925 and many his original plans were destroyed a decade later during the civil war (though the church was not damaged). Only eight of the planned eighteen towers are finished to date and it is estimated that construction will be completed in 2026.

Nativity Facade

 Passion Facade.

 

 

Here's what's on top of those spires.

We booked a tour for our visit.  Everything is very closely controlled by the church including airport like screening devices.

Here's our guide giving us instructions before we entered.

To me it didn't have the reverence of a church.  There were just too many people and not being particularly quiet.

To read more about the construction go here.

Gaudi's intent they say was to recreate nature with columns representing trees and all the various light coming in.

The stained glass was magnificent.

 We were told that the only people allowed to worship here have to live in the neighborhood.  The church is closed during worship time.

Barcelona - Food

We ate every well while in Barcelona in October.

Since we had a kitchen we made breakfast for ourselves: toast or cereal, coffee or tea, sometimes fresh squeezed orange juice and pastry for a local shop.

Lunches often later than noon time were often the big meals and then dinner if we didn't go back out were simple: cheese, ham, crackers, bread, olives, and fruit.

I didn't capture all the meals on camera but here are some highlights.  I'll do my best to describe them.

This was a tapas selection.  You can see the avocado, sesame seeds, drizzle of dark honey, thin tortillas or crepe and I think cheese also inside.

Also tapas: simply grilled asparagus with a Romesco dipping sauce.

Our first introduction to tapas: anchovies, calamari, potatoes, and eggplant.  Below roasted peppers.

This was a fish dish.  Below was a whole fish that three of us shared.

Server prepares to divide the fish.

Chicken dish with langoustine on top.

Cherry soup - a dessert.  Below tapas dessert: ice cream sandwich.

Locally grown tomatoes with olive oil as an appetizer.

Most restaurants brought olives to the table.

Potatoes.

Creme brûlée.

Above this first course was roasted vegetables with Romesco sauce.

Croissant and hot chocolate the consistency of pudding.

 

Best cheesecake in Madrid.

Our favorite bakery above and below one we stopped at another time.

Finally there are the market stalls.

Eggs of all sorts.

Cheese

Fruits and vegetables

Fish

And prepared foods.

A food lover's paradise!