Sagrada Familia

Today we went to Sagrada Familia.  The plans for this building began in 1862, but by 1883 the first architect had resigned and the role of head architect was given to Antoni Gaudi.  Gaudi changed the Neo-Gothic plans to the current plans, and construction for this ornate, beautiful building began in 1882.   Construction has been ongoing for over 100 years now, and I honestly think it is the most beautiful architectural feat I have ever seen.  It took my breath away.

One of the facades 

 Up close view of the sculptures.  The detail is amazing.

A view from the other side.

Inside the stained glass is absolutely gorgeous.  Makes you stop and stare with mouth agape.

The kids walked in, looked around, stopped in their tracks and said "Whoa."  Music to my ears.

Here is a view of the ceiling.  The columns and posts are carved as trees and this is part of the gorgeous canopy.  You would have to pick up your computer screen and hold it over your head to get the effect.  And even then it is impossible to describe!

Michael and Rick.  Michael realized he had his hat on
in a church shortly after this picture was taken.
Whoops.

Something else that makes your mouth go slack is running into a friend from Colorado all the way in Barcelona, with no coordination whatsoever.  Our friend Rick teaches second grade and has been a co-worker of Michael for years.  Rick and his family are only in Barcelona for a couple days, and neither of us had any clue we would be Europe at the same time, much less the same church.  Rick took the lovely family picture above.  We couldn't waste that opportunity, so we talked for 20 minutes or so before parting ways.

After leaving Rick and his family we went up the Passion Tower.  This is the view from near the top.  Atop the hill in the distance is Montjuic, where we went on Sunday!  

And this is the teeny tiny stairwell going down from the top of the Passion Tower. It was like a corkscrew it was such a tight turn.  At the beginning of the stairs there were high walls on either side, but eventually it turned into this - where we could see the bottom of that spiral quite clearly.  We tried not to look.

I think we all loved Sagrada Familia and I am so thankful that I was able to see it.