The Gaudian

Your intrepid adventurers met to make plans over a heart breakfast. (Why do the Spanish not understand that you put fresh milk in tea, not condensed milk?). Barney Rubble had a number of sights to see as did we. Fortunately they were overlapping sets. A two-day pass for the metro would give us access to most parts of the city without hassle. Plan A was to start the day with Sagrada Familia which was just a few stops from the hotel. The Metro was clean, bright, and appeared to be efficient. GF was surprised by the trains. The carriages were all linked with no intervening walls so that you pass right along the car from the front to the back of the train without hindrance.

Sagrada Familia
	Emerging from the metro into the bright sunshine seemd to make a mockery of the forecast thunderstorms. Looking round we got our first sight of Gaudi's masterpiece. First impressions were overwhelming. It is a most familiar landmark, with pictures and images everywhere, but still you are not prepared for the real thing. It was awesome. Both beautiful and overwhelming. It was like something from the set of Lord of the Rings, or Gormenghast.
	In front of the Sagrada was a small park. Tourists and locals were queueing to have their photos taken in front of the church. GF saw a different view, however. This was an image that he had not seen before.
	Approaching the church for the first time the details of the carvings started to become clear.
	The carvings were set against a backdrop that gave a clue as to what you might expect on entering the building. It was almost fluid in appearance.
	Having gorged on sights of the Nativity Facade, the adventurer entered the building. They stopped. The interior takes your breath away. The stained glass floods the space with coloured light, the column soar like massive trees holding up the sky.
	Peering up among the columns you see them branch and split and continue to climb to the intricate ceiling.
	As the light floods the space, the stained glass paints the colours onto the soaring columns.
	Some detail of the ceiling. What has not been clear from the Gorse Fox's pictures is that the Sagrada Familia is a bit of a building site. Started in 1883, it is still under construction today. This does not detract from the grandeur. It is simply the most beautiful building that the Gorse Fox has visited in his life.
	Tearing ourselves out of the building we were presented with the Passion Facade. This was far more angular and stark than the Nativity Facade. It was none the less impressive. Massive carvings depicting the last week in the life of Christ zig-zag from bottom left across and up the facade.
	Ecce Homo. After being flogged, Christ, wearing a crown of thorns, is presented to the crowd.
	The adventurers split up. Silver Vixen does not like heights and so she took an audio tour of the church, whilst the remaining three headed back to climb the towers. Eschewing the elevators they started the long spiral staircase up. Slowly screwing themselves into the sky they climbed, and climbed. Views opened up in every direction. GF thrust the camera out of the opening and took this view downwards.
	Looking up within the tower you can see the stairs winding within thw walls. At the top of this tower we crossed across into the next and continued to climb. As we climbed there was a crash of thunder that reverberated around the tower and it started to rain. And rain. And rain. Huge rain drops pounded down around the tower, lightning flashed in the sky and the thunder continued. At the top of the tower we climbed across another open bridge to the next tower and started our descent to ground level.
	The foursome met up by the Passion Facade. Tearing ourselves away we looked back at the Sagrada Familia as we marched off to find a source of some sustenance. This is the most beautiful building Gorse Fox has ever seen, and it isn't even finished. It is awe-inspiring, and has an physical and emotional impact on the visitor. It deserves to be re-visited, and will be on the list for the next trip to Barcelona.

[File under: Travel, Barcelona, Sagrada]