We went for a quick breakfast at our little coffee shop around the corner, came back, checked out and caught a cab to the meeting point at the plaza Catalunya.
It was raining out quite hard and so we waited under the overhang of the large office building we were supposed to wait by and looked for our tour guide. Margie's trusty souvenir umbrella. was one of many being used that morning. There were several groups meeting there and we had to find the right one.the one with the orange umbrella. there are a lot of orange umbrellas out there it seems. We did of course find them as they were looking for their people too and eventually all the people for our little group of about 10 were ready to depart.
We hopped onto a bus which drove us to about two blocks away from the church. The tour buses used to be able to go to the road right beside the basilica but someone got ran over a year previous snd so now no buses were allowed to drop off or pick up with in two blocks of the church.it was a pleasant enough walk as the rain had slowed to a sprinkle and the pace was not too fast.
Our tour guide was a lovely young woman with lots of great information about Gaudi and the cathedral. Margie and I had been to the cathedral the day before and had taken quite a few photos outside the church but now that things were explained to us it made the whole outside facade far more interesting. It also had words on it , all over the place. On the facades, and the doors, one door was all words and very beautiful.Each facade told a story about a different part of Jesus life, his birth on one side, his life and on another side the story of his death done in the cubist style which was very interesting but not a style one sees in a church very often.
Wikipedia says"The Basílica i Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Família (English: Basilica and Expiatory Church of the Holy Family) is a large Roman Catholic church designed by Spanish architect Antoni Gaudi. Although incomplete, the church is a UNESCO world Heritage Site and in November 2010 Pope Benedict XVI consecrated and proclaimed it a minor basilica as distinct from a cathedral, which must be the seat of a bishop.
Construction of Sagrada Família commenced in 1882 and Gaudí became involved in 1883, taking over the project and transforming it with his architectural and engineering style, combining Gothic and curvilinear Art Nouveau forms. Gaudí devoted his last years to the project, and at the time of his death at age 73 in 1926, less than a quarter of the project was complete.
Sagrada Família's construction progressed slowly, as it relied on private donations and was interrupted by the Spanish Civil War only to resume intermittent progress in the 1950s. Construction passed the midpoint in 2010 with some of the project's greatest challenges remaining and an anticipated completion date of 2026, the centenary of Gaudí's death.
The basílica has a long history of dividing the citizens of Barcelona: over the initial possibility it might compete with Barcelona's cathedral, over Gaudí's design itself, over the possibility that work after Gaudí's death disregarded his design, and the 2007 proposal to build an underground tunnel of Spain's high-speed rail link to France which could disturb its stability.
Chief architect Jordi Fauli announced in October 2015 that construction is 70 percent complete and has entered its final phase of raising six immense towers. The towers and most of the church's structure are to be completed by 2026, the centennial of Gaudí's death; decorative elements should be complete by 2030 or 2032. Visitor entrance fees of 15-20 euros ($17–22) finance the annual construction budget of 25 million euros ($28.38 million).
We arrived at the port and when we went to enter the building they asked to see our passports. I could not find mine. Panic mode set in. I tore through my suitcase. I thought on no I will have to go back to the hotel to see if I left it there. the Agents looked on. I went through my purse and the agents started to ignore me. I went through my suitcase again. Then my purse again. Then I found it! With a loud sigh of relief and the panic mode changed into one of lets go on a holiday and I sure hope I never go through that again! Margie was very concerned thinking that she might have tho go on the cruise by herself. no, not really. Margie- I was concerned. I wouldn't have ever gone on without dennie! Talk about stress!
we found the art gallery and I won a bottle of Champagne for being the most enthusiastic person in the room. we brought it with us to dinner and shared with the couple at the next table. for the rest of the trip he called us Champagne.
then a nice after dinner show and back to our room. we had luggage. yea! unpacked got organised, read the daily newspaper for the next days activities, down loaded pictures. charged our batteries for our cameras and went to bed.
