Our Uncharted Lives: Barcelona Day 3

On our third day in Barcelona, we took part in a tour of two Antoni Gaudi sites: Park Guell and Sagrada Familia. Gaudi is an architect who spent most of his life and therefore did most of his work in Barcelona from the late 1800's through the 1920's. His influence is all over Barcelona, even in the streets of Las Ramblas. He was completely devoted to his craft and at times worked for free on churches. His work was influenced by religion (Catholic), history and nature. All of which you can see in the many pictures below.

First stop on the tour, Park Guell, designed and built by Gaudi from 1900 to 1914. The park was built away from the main city to give people a place with fresh air (the city had many factories back then). Gaudi designed it so that, even if people were far away from the ocean, they could feel like they were still on the beach. Many aquatic and water themes permeate through the park's structure.

View of the city

Structure symbolized waves

This part was like the floor and then surface of the ocean.

On the "ocean floor" part of structure, the artwork was made out of tea cups

There were so many people there, even for a rainy day.

All of this marble and tile reminds us of Agra, India

Next we went to the Sagrada Familia and we were completely blown away by the beauty and detail of this church. Construction began in 1882 and although Gaudí devoted his last years to the project and at the time of his death in 1926, less than a quarter of the project was complete. Sagrada Família's construction progressed slowly, interrupted by the Spanish Civil War, but resumed in the 1950s. Construction passed the mid-point in 2010 with an anticipated completion date of 2026—the centennial of Gaudí's death.

the tops are bundles of fruit

These next pictures take you inside the catedral. But first a video to give you an overview.

A drawing of what the front should look like when it's finished.

There's no blueprints so sandbags were used to show the lines of the church. They were hung upside-down and let gravity do the work.

The outside:

After our official tour was complete, we went back inside to take even more pictures. We couldn't get enough of this magical cathedral.

Love this pic! Looks like Jesus is looking up to heaven.

staircase

After our tour, it was time for lunch. We decided to dine at a popular tourist spot, El Quatro Gatos (The Four Cats). It was one of Picasso's hangouts during his time in Barcelona. It was empty when we arrived but was soon filled up by Asian tourist groups.

The rest of the day we wondered around the city as we liked to do on our trip. You get to know the city and get in great people watching. We also made sure to take siestas! (When in Spain...) That night we went back to the trendy Ohla Hotel. They have a great bar with fabulous cocktails. Kate's cocktail is a very dry Grey Goose Martini. And this was the dryest martini she'd ever had! The vermoth was sprayed on by a perfume bottle.

Chris's calvados with an apple slice

While we were having our first cocktails, we noticed a man next to us order a very interesting drink. It was an Old Fashioned but the cool thing about it was the smoke that was added. Chris ordered one for himself.