Today was the day of appreciating the works of famous architect Antoni Gaudi. I started the day with a trip to Parc Guël which is not far from my hostel. Inside the park is full of greenery and gardens but also art and buildings designed by Gaudi.

There is a house, a couple buildings with unknown (at least to me) purposes, a set of crosses, a fancy bridge and a mosaic lined pavilion held up by big pillars and still more mosaic on the ceiling.

It was another gorgeous day here in Spain so I was glad to walk through the park in the morning when it was a bit cooler. In addition the the beautiful installments in the park, it also provides a beautiful view of the city, and is home to some very bright and very noisy green parrots! I tried to get some pictures of them but they wouldn’t sit still. Based on a cursory Google search I think they may be monk parrots (if mum had been here I’m sure she would have been able to tell me). At any rate, they were very cool to watch chasing each other about in the tree and providing a unique soundtrack to the park.

Next on the agenda was Sagrada Familia. I had seen pictures of the church, which was also designed by Gaudi, when doing my research for the visit but the size of the building is something that can only be understood in person. It is truly a massive building, and it isn’t even finished yet! The audio guide I had explained that while the project was started in 1882, it won’t be finished for quite some time. Knowing he wouldn’t see the finished product, Gaudi left a lot of models and instructions for the people after him to work from (micromanagement from beyond the grave, impressive). The building has 2 main facades, the nativity facade that depicts the birth of christ and the passion facade that depicts his death and resurrection.

The inside of the church is also quite impressive although perhaps simpler than I was expecting based on the outside. It is spacious and held up by large pillars with huge stained glass windows all around it.

I also went up one of the 2 towers the public has access to (there are a lot of towers, and still more to be built, but you can only go into 2 of them and you only get to choose 1 per visit). There is an elevator to take you up your tower of choice and when you get to the top it provides a different perspective of the church itself and surrounding city.

You have to take the stairs down though. It does take awhile and if you’re afraid of heights I would recommend not looking over the railing, a mistake a few people ahead of me made. While the building is very much a tourist destination, it’s primary function is still as a place of worship and they have mass here every Sunday that is translated into many different languages. I finished off the day with some gelato (raspberry with chocolate chunks, yum!) as it was quite warm and the dress code for the church required more clothing than one might normally wear in the heat (ie no shorts allowed). Busy day today full of beautiful architecture, not a bad way to spend a day in Barcelona!