For many years, I’ve had to listen to friends and family members (and no, they’re not all football fans!) tell me that I’ve been missing out on one of Europe’s greatest pleasures because I hadn’t included Barcelona on my travel schedule. I recently had a chance to correct that situation over our HNC Spring break….. & now I’m faced with the fact that I have to humbly inform them that they were indeed correct.

Wow….. what an amazing city! Delicious tapas, football excellence, the Mediterranean, Gaudi architecture, Montserrat – where even to begin! Well, okay, you know it has to be with Antoni Gaudí. So, yes, of course I went to see Sagrada Família, Park Güell, Casa Batlĺo, & Casa Milà.

Sagrada Familia

I started with Sagrada Família, which was started in 1882…..& is still under construction. Considered a ‘temple expiatori’ – i.e., built with funds provided by penitents — it’s therefore not a ‘cathedral,’ representing (& thus supported by) the Catholic archbishop hierarchy. It’s expected to be finished in 2026, the centenary of Gaudi’s death. Truthfully I had always considered it more than a bit quirky — until I walked inside, that is….. & was totally blown away! Pictures cannot begin to do justice to what Gaudi & his acolytes have achieved – the manner in which the natural light from stained-glass windows suffuses & bounces off supporting towers and pale-colored stone, filling the inside with a veritable glow, both at ground level and high above! The pictures on this posting look like they must be using colored lamps inside…. but that is all natural light, and cannot begin to convey the towering architecture and majestic sweep of supporting columns, sharp-figured carvings, and imposing ambiance of a truly superb structure. I’ve noted in a posting above that I usually have to take modernism in small doses…. but this is literally breath-taking.

The Park Güell is a lot more playful, a mix of Grimm’s Fairy Tale gingerbread houses; Greek temples; English ‘garden city’ motifs; and a serpentine, mosaic-laden bench surrounding the main terrace area. I have to say that I never believed it would be possible to sit down on a stone bench that was so incredibly comfortable – so different than Frank Lloyd Wright’s awkward & stiff Midwestern furniture! And the roof terrace of his Casa Milà apartment complex was almost literally from another planet – indeed, as you can see, its chimneys on a undulating roof supposedly provided inspiration for the storm-troopers in Star Wars.

Rooftop at Casa Mila

There was lots more as well…. a trek up to the 10th-century monastery at Montserrat; a visit to Montjuïc, overlooking the harbor & the notable ‘three chimneys’ of one of the city’s earliest power plants; a tour of the old Roman city; the Pedrables/Pearson quest noted above; etc., etc. Yes, I’ll admit that I’m now fully convinced.