Sunday, June 23rd - Part 2 - Barcelona!
We've just left the serenity of Montserrat and are now heading on to Barcelona. We still have a half a day left here! On our way to Barcelona, Marta told us all about Antoni Gaudi. We’d be seeing some of his major works. Or first stop was Park Guell. Gaudi has a huge impact on the architecture of Barcelona as you will soon see!
This was fascinating! I might even say it was a bit crazy! We enjoyed walking around here for about thirty minutes or so.
The site was originally designed by Guell to be a housing community in the early 1900's to take advantage of the gardens in the city. However, at that time, no one was interested in the "fresh air and beautiful views with the luxury homes"! Gaudi himself moved into one of the homes and later the whole planned community was turned into a municipal garden. It stands that way today.
It was quite crowded and the time we spent here was enough time to get an appreciation for the vision that Gaudi had when he designed it, and also to see the Park that it has become today.
Next we went to La Sagrada Familia. Now we had all prepurchased tickets for our designated entry time and we were there right on time.
Some people may find the Sagrada a bit odd, or tacky – or maybe gaudy
But I found it just “WOW” – it was just amazing! Even Alex who had yet to be impressed by a church found this one pretty impressive! He loved the way this one was designed.
Marta gave us some time to take it all in, as if that’s even possible!
And then she took us around the inside first and explained all that we were seeing. Showed us how things that looked three dimensional were actually not!
She also took us outside and explained the facades to us. It was great to have here there explaining everything to us.
These are the doors that will be the main entrance when the Sagrada is finally finished. The picture doesn't really do them justice - they're quite large!
The Nativity Facade
The Passion Facade....
After the Sagrada we drove past two more Gaudi buildings
These pictures really aren't the greatest since they were all taken out of a moving van window - but I tried my best!
and then drove up to the Olympic Park. Just a drive by here.
On the way back to the ship we stopped briefly at Montjuic.
There was a nice overlook here where we could see the port and our ship
and also a great overview of Barcelona itself.
We didn’t actually have any time in Barcelona – that will be another trip!
However, we could see that it being a Sunday, many things appeared to be closed. So maybe it wouldn’t have mattered.
On the way back to the ship we passed the Columbus statue from the back!
We got back to the ship right at 5:00. Another great day!
Tonight we had dinner reservations at Cagney’s – the steakhouse. They weren’t until later, so we did have time to relax. Keith didn’t eat anything at lunch so he went up to the buffet and got a bit to eat and I took Megan up to the spa to schedule the kid’s manicure for tomorrow – our one and only Sea Day!
We hung out on the balcony for a bit watching the sea gulls!
This was fascinating! I might even say it was a bit crazy! We enjoyed walking around here for about thirty minutes or so.
The site was originally designed by Guell to be a housing community in the early 1900's to take advantage of the gardens in the city. However, at that time, no one was interested in the "fresh air and beautiful views with the luxury homes"! Gaudi himself moved into one of the homes and later the whole planned community was turned into a municipal garden. It stands that way today.
It was quite crowded and the time we spent here was enough time to get an appreciation for the vision that Gaudi had when he designed it, and also to see the Park that it has become today.
Next we went to La Sagrada Familia. Now we had all prepurchased tickets for our designated entry time and we were there right on time.
Some people may find the Sagrada a bit odd, or tacky – or maybe gaudy
But I found it just “WOW” – it was just amazing! Even Alex who had yet to be impressed by a church found this one pretty impressive! He loved the way this one was designed.Marta gave us some time to take it all in, as if that’s even possible!
And then she took us around the inside first and explained all that we were seeing. Showed us how things that looked three dimensional were actually not!
She also took us outside and explained the facades to us. It was great to have here there explaining everything to us.
These are the doors that will be the main entrance when the Sagrada is finally finished. The picture doesn't really do them justice - they're quite large!
The Nativity Facade
The Passion Facade....
After the Sagrada we drove past two more Gaudi buildings
These pictures really aren't the greatest since they were all taken out of a moving van window - but I tried my best!
and then drove up to the Olympic Park. Just a drive by here.
On the way back to the ship we stopped briefly at Montjuic.
There was a nice overlook here where we could see the port and our ship
and also a great overview of Barcelona itself.
We didn’t actually have any time in Barcelona – that will be another trip!
However, we could see that it being a Sunday, many things appeared to be closed. So maybe it wouldn’t have mattered.
On the way back to the ship we passed the Columbus statue from the back!
We got back to the ship right at 5:00. Another great day!
Tonight we had dinner reservations at Cagney’s – the steakhouse. They weren’t until later, so we did have time to relax. Keith didn’t eat anything at lunch so he went up to the buffet and got a bit to eat and I took Megan up to the spa to schedule the kid’s manicure for tomorrow – our one and only Sea Day!
We hung out on the balcony for a bit watching the sea gulls!
Comments
Post a Comment