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| Sagrada Familia |
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| Renaissance Barcelona |
It is our last night on the road. Saturday by midnight - we will be back home. Lulu booked a nice room in Barcelona for us to get a good rest before we flew home on Delta. We leave here Saturday at 1 PM our time - we get home at midnight Tallahassee time. We go through Amsterdam and Atlanta.
You can't go to Barcelona without seeing this wonderful cathedral - Sagrada Familia. It was started by Antonio Gaudi almost 150 years ago. They are still building it at the cost of about $22 million a year. It has been funded completely by private funds.
It is hard to explain how big it is and how different it is. It is not something I would build. I tend to like simple lines - and elementary motifs. I am happy with just a few repeating patterns. I am also not a church attender - as a kid I was "suffer the children to come onto me" - I did a little too much suffering :-) Although I am not a church goer - I like people that do go. I enjoy people that have found their rut in life - and are happy on that track.
There is a mystery to me as to why the Christian faith has endured all these years. The religious art is fascinating - and how it has survived 2000 years. Although I have tried to go along with the story that Jersus was born and 33 years later his father decided to let him die for our sins - then he brought him back to life in 3 days. Again - I am not putting down a religion - especially a religion that is based on the Golden Rule and the 10 Commandments. But to me - too many people have been killed in the name of religion.
I love traveling all over Europe and seeing these old buildings - old statues - and old paintings. I love seeing relics - pieces of saint's bodies - etc. It would be fun doing some DNA testing on these things. Having had my share of perfect attendance pins at Bethany Church - and also staying the extra hour to sing in the junior choir - I remember the stories.
This Cathedral - Sagrada Familia - is a wonder of the world. It does amaze me that the logistics could go on 150 years.
Lulu decided to get a really nice hotel for the last night. The Barcelona Renaissance is very different - like the cathedral. The windows are shaped like palm fronds. The elevators are all glass - on all 4 sides - and they move like rockets - the fastest I have ever seen. You enter your room by laying your card next to the door and just pushing - the door opens. The room is all white - white walls - white furniture - no pictures - the only thing on the wall is the TV. There are no lamps - the whole side table lights up. The bathroom and shower has glass walls. When you take a shower - you are the entertainment. The window shades are electric and white. The only private spot is a tiny toilet closet - again all in white. The floor is light wood. The bathrooms are white marble.
It all makes me feel like at home :-) Saturday at midnight - we will be there - unless we get bumped.
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| Our hotel room window. |
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| Barcelona from our room. |
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| 126 euros a night - beautiful. |
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| The metro to the cathedral - 2 euros |
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| Clean - modern - fast - subway. |
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| Sunset at Sagrada Familia |
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| Lulu touching cathedral |
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| Note the beautiful detailed work |
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| Lizard |
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| Serpent |
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| more statues |
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| Cathedral has its own subway stop |
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| Natural side - looks like nuclear melt |
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| Lulu and Max's soccer ball |
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| Some heroes at a souvenir stand |
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| Barcelona soccer team is hot right now. |
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| model of cathedral |
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| Gaudi is worshipped here |
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