Sagrada Familia

Another morning in Barcelona went right by us, we woke up at11am.  That wasn’t supposed to happen, but I guess we’re all making up for the flight and the time change.  I have to shove Oscar awake which is not the norm in our house.  We all take our time getting ready (except Oscar and I stay in the room and not quiet enough for John to work) and then head out for lunch.  We have our tickets for Sagrada Familia, one of a number of things that we bought ahead of time, and head in that direction to find breakfast/lunch.  It’s a long walk to Sagrada Familia and we have a nice coffee, bikini (little sandwich with ham and cheese) and a 

 donut for Oscar.  He finally caves in and uses the stroller that we have brought with us because we knew that the walking would be intense.  At least I’m meeting my step goal everyday and then some.  We finally see the cranes rising above the buildings which are all incredible.  It seems like every other building here has ornate scrollwork balconies, painting down the side in some design, carved stone work all over them.  I just love walking down the street because it’s a feast for the eyes everywhere you look.  We

 find a little café where we can see the church that has a picture of pizza with pepperoni on it and have some more food.  We actually walked enough that we need it….we are going to try to have a talk with his class regarding where we are, but no matter how hard we try today, we can’t seem to make a time work with the classes’ schedule with a 6 hour time difference.  I’m listening to my little podcast about the church as we walk around it and wait for our time to go in.  We are headed around the whole thing when John tells me that it’s time for our entrance.  Surprisingly east TSA style check 

 and we’re in.  It feels more amazing just to be behind the barriers than to be in the church to some degree.  We’re so used to being able to just enter any cathedral that we come to in Europe without problems (except the Vatican) that you feel an accomplishment just being on the other side of the fence.  You’re getting closer to the amazing amount of sculpture on the façade and then I know why the website made our entry for 4pm on the day that we chose, because you walk in and the church is bathed in the light from the setting sun through the stained glass windows. This is the most

 visited site in all of Spain and the money for the entry are going to allow them to “finish” the Basilica by 2026, which will be the 100^th anniversary of Gaudi’s death.  We can’t really tell if they’ll be done by then, but it is amazing to see and walk through.  It’s different from any other cathedral in the world, but I don’t know that I feel the same awe that I feel in some of the other cathedrals we’ve been in…..we’ll have to compare it with some others on the trip to see if I’m just out of practice or if I was expecting too much from this place.  A 5 year old does not have the patience to see a church in

    the same way as his parents, so we are hurried throughout the time in the church.  He almost has a meltdown when he realizes that he didn't bring his phone to take pictures, but finally relents and takes some pictures with daddy's phone that we can upload to his phone later.  We go through the museum store on our way out and I want everything in it, but alas, it's too expensive.  I really want just a small knick knack of the fruits on the tops of the pillars, but 30 euros is a bit much for something I have to carry around for 5 months and will most likely break.

 We spend some time getting some more food, coffee and drinks and make one last turn about the structure in order to see it at night.  It has some nice views across the reflecting pond, but as we come around at the end, John notices that the crypt is open.  They said that it was open from 7 to 8 and he remembered when he saw the door open. So, we got to go down and light a candle for Florence and see Gaudi's crypt.  It was a win for walking around again even though we have a ton to walk home.