Hola from Barcelona

A long flight. Well a long day really. Mick came round at 1:00am for starters. A quick trip to the airport. Check in a breeze. No baggage problems. Landed at Dubai on time. 40 degrees C was a bit of a shock considering we had layers on. From Dubai to Barcelona everyone but us was in shorts and singlets. Luggage arrived safely. Went to pick up the car only to discover the brokering agent for the car hire had managed to cancel the booking way back in February. Gee, thanks for telling us! Anyway we got it sorted with the help of some very patient ladies at the Avis counter. Drove in to Barcelona through the CBD in the dark and with light rain falling. Mick calling out the instructions from the sat nav. We have a great little Airbnb apartment on the first floor, directly opposite the Sagrada Familia - Gaudi's and indeed Barcelona's most famous landmark. Managed to find a bar on the nearest corner for a celebratory beer and a bite to eat after depositing the car in a secure car park nearby.

Day one began not too early with the Sagrada Familia. Got in the ticket queue in the first dozen or so courtesy of our handy location. An amazing building but still incomplete and hence parts are covered by construction curtains, work barriers, scaffolding and cranes, as you can see in the photos.

What started as a small church in the hands of a different architect has, from the time Gaudi took over, grown into this monumental attraction. There are supposed to be three main sides, each with an entrance dedicated to a different aspect of Christ's life: the birth or nativity, the life and the death, also known as the Passion and each entrance to have four towers. Three time four equals twelve. How many apostles were there? Anyway theses different stages of Christ's life are the reason behind the architectural style on each side is radically different. The huge central dome/tower is nowhere near completion as are the corner buildings.

Best guesstimate for a completion date is eeeeeeeeeeehh, sometime soon, no!

The Nativity entrance (eastern side) in the background with it's ornate sculptures

Door on the Passion or Death side of the cathedral

workers continue to build and renovate high above the street unseen by all below

Vaulted ceiling inside the Sagrada Familia

Four pillars rising above the Nativity entrance where the decorations are extravagant, flowery and bloated.

Four pillars rising above the Death portal of the cathderal on the western side preside over harsh, stark death oriented sculptures hidden behind the foliage in this shot. In the centre is the beginnings of a huge central spire that will eventually ride to 180 metres but at present is just a tangle of scaffolding.

After lunch and a jet-lag induced snooze it was off downtown on the metro to check out another of Gaudi's amazing architectural splendours; the Casa Mila, know in local parlance as La Perera ( meaning the stone quarry). Quite beautiful. The antithesis of modern angular glass and steel with sensuous curves, wierdly interesting yet functional sculptures aplenty. The balconies are all enclosed by unique wrought iron railings and balustrades. Inside is wonderfully cool and breezy thanks to the network of ventilation shafts combined with light coloured exterior and solid stone construction.

Casa Mila (La Perera) from street level

Inside one of the courtyards. Interesting purple colours

another view of the courtyard

and another showing a winding covered staircase below and again use of ochre, free and purple colours to produce a very pleasing effect

from the roof of Casa Mila you can see the spires of Sagrada familia in the background.

A model of the Casa Mila. Note the wrought iron balconies and the bizarre chimneys and ventilation towers atop the roof

A nice place for a bit of quiet contemplation

Then it was off to try and find a Sim card to replace the one I left at home. Couldn't be done said all the stores we went to but finally tried my luck at a kiosk in the metro run by a Pakistani business tycoon who, after we woke him from his cricket induced reverie sold me a pre-paid card that was good for 'all of Europe'. Being the trusting type I took him at his word and forked out 20 odd euro. Hopefully now I've got some comms again and will be able to send and receive texts.

Beer n the balcony then down the road again for tapas and paella and now I'm having trouble keeping my eyelids apart. So, until next time, stay safe and keep tuned for another instalments.

Cheers, Bruce