Roger and Jennifer's Travels

Today we had a tour that went to Park Guell and La Sagrada Familia. Both of these are works of the architect Antoni Gaudi. First we met Michael and Linda for breakfast in the hotel around 8:00 AM and then we took a taxi to our meeting spot for Park Guell. The taxi ride was a bit frightening, but we made it alive! We rode through areas of the city that we had not yet seen.

Our tour was booked through Viator and our tour guide was named Francisco. He was a good guide and showed passion for his job and a vast amount of knowledge about Antoni Gaudi and his projects. Park Guell was built in 1914 and the architecture is unlike anything we have seen before. Antoni Gaudi was a brilliant man and he incorporated various columns and supports that are functional and decorative. He used elements like broken glass in his mosaics and was implementing recycling over 100 years ago!

La Sagrada Familia was Gaudi’s masterpiece and it is amazing. There’s so much detail in the building. The construction began March 19, 1882 and they have not finished it yet. In 2026 they are scheduled to finish the current phase and then Francisco mentioned another part to do the final completion in 2034. The colors and architecture inside are stunning. There’s so much symbolism in every part of the building. Before entering the building you have to go through a security check-point, just like at the airport. They have 15,000 visitors per day and they have to check every single one!

After our tour of the basilica, we walked back toward our hotel and stopped for lunch. Lunch was good and we continued on toward our hotel, stopping along the way to admire the scenery and take many, many photos. After we got back to the room we laid down for a short rest before heading back to Mercat de la Boqueria. We bought a few gifts, some juice and some cut fruit. We all went back out walking in order to see more sights. We found another cathedral and got some photos. We saw two people singing opera on the street and we really just enjoyed the scenery. As we were winding down we decided that it was time for some gelato. Our pattern has been to eat a large lunch and then have ice cream (gelato) for dinner!

It was a long and tiring day, with well over 15,000 steps, so it was time go back to the hotel and get some sleep. Tomorrow is the Hop on Hop off bus with a catamaran ride. Hoping that our weather will hold up!!

Until next time,

Jennifer