Life Through My Eyes: Feb 20, 2016

Today is our first full day in Barcelona and we have a full itinerary of things to do and see.
At 3 this afternoon we have a skip the lines tour to go into the Sagrad Familia Church. Here is some information about Antoni Gaudi that was taken directly off of the Basilica De La Sagrada Familia web site:

Antoni Gaudí was born on 25 June 1852 in Reus, in the Baix Camp, which was then the second city in Catalonia. He attended the Escoles Pies school, where he excelled in Geometry and Arithmetic, and received a traditional, religious and humanist education. Son of a coppersmith, he started learning about crafts in his father’s workshop in 1860.

In 1869 he moved to Barcelona and prepared for entry to the School of Architecture, which he joined in 1873. He combined his studies with working as an assistant in an architectural practice, as well as in the workshops of a carpenter, a glassmaker and a locksmith where he learned these crafts.

He was inconsistent in his Architecture studies, but stood out in the subjects of design, drawing and mathematical calculation. In 1878, after qualifying in Architecture, he received his first official commission. As his professional reputation grew he undertook larger projects commissioned by the bourgeoisie such as, amongst others, the Casa Calvet, the Casa Batlló and the Casa Milà. In 1883 he took over the design of the Sagrada Familia, while also working on other projects.

He worked for 43 years on the temple until 1926. In 1914 he left all other work to concentrate exclusively on this sole project until his death on 10 June 1926, the result of a tragic accident three days earlier. His funeral cortege, which went through much of Barcelona and finished in the Sagrada Familia, was a grand event in the city in recognition of his status as the greatest architect Barcelona has ever seen. Gaudí was buried in the chapel of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in the crypt of the Sagrada Familia.

We started off our day walking in the general direction of the Church. Of course along the way I had to take photos of whatever I found interesting. I did notice that the are lots of street art everywhere you go in Barcelona

I found the architecture and street lamps very artistic and interesting

We found several other churches along our way and there was this one Church that had a beautiful courtyard with fountains and lots of geese roaming around.

There was a goose that seemed to be injured and it was just kind of laying on the ground when another goose jumped on its back and began to attack and bite at the injured goose. Before you knew it all of the other geese starting making noise and attacked the goose that was on top of the injured goose. Eventually everything quieted down in goosedom.

I am not sure what this goose was up too but he did not seem to happy with me filming the assault upon the injured goose.

Veronica and I continuing our tradition of taking a photo with ours shoes in it on a manhole cover that shows the name or location of where we are

Just a wall with plants growing out of it. I thought it looked kind of cool with the shadows

A cool looking painted mural scene

More street art

Artistic and elaborate street lamp

These are some exterior photos of the Sagrada Familia.

The church is not yet completed thus the reason for the tall cranes that appear in many of the exterior building photos

A really nice park that is across the street from the church

There were a couple of people entertaining the kids with these huge bubbles that they were making

Closeup of one of the church's entrances

One of the doors of the church

a closeup of the door

Now we begin to see what is really magical about this church. The interior is absolutely amazing and super artistic. Many of these photos show the interior ceiling of the Sagrada Familia. Please click on any of the photos to get the enlarged high quality view.