Adventures in Spain

Thur in Barcelona: La Sagrada Familia and the Beach

La Sagrada Familia is one of the only cathedrals still being built in the entire world, and has been under construction for some 120 years already too. But this is no ordinary cathedral: it was designed by Barcelonan native, Gaudí. Which means that the statues on the outside are angular and severe, while parts of the cathedral itself look like they are ice cream just beginning to melt. And this is a real building. The interior was vast, with huge vaulted ceilings. The roof is held up by columns that mimic trees, rising a ways and then splitting into 3 or 4 branches which continue up to the ceiling, which is carved as their angular canopy. Everything about the cathedral was unique and unbelievable. It will be amazing when they are finally able to start having mass there. We have tons of pictures, and even got to see one of the construction workers working on carving a stone piece by hand!!

After the Sagrada Familia, we headed to lunch. Another menú del dia, but this time we got to eat paella, which was quite good, and came complete with whole crawfish and mussels.

We stuffed our bellies, then headed to the beach. The sand was rough and brown, but the water was beautiful. And the beach was absolutely packed. We found ourselves a place to lay out, and couldn´t have had more than 6 ft on every side till the next person. The beach was quite an experience. About 1 in 10 women were topless, and some guy that came out and set up near us just changed on the beach. There were vendors constantly picking their way through the people selling whatever it was they had. Coke, beer, massages, and doughnuts were most of what you heard. The doughnut vendor was the most entertaining, as he was balancing (no hands!) a huge tray of doughnuts on his head while dancing around and singing about his doughnuts. Our favorite line was something about how he loved doughnuts that were hot, fresh, cheap. All this while balancing a big tray on his head. He was the highlight of our day.

posted by Ken St. Clair @ 3:29 PM