Architectural wonders
Trip Start
Feb 16, 2008
1
14
25
Trip End
Ongoing
Barcelona,
Spain
Thursday, May 1, 2008
Sagrada Familia 3
May 1st was a holiday in Spain (labour day) so we decided to go do some more sight seeing. We slept in a little later than planned so the sight seeing started in the afternoon. Andy and I had been wanting to visit Sagrada Familia since we arrived in Barcelona so we decided to walk there to take a look. It is a really impressive work of architecture/art. It was never finished when Gaudi was alive but now, due to fundraising efforts, there are finances in place to continue construction. We have heard that it should be complete in 2025 or 2030. Unfortunately the line up for the elevator was 2 hours (but apparently the view is well worth the cost and wait). But someone (not naming names) didn't want to wait, so we'll return another day!
Hospital Sant Pau 3
We decided to walk about 6 blocks to Hospital Sant Pau, a working hospital that is another amazing example of 20th century architecture in Barcelona. It was designed by Lluís Domčnech i Montaner and is now a UNESCO heritage site. Someone at work told me that a roof of one of the buildings fell in recently but luckily no one was injured! The hospital is really pretty - I can see why people go there to see the grounds.
Feria de Abril
On the first weekend in May we decided to take in Barcelona's version of Feria de Abril since we missed the real Feria in Sevilla. It was fun to see the flamenco dances and see the huge paella dishes. But it was actually pretty quiet on the Sunday (May 4) when we arrived. Andy was teasing me that maybe I was yearning for the Calgary Stampede because all I wanted was fried food. Since there were no mini donuts, I settled on churros con chocolate. Mmmmmmm. We will definitely have to get to Sevilla for the real Feria some day but this was a fun way to spend a Sunday. Plus we got to check out the beaches on the other end of Barcelona on the way back. There were some bare bums at one of them (not that I was staring)! That's it for now. I'm behind in my blog entries so I'll catch up soon with more photos and stories...
