Gaudi galore

5/9/23

Antoni Gaudi. What can I say? He sure is an amazing architect.

Ever since we found out that we were going to Spain, I have been obsessed with La Sagrada Familia (The Holy Family). I am actually Roman Catholic, the denomination of the church, and was really excited to not only see beautiful architecture but do something related to my religion as well.

I really loved all the stained glass on the inside. I love color and natural light, and I love how the light comes through these windows. It was really cool too how the one side’s stained glass had warmer tones like red, orange and yellow, representing sunrise, and then the other side had cooler tones of blue, green and purple, representing the sunset. Everything in and outside the church had meanings. The four main pillars surrounding the pews represented Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, the four writers of the Gospel. Also, the numbers on the outside by the stations of the cross, each column added up to 33, which was how old Jesus was when he died. The attention to detial was abosolutely insane. Also, four more bell towers are being built so there can be 12 in total, one for each of Jesus’ apostles. I cannot imagine all the blood, sweat and tears put into this sole piece of architecture.

For a church, however, I was suprised by a few things. Their organ seemed to have normal sized pipes and did not have the best acoustics. The altar and pews were super simple, not even having kneelers. Also, their Easter candle was small, plain and not even lit.

We then rode up the hill to Park Güell. There was a beautiful breeze to match the beautiful scenery. I loved how Gaudi emphasized preserving the natural greenery and built around the plants that were there when he bought the property. It was very cool to see how the trees grew outside of some of the structures to get sunlight. I also really loved the mosaics throughout the park, again reusing material and not letting things go to waste. Gaudi is a real one for sure, and I thank him for taking care of the planet.

On a side note, Sabrina found a baby doll and turned it into park staff, where the guy then threw the doll up and down, so we all cheered and others from the park joined too. It was hilarious, and one of my favorite memories from the trip so far.

Today was hands down my favorite day of the trip so far. I could not believe what my eyes were seeing because that is how beautiful everything was. I would love to come back and see La Sagrada Familia whenever it is finished, if it ever gets finished.