Barcelona: Sagrada, Picasso, and Magic Fountains

I wish I had a pedometer on during our second day in Barcelona- we must have walked around 7-10 miles. I'm exhausted just thinking about it!

We started our morning with Barcelona's most famous attraction- La Sagrada Familia. We decided to walk the 4 KM there, since we wanted to see more of the city, anyway. I had purchased tickets to see Sagrada Familia about a week before we left (I learned my lesson in Amsterdam with being unable to see the Anne Frank House) and I'm so thankful I did that- the line must have been over an hour long! 

    

The old front vs the new back look like they belong to entirely different churches. The front almost gives the illusion of things melting. The back is very geometrical. Daniel gave the back, geometrical nativity the very artistic term of being "Jesus blockheads" because, well, their heads are all block shaped! 

   

It's taken over a century to be built and is projected to be complete in 2026. I guess there are bound to be several different styles if it takes that long to be built, but it is still strange- it seems like nothing really belongs together! 

   

In the back was an old school house. Gaudi had it built to school the children of all of the builders. 

   

   

The inside all had an incredibly modern feel to it. It didn't look like your typical Catholic church, that's for sure! I loved all of the stained glass- it was just a mosaic of color, there were no depictions of biblical scenes. It gave the impression that there were different colored light bulbs in the church, as the whole area by the window would be illuminated in green, red, or blue.  

 It literally looks like Jesus is ascending into heaven on a parachute. Or I guess if he's on a parachute, would he be descending to Earth? Hanging around the parachute were grapes and candles. It was stunning.

After the church, we walked to a tapas bar and had a Spanish beer, along with tuna, eggs with chorizo and potatoes, padron peppers, and tomato flat bread. It was good, but I was disappointed at this point that we couldn't find as good of food as we did in Madrid. I needed Ashley and Kiko to help us navigate!

Afterwards, we walked to the Picasso Museum. It's free on Sunday afternoons, so we had to wait in line for about 30 minutes. It wasn't bad, though- there were a couple of men playing their violin and accordion, and they were actually quite impressive.

   

I think I'm just not a museum person. I rather be walking around a city than stuck inside a museum. I've also seen a ton of museums at this point, so maybe that's why. The museum was beautiful and in an old gothic building. However, I wouldn't go back if I had to pay (London's free museums have spoiled me). If you want to go to the Picasso museum when it's free (starting at 3 pm on Sundays), go around 2:30. The line gets REALLY long after then and you end up having to wait even longer. 

We took a little afternoon break and went to our flat to enjoy the terrace. Around 8, we headed to Plaza de Espanya for a free "magic fountain" show. Sounded quirky to me, but our host insisted that it was really cool! In typical Spanish fashion, it didn't start until 9:30 PM, so we ate first and then walk the 3 KM there. 

It was crowded, but enjoyable! I'm not sure if it just runs during the summer months, but it is a 15 minute light, music, and water show that runs on repeat from 9:30-11:30 PM Fri-Sun nights.

A very, very full day! I think I have two more Barcelona posts in me, and then I'll get back to normal life in London!