Docking in Barcelona came early. We left our cabin for the last time at 7:30am
and made our way to the Atrium to join fellow cruisers Joy and Jon Jackson and
waited for the announcements of disembarkation times. We would be sharing a 3-bedroom apartment
with the Jacksons so felt it better to remain together until we were settled
into the apartment for our 3 night stay.
Our luggage tag color was GREY and our scheduled time to disembark was
8:15am.
Our color was called at 8:20am. After collecting our luggage and exiting the
terminal, we boarded the T3 Pier Bus a/k/a “The Blue Bus” which would transport
us off the pier and drop us at the Christopher Columbus Statute located at the
bottom of Las Ramblas. The cost is $2 Euros per person and must be paid in cash
when you board the bus.
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| Christopher Columbus Statute |
Once we arrived at the Christopher Columbus Statute we went
underground to the Tourist Information Center.
Here we were able to pick up mapes, our Barcelona 3-day transportation
passes, our Monserrat tickets and also our admission tickets to Bascilica de la
Sagrada Familia. From here it was just a
short walk to the Drassanas metro station where we boarded the train to the
Monumental station, just 1 block from our apartment.
We found our arrival too early for check in but we were able
to leave our luggage with an attendant.
This allowed us to do some walking around the immediate area. Marci and I ended our walk at a local
sidewalk café that overlooked the Sagrada Familia. We decided to take a short break and enjoy
some of the local beer while the Jacksons continued on. My cellphone battery had died so after
enjoying a local beer we took the Metro back to our apartment to retrieve my
power pack. Then it was back to the
sidewalk café for pizza and beer, spending about 40 minutes eating, drinking
and people watching, all the while overlooking the magnificent Sagrada Familia and adjacent park.
Our Barcelona card included bus transportation so we decided
to hop on one of the local buses for an adventure ride. A bus stop was conveniently located right
across the street from our little café.
The first bus that stopped was bus H10.
We decided we should hop on and after riding it to the end of the line we
then crossed the street and jumped onto bus 75, taking it as far back as the
Barcelona University stop.
We spent time just walking by the University campus and enjoying
the beautiful weather before we headed back down to the metro and made our way back
to the Sagrada Familia stop to meet up with the Jacksons for our 3:45pm
entrance time.
The Basilica de la Sagrada Familia is a UNESCO World Heritage Site designed
by Spanish architect Antoni Gaudi.
Construction commenced in 1882 and Gaudi became involved in 1883, taking
over the project and transforming it to his architectural and engineering
style, combining Gothic and Art Nouveau. At the time of Gaudi’s death at age 73
in 1926, less than a quarter of the project was complete. Construction was interrupted by the Spanish
Civil War and progresses slowly as it has to rely on private donations.
An organ was installed in 2010 allowing
the unfinished building to be used for religious services. The instrument has 26 stops (1,492 pipes) on
two manuals and a pedalboard. Because of
the unique acoustical challenges, additional organs are installed at various
points within the building. These organs
can be played separately or simultaneously, from a single console yielding an
organ of some 8,000 pipes. The church
was consecrated on November 7, 2010 by Pope Benedict XVI in front of a
congregation of 6,500 with another 50,000 outside the basilica.
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| Organ pipes |
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| Organ pipes |
Gaudi’s original design called for eighteen
spires, representing in ascending order the height of the twelve apostles, the
Virgin Mary, the four evangelists (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) and tallest of
all, Jesus Christ. The completion of the
spires will make the structure the tallest church building in the world.
The church has 3 facades. The Nativity façade to the East, the Passion
façade to the West, and the Glory façade to the South. The Nativity façade is dedicated to the
birth of Jesus and is decorated with scenes and images from nature. The Passion façade is plain and simple and
carved with straight lines, resembling the bones of a skeleton and dedicated to
the Passion of Christ. This façade is to
portray the sins of man. The Glory
façade, under construction since 2002, is the largest and most striking of the
facades. It represents the road to
God: Death, Final Judgment and
Glory. This year the cathedral will draw more than
2.5 million visitors. Here’s a short 1minute video.
It's hard to capture the beauty of this building, especially how the light changes like the colors of the rainbow. Here's a few photos just to give you the feel of the majesty of it.
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| Looking Up |
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