Sábado Gigante

Cranes and towers indicating
the location of la Sagrada Familia

Sábado Gigante is a game show on Telemundo which, when literally translated, means giant Saturday, which is what we experienced in Spain. After our tour of the music museum, we stepped outside, curious where to head next. The skyline answered that question for us, with a glimpse of the towers and the cranes of la Sagrada Família. The basilica has been under construction since 1883, is not expected to reach completion until 2026, and was designed by Antoni Gaudí, a leader in the mondernisme art movement. His style is reflected throughout the city of Barcelona, but la Sagrada Família is his crowning glory. Gaudí died in 1926, but the work has continued after him, relying on his detailed plans and instructions. If the building is completed in 2026, it will be 100 years after the master architect died.

Quaker Parrots in a Barcelona, Spain park

En route to the basilica, we passed through a park, where we noticed a green bird in with the pigeons. We were amazed and stopped to take its picture, only to be further flabbergasted when we rounded a corner, and saw a flock of dozens! These birds are Monk parakeets, also known as Quaker parrots, and are actually an invasive species in Spain, introduced most likely by people releasing their pets into the wild.

La Sagrada Familia, Barcelona, Spain

Leaving the parrots behind, we proceeded to one of the grandest sights on our European tour. As a teen learning Spanish, this building was always part of the curriculum, and I had wanted to visit since it was first brought to my attention. The structure did not disappoint, it was unlike anything I have ever seen before, a riot of colors and textures all competing for attention from the thousands who flock there daily. Amidst all this, construction continues, evidenced by the cranes and occasional gaping holes in the ground to lay more foundation.

Construction continues on la Sagrada Familia
in Barcelona, Spain

The towers called to mind, a beehive with a sort of honeycombed appearance. They are colorful, painted as ancient temples used to be, and adorned with fruit. At the base of the towers, the beehives morphed into mud wasp nests, clumps of mud piled atop each other with tunnels to the interior. At present, only 8 of 18 towers have been completed, and I would appreciate returning in the somewhat distant future to observe the completed building. I’m not sure if I would call the outside beautiful, breathtaking to be sure, but beauty is more questionable. The statuary and sculptures I enjoyed; they were not lifelike, and looked to be carved with a rough hand, but I appreciated the simplicity and starkness of the pieces.

Stained glass windows inside
La Sagrada Familia
Barcelona, Spain

 

Towers and lights inside la Sagrada Familia
Barcelona, Spain

Scale model of a finished
Sagrada Familia

The inside, is most definitely beautiful, and is a glory to behold. It was the brightest place in Barcelona that day, and the way light was designed to enter the building could make me believe the day was sunny instead of gray. The columns were designed to look like trees, and the stained glass windows were abstract images combining color in a pleasing manner. The entire space was amazing, and I highly recommend it to all who visit. While the entrance price of 13 euro may seem steep, remember that your ticket is buying further construction work, and you get to be a part of it.

Spanish Adventures

Being in Spain was a lot of fun, though I’m not sure Catalonia is representative of the whole country, especially since Catálan is prominent there, a mix of Spanish and French (sort of). Still it was very refreshing to be able to understand the people around me and to communicate with them.

When we arrived at our hotel, it was already evening, so the city was not able to impress me with any architecture or parks, as it was too dark to see them. We ended up getting dinner at a place near the beach, and ate it outside, a perfect evening. With the Mediterranean Sea air washing over us as we sipped our first authentic pitcher of sangria, we could not ask for more. The restaurant was on a sort of promenade, like a wide alley, about the size of a road, but only for pedestrians and bikers to enjoy.

The next morning did not bring the sunshine and balmy weather promised, but a gray day fraught with drizzles and chill, wet winds. I was not quite a happy camper that morning. Furthermore, when Joe went to check into our return flight (you can do this up to 36hrs ahead of time) he found their site wasn’t working, due to the unforeseen (?) cause of bankruptcy. Our airline had no money, and had cancelled all flights until further notice, in fact, it appeared we had arrived on one of their last ever flights. We did manage to check in using the carrier airline, Lufthansa, so it seemed that mess managed to work itself out.

As for the rain . . . it altered our plans a bit, in that we would not be traipsing around the city visiting outdoor parks, but instead content ourselves with more indoor attractions. Our first stop was the music museum; free thanks to our Barcelona cards, where we travelled through time via historic musical instruments. Unfortunately, pictures were not allowed, but we were able to listen to recordings of the historic instruments, and it was a fun way to spend the morning. http://www.bcn.es/museumusica/en/Historia.html

HIE

Our hotel this trip was the Holiday Inn Express, chosen for its location in the center of the sites we wanted to see. Upsides, the hotel was cheap and came with a free breakfast included. It had wi-fi for a fee, and cable with a few English channels. Downsides, no restaurant in the hotel and no room service, so after a day of travelling, you still have to leave the place to get any dinner. Also, at this particular hotel, there was a smoking patio outside that carried echoing voices up to our room. In the past we’ve stayed in soundproofed rooms (though never intentionally), and the difference here was noticeable. 

Kicking it Old School

View of the Alps out the plane window

Awhile back, for funsies, I was checking out the prices of flights to certain areas around Europe, and I found that we could fly to Barcelona for the weekend for only 200 euro, total. We settled on 27-29 of January, and bought the tickets. Joe was worried we wouldn’t be able to bring luggage or be charged for it at the gate, and I assured him, no this wasn’t some janky airline, it was Spanair, a star-alliance member, and we would be fine.

To arrive at the airport in Munchen we had a couple options, one of which was parking the (rental) car there all weekend. We decided to call this plan B in case something went wrong, and take the train into Munchen instead. This enabled to walk to the train station and not have to pay to keep the car anywhere. So we bundled up into many layers, to be shed later in the warmer climes of Spain, and set out for the train station. 40 minutes and 3.5km later we arrived, very cold, but early.

Here in Germany, there is a train ticket called the lander-pass, which allows you to travel anywhere in your region, all day, for only 29 euro. We had plans to purchase one of these, but found an older woman who was also travelling to the airport and had already bought her ticket. We gave her 10 euro to tag along, and hopped a train to Freissing. Here we got off the train and waited in the cold for 10 minutes, before taking a bus to the Munchen airport, called Flughafen, incidentally my most favorite German word.

We checked into the flight, boarded and settled in for our 2 hour flight southwest. I fell asleep midflight, but suddenly woke up (fate) and looked out the window to see the snow covered peaks of the Alps. Most amazing view of them is from above, though maybe within, I haven’t tried that yet.

After landing, we obtained our Barcelona cards. I found these cards online, and they are quite handy. The main perk was transportation–this card can be used on all public transportation, and unlimited number of times, for a set number of days. We had a 3 day card, enabling us to get transport to and from the airport and within the city. In addition, there are discounts at museums, restaurants, spas, etc. across the city, as well as free passes to a select number of places.

We used the card to get to our hotel, riding first a bus from the airport terminal to the train terminal, a train to the metro station, and then a series of metro trains until the stop that we thought was closest to our hotel before walking the remaining 3 blocks. As it turned out there was a closer station, which we used in the future.