Slept awfully last night, but got up early for our morning tour of Sagrada Familia. We were there at 9ish, luckily our metro cards work perfectly and the Sagrada Familia stop is on the same line as our apartment!
Our tour included headsets so we could hear our guideproperly as he lead us around. He was very informative and interesting, and clearly has great respect for Gaudi. He was a very interesting man, who was an architect who didn't work off plans. Instead, he modeled everything, and he took great inspiration from nature in his designs. The columns are tree-like, creating a forest feel to the space, and the stained glass don't have pictures, but instead follow the sun throughout the day (cooler colours for the eastern side where the morning sun hits, warmer colours for the western side for the heat of the day).
Our tour also included a trip up the Passion towers, which is a one way lift. From there you can see the construction as it is taking place and admire the view over the rest of Barcelona. It was very cool to see the roof structures much closer. Then you have to walk down, 400 steps to the bottom. At first, it was a staircase with walls on both sides and many little windows to walk through, however it turned out the main staircase was a much tighter spiral, no railing on the right, and you could lean over and see all the way down the middle to the bottom. Not one for the faint of heart!
After that we visited the museum, which is underneath the Basilica, and it's a museum to the Sagrada Familia and Gaudi's works. It was very interesting, and I know Mum in particular enjoying reading about the botanical and natural influences in his architectural style.
After we finally finished (and hit the gift shop, of course!), we headed to a street just nearby for lunch. We were able to eat our tapas with a view of the Basilica!
Then we headed back for a small siesta, before Richard and I went back to the beach for a stroll. It was nicer today with more sun and less people. We walked a while then stopped for a drink at a bar on the beach (I had the most sickly sweet lemonade).
By this point, family was back out around Barceloneta, so we meet at a bookstore, where I picked up another souvenir... Harry Potter in Spanish! So exciting, and it's a lovely cover. I'm hoping now to get a new one every time I go to a place with a new language!
Then we wandered to the waterfront for dinner, only we were so early we had to get a drink first. I had Mediterranean gin which was excellent, and served with burnt rosemary. It was a seafood restaurant which was lovely but quite expensive. Oops?
Spanish people really eat late... We never get home before 10:30pm, so get to bed late. Tonight was even later, didn't get to bed until 12!
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