Travel Log for Melvin: World Cruise 2017 Day 97 Barcelona, Spain

Wednesday, April 12, 2017

Today the ship arrived at Barcelona, Spain at 8 AM. At 8:50 AM I left on a tour called "Gaudi's Barcelona". We drove around the city and made a stop at the Sagrada Familia Cathedral. We went inside the gate and the tour guide talked about the building exterior on the newer side. We then entered the Cathedral and spent some time with the tour guide and went out for an explanation of the old site that was done in Gaudi's lifetime. The Sagrada Familia Cathedral is a design of Antonio Gaudi and has been under construction since 1888, was consecrated in 2010, as a basilica, by Pope Benedict XIV and is now scheduled to be finished in about 10 years. After being released by the guide I did a quick tour of the museum and I went out and walked around the Cathedral to get some good pictures. We got on the bus and drove to the Passeig de Gracia in the city center where we viewed the La Pedrera an extraordinary apartment building and the Casa Batllo designed by Gaudi. We returned to the ship at 1 PM. At 5:30 PM I left on a cruise specialists tour called "Las Ramblas Flamenco Show & Dinner". We arrived at El Tablao Cordobes where we had dinner and went to another room for an authentic flamenco show. When the show was over we returned to the ship. The show on the ship was Flamenco Fiesta, which is also a flamenco show was under way and I stopped in to see if it was different from the show we saw. Both shows were similar but the show we saw had better performers.

Barcelona is the capital city of the autonomous community of Catalonia in the Kingdom of Spain, as well as the country's second most populous municipality, with a population of 1.6 million within city limits. Its urban area extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of around 4.7 million people being the sixth-most populous urban area in the European Union after Paris, London, Madrid, the Ruhr area and Milan. It is the largest metropolis on the Mediterranean Sea, located on the coast between the mouths of the rivers Llobregat and Besòs, and bounded to the west by the Serra de Collserola mountain range, the tallest peak of which is 512 metros (1,680 feet) high.

Antoni Gaudí (25 June 1852 – 10 June 1926) was a Spanish architect from Reus and the best known practitioner of Catalan Modernism. Gaudí's works reflect an individualized and distinctive style. Most are located in Barcelona, including his magnum opus, the Sagrada Família. Gaudí's work was influenced by his passions in life: architecture, nature, and religion. Gaudí considered every detail of his creations and integrated into his architecture such crafts as ceramics, stained glass, wrought ironwork forging and carpentry. He also introduced new techniques in the treatment of materials, such as trencadís which used waste ceramic pieces. Under the influence of neo-Gothic art and Oriental techniques, Gaudí became part of the Modernista movement which was reaching its peak in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. His work transcended mainstream Modernisme, culminating in an organic style inspired by natural forms. Gaudí rarely drew detailed plans of his works, instead preferring to create them as three-dimensional scale models and molding the details as he conceived them. Gaudí's work enjoys global popularity and continuing admiration and study by architects. His masterpiece, the still-incomplete Sagrada Família, is the most-visited monument in Spain. Between 1984 and 2005, seven of his works were declared World Heritage Sites by UNESCO. Gaudí's Roman Catholic faith intensified during his life and religious images appear in many of his works. This earned him the nickname "God's Architect"^[ and led to calls for his beatification.

The Basílica i Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Família (English: Basilica and Expiatory Church of the Holy Family) is a large Roman Catholic church in Barcelona, designed by Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí(1852–1926). Gaudí's work on the building is part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and in November 2010 Pope Benedict XVI consecrated and proclaimed it a minor basilica, as distinct from a cathedral, which must be the seat of a bishop. Construction of Sagrada Família commenced in 1882 by architect Francisco Paula de Villar with Gaudí becoming involved in 1883 after Francisco resigned as the head architect.^[5] Taking over the project, Gaudí transformed it with his architectural and engineering style, combining Gothic and curvilinear Art Nouveau forms. Gaudí devoted his last years to the project, and at the time of his death at age 73 in 1926, less than a quarter of the project was complete. Sagrada Familia's construction progressed slowly, as it relied on private donations and was interrupted by the Spanish Civil War, only to resume intermittent progress in the 1950s. Construction passed the midpoint in 2010 with some of the project's greatest challenges remaining and an anticipated completion date of 2026, the centenary of Gaudí's death.

This picture was taken from the bus in Barcelona, Spain.

This picture was taken from the bus in Barcelona, Spain. It shows the part of the subway development.

This picture was taken from the bus in Barcelona, Spain.

This picture was taken on the walk to the Sagrada Familia Cathedral.

This picture was taken of the Sagrada Familia Cathedral.

This picture was taken at the visit to the Sagrada Familia Cathedral.

This picture was taken at the visit to the Sagrada Familia Cathedral. This is the museum in the Cathedral.

This picture was taken at the visit to the Sagrada Familia Cathedral. It was taken on a walk around the out side of the Cathedral.

This picture was taken at the visit to the Sagrada Familia Cathedral. It was taken on a walk around the out side of the Cathedral. This is going to be the future entrance to the Cathedral.

This picture was taken at the visit to the Sagrada Familia Cathedral. It was taken on a walk around the out side of the Cathedral.

This picture was taken at the visit to the Sagrada Familia Cathedral. It was taken on a walk around the out side of the Cathedral. This is part of the original construction of the Cathedral.

This picture was taken at the visit to the Sagrada Familia Cathedral. It was taken on a walk around the out side of the Cathedral. This is the original part of the Cathedral.