Five years ago, I didn't think much of Gaudi's masterpiece, La Sagrada Familia. The dark interior of the iconic cathedral, still a work-in-progress after more than a century, was covered in tarpaulin and wooden walkways. I could only catch a glimpse of the columns' capitals, just enough not to doubt the guide book's proclamation of the architect's intent to build a forest of stone. A quick Google search told me that construction wasn't to be completed until 2026, so I thought an hour would be sufficient to see all the changes since my last visit.
NOT. I spent the morning and most of the afternoon wandering around La Sagrada Familia, and I am so glad I was wrong about its 'tourist' importance. Gone were the scaffolding and flimsy ramps, and the cross-shaped nave was flooded with light, alternately filtered through stained glass and clear round or triangular windows. I could use the words magnificent, awe-inspiring, brilliant, revolutionary, phantasmagoric, all of which have been used to describe Gaudi's work, and they would still be unable to capture the experience of seeing La Sagrada Familia for the first time—and every visit is a first time.
I took a lift up to the top of towers behind the Nativity facade and saw the whole of Barcelona stretching out like a gaily coloured tapestry before me. Sure, I was clutching hard at the railing of the open-air bridge connecting each tower with the next, but I just about managed my fear of falling 394 feet to the sidewalk below. Though I had to make my way down the spiral staircase on foot, I would do it again and again and again.
Gaudi was a genius obsessed with detail and I thank God for it. It seemed like every nook and cranny contained a symbol to puzzle over and interpret. FUN. I sat down on a pew and just gazed at the ceiling, a veritable city of palm trees, for half an hour. The mathematical precision of Gaudi's designs, noticeable even to a maths-cursed girl like me, was just amazing. But what I loved best of all was Gaudi's ability to make stone seem organic, with animals and plants seething beneath the surface of rock and mortar.
Yup, half a day to 'Do' La Sagrada Familia is not enough, you'll require a lifetime and a half. At the very least.
My auntie, the Cat, and I had a picnic lunch of lemon soda and jamon iberico sandwiches in the park in front of the cathedral before heading off to Gaudi's great experiment on subdivision planning, Parc Guell. It pales in comparison to La Sagrada Familia but it has its own charm (rainbow mosaic details abound and I learned the Spanish love cows) and I had the opportunity to do an outfit post. Hoorah!
Hope you all had a Happy Easter!
A wears MNG jeans, thrifted plaid shirt, Hush Puppies loafers, Dooney & Bourke bag, and old F21 turquoise shades.
