More Gaudiness

As the rain moved on so did we to the Sagrada Familia Europe's most unconventional church.

It was started in 1883 but Gaudi didn't sign on until a year after it had begun and then he changed everything. You may want to blow up these picture just to see how bizarre, I mean how full of symbolism they are.

To keep the boys interested we'd say find the chicken, or lizard, or turtle, etc. hidden in the scene. I only wish we could have listened to the audio tour but we didn't think our little find the hidden animal game would last 45 minutes.

The front of the church is in a completely different style than the back. It was finished in the late 1980's by Josep Subirachs. His sculpture work here has caused much controversy as it is too angular and sinister looking.

Gaudi spent the last 16 years of his life working on this project dedicating all his money and then seeking more going door to door. The crypt below the church now holds his body after he died from being struck by a commuter train.

Inside the church we were surprised to find a light and airy feel. Often when we tour cathedrals, especially in the Gothic style as this, we can't imagine sitting through a sermon in a place so cold, dark, a dreary feeling. That is not the case here.

It was bright and as unusual inside as we'd now come to expect from his architect. But unusual in a clean lined way not all colorful, except for the stain glass, and mishmash hodgepodge like his other works.

The church is still under construction. My mom learned on her tour that the money just keeps coming in through donations and entrance fees that it's expected completion time is only 20 more years.

We took one of the last lift rides up the tower that day for majestic views of the city and a unique perspective of this unique structure.

At least 8 of the 12 spires, representing the 12 apostles, have been built and they are covered in Venetian mosaics.

We then took 400 steep steps down the spiral stair case...

through a secret door and took a little

rest while Graham ran around and Ethan took a bazillion pictures, some seen above, of the inside of the church.

No Rain Delays For Us

Today's Forecast
Rain in the morning clearing up mid day with a slight wind in the evening.

Which held true.

However, it didn't dampen their spirits.

There were the usual poses from Ethan

and smiles from Zach.

And for Graham a million ways to get dirty and sandy and wet.

They also got into trouble as usual. Each getting sent to their own time out spot. OK Graham didn't really get sent to time out but when he saw his brothers do so he too wanted his own time out ball.

While the boys splashed and hid and knocked each other into mud puddles Chris and I tried to absorb the sites of Guell Park.

If you know anything about Architecture than you know about Antoni Gaudi. All I knew about Gaudi growing up was when an outfit looked mismatched, clashed, or really garish my mom would say, "That's so gaudi!" I didn't realized until this trip that that phrase came from this architects name and design style.

It is extremely unique and at first I could not believe that he was doing this crazy modern design in the late 1800's...it just seemed so out of place. But by the end of the trip after stopping at several of his masterpieces throughout Barcelona I was no longer intrigued but in awe. I really began to like his unique style and what he did for the city as a whole with other architects as far as urban planning goes.

This park wasn't originally meant to be a park. It was an urban retreat or started off that way. A wealth industrialist Eusebi Guell intended for this to be a private subdivision up on the mountainside away from the city. But due to economic circumstances and the excessive ideas of Gaudi it failed.

In 1922 it became a public park and in 1980 it was refurbished using the exact techniques in the original works.

There were surprises around every corner.

Every item whimsical or not

had a specific purpose as I've found out from reading, "The Project Park Guell" by Dosdearete Ediciones.

These mosaics called trescandis, which were prefabricated then put into place, are used everywhere in the park. Gaudi basically taught the artisans how to do it and then let them run with it.

I loved the use of colors and unique patterns. I felt at times that I inside the Candy Land game but not in a Disney sort of way where you know all the facades are fake. But in a REAL magical and fanciful world.

Next Up More Gaudiness......

Our Monkey Was All Smiles

Poble Espanyol or Spanish Village was created in 1929 for an International Exhibition displaying building styles from all over Spain.

The plan was to tear it down after the exhibition however once it proved to be the most visited site of the entire exhibition the city decided to keep it.

It was refurbished in 1980 and now is home to local artisans, restaurants, theaters, and what we learned after booking our tickets, the best Flamenco show in town.

After a much needed lunch we set out to explore this village.

We asked Ethan to be careful here....

and here....

and here....

and here....

and here....

but it wasn't until here that he finally got the message.

Moments later his feet slipped from this ledge and he landed face first on the steps below. As I watched to whole thing happen I was happy to discover only a gash and not a fractured face. With our very limited Spanish we sought out and got the help we needed. After a cleansing from the security staff they loaded us into two taxis and sent us to the local children's hospital.

What I thought for sure would take several hours to address in reality took maybe two hours and 130 Euros later we made it back with about 30 minutes to spare before our dinner reservations. The kid seriously only cried when it initially happened and when they cleaned it at the hospital. He was all smiles the rest of the evening even though his eye was slowly shutting and turning black and blue.

Then next morning he was again all smiles.

When we asked him if he could see, he said yes as though we were crazy for even asking. Over the next few days the bruising continued down his face stopping around the end of his nose. He looked bad....really bad but it didn't phase him one bit.

But again he NEVER STOPPED SMILING!

We've Been OOK

That Means We've Been Out Of Kingdom.Enjoying the sites (some ancient, some modern, and some all too familiar)the sounds (first city hustle and bustle then tranquil ocean waves) and the tastes of the Mediterranean (some new and delightful others warm and familiar).
Starting In:Barcelona, Spain to be exact.What I did know before starting our latest adventure was that we needed 5 days to at least scratch the surface of things I wanted to see and do it at a pace we could handle with 3 kids in tow. What I didn't know is how much we would love about this city and all it had to offer.Barcelona's streets are wide and clean. The city transportation system was the BEST we've ever used in Europe and easy to navigate. The mix of old and new kept us excited day after day to see what was next.First we Defended Castle Montjuic and Explored Parks.We had to take a funicular and tram to stand guard here.Then cross the moat to spend the morning protecting this castle.From the tram we spied these slides and knew we HAD to check them out on our way down the mountain.They did not disappoint.They were the longest....and fastest slides any of us had ever ridden. About half way down I knew this was not going to END well and had a huge bruise on my butt to prove it.
Note: The baby was not harmed while performing this stunt.Another hidden treasure of this city is that it is full of PARKS.Not just pretty green patches of grass to relax in but honest to goodness fun parks.Some were big with fountains and duck ponds and others like this one were tucked awaybetween apartment buildings but had really unique features.
We Sampled Tapas and Indulged in their Delectable Desserts...The food was not as good as our recent Florence experience but after a few tourist mistakes it got much much better and we had some wonderful meals. They became quite peaceful too, once we discovered a Subway. We fed the boys first, at a normal hour, and we ate Tapas on Spanish time while the boys played with our iPhones.And then there was this.....After having sampled several versions we found that THIS is what we truly came to Spain for.One cafe in particular, Petritxol, had us begging for more. The Chocolate Caliente was served as thick as pudding with a mound of whip cream and churros on the side (you know those little fried bits of heaven). Actually I had to stop ordering the churros, sadly, because I've found as the years go by fried food and I don't get along very well.
We marveled at its Art both Ancient, Flamenco Dancing and Gothic Quarter, as well as it's more Modern style, architects such as Gaudi and Montaner, and Cadafalch. One thing I really wanted to do was see a Flamenco show. But I seriously questioned whether this was a good idea with the boys? Would they even let us enjoy the show? After a bit of research I came upon a dinner theater called El Tablao de Carmen. It is tucked away in a village called Poble Espanyol, a place we wanted to visit anyway. So I talked it up to Chris and persuaded him to let me go ahead and make the reservations. After a few set backs, like a trip to the ER and forgotten tickets, we sat down to an amazing meal and this...
The boys were so memorized by this incredible show that not only did we all enjoy it but they hardly touched their food they were so focused on the performance.

More to come...