La Sagrada Familia and Pablo Picasso

Stairs at La Sagrada Familia

The second day consisted of two ever so popular tourist attractions, but I now understand why they are so popular. I think they are certainly underrated actually and need more attention/hype. These two places are La Sagrada Familia (which Alex struggles with remembering) and Pablo Picasso’s museum. La Sagrada Familia is a one of a kind cathedral designed and constructed by, once again, Antonio Gaudi. This place is unlike anything I have ever seen in my life. The structure, color, shapes, design, you name it, are SO exotic. After looking around and reading the information boards placed sporadically around the cathedral, I learned that nature influenced his ideas and designs tremendously. The inside was supposed to look like a forest. The spiral staircases were meant to simulate a shell. The thought process blows my mind. This church has been in construction since 1892 and it’s not expected to be finished until 2030.  The church presents a great depiction of “the relationship between man, nature, and religion through its architecture and façade sculptures”. Climbing one of its towers gave us a unique view of Barcelona. Yes, we had to pay for this but it was well worth it because we climbed the tower that Gaudi had constructed and completed before dying. This was awesome. We also were able to see close up views of the church’s exterior detailing. The amount of steps we had to climb down did not even seem real. I thought there was a mirror at the bottom reflecting up making the climb down look so much longer but nope! It was all real. The stairs represented the inside of a spiral shell so I was right! It was almost hypnotizing. I would come back to this cathedral over and over again if I could. It’s a structure that you can never get sick of EVER. After La Sagrada Familia, Alex and I took a quick metro ride to the Picasso museum which is free on Sundays after 3:30pm. SO many people were waiting on line. Alex originally did not want to stay, but I talked her into it which probably was her favorite thing the entire weekend.

The museum features Picasso’s painting from when he was 13 years old just starting his painting career all the way till his later life creating ceramics. The museum itself was a historical building with Gothic style architecture. There were an excessive amount of rooms. I never imagined Picasso to have that many works of art especially on display at once. Unfortunately photography is prohibited, but I was able to take a picture of one of the courtyards. This museum was the last stop of our tourist attractions in Barcelona. We left early Monday morning so we laid low the night before and I did some homework. I cannot wait until I sift through my photos! I am positive there are a few worth framing!