The longest construction project in modern history…

We went to see Sagrada Familia (Holy Family), the basilica in Barcelona planned and partially created by Gaudi… it’s insanely beautiful.

Started in 1882, they’ve been working on it ever since. It was a rural village in 1882 on the outskirts of Barcelona; now it’s an integral part of the city.

They didn’t even get the roof completed until 2010… so when it rained, the water came in.

They’re trying to get it finished in 2026, a century after Gaudi’s death – they still have nine of 18 towers to complete. The Director General of Segrada Familia thinks it may be 2030 – 2040 before it’s actually finished.

The artists participating on the construction are very disparate in their styles – my art education is lacking in terms of being able to identify them, but to give you an idea:

The tour took us around the cathedral – kind of wishing we’d done the recorded audio tour rather than the more expensive in-person guide, because her accent made it difficult to understand.

However, that gave us the ability to elevator up the Nativity tower (they have two finished, the Passion and the Nativity) and walk the 300 step spiral stone staircase down.

I was rather hoping the interior of the descent would be like the inside of Washington Monument in DC – my sister and I got to walk down that 896 step monster about 20 years ago, it’s crazy, there’s huge marble stones purchased by the states, fraternal organizations, Sunday schools, etc.

No such luck at the basilica. The obscenely ornate exterior is remarkably plain on the inside. The occasional window lets you look outside, but nothing to adorn the stairs.

Then, a vacation fail on my part. We’d thought to go to Montserrat, the monastery high in the mountains above the city. However, I forgot to check the national holiday dates – something I’ve messed up in the past.

September 11 is big to us Americans, but it’s also important to Catalonia, that northeastern region of Spain/very south of France. In 1714, Barcelona surrendered to the Bourbons, starting a period of repression for the Catalans.

They refer to it as their Independence Day, but it’s kind of in reverse – it originated as a rallying point to fight for it, rather than when they obtained it, and it serves as a Memorial Day for those who died defending the city.

Catalonia is an autonomous region of Spain, but they’re still gunning for their own country.

As five separate parades planned to end all together at the departure point of the train for Monserrat, we opted to forgo that little adventure for the day. I really don’t want to get caught up in anything, and heaven knows what’ll happen to the trains. We’ll go another time.

Instead we did the hop-on hop-off bus, of which we did little offing.