Barcelona Day 2

We had a little too much fun with my cousins, and definitely stayed up too late, so our next day got off to a late start. Day 2 was dedicated to Barcelona's most famous architect, Antoni Gaudi. Our first stop was the magnificent Sagrada Familia. Construction of the church began in 1882 and it's not scheduled to be complete until 2026 (the Spanish Civil War halted construction for 20 years). Gaudi died in 1926, but he left very specific plans for how the church was to be finished.

The Nativity Facade was the first side completed, while Gaudi was still alive.

The following pictures are of the Passion Facade, which was completed in the late 1900's.

Before our trip, we read lots of mixed reviews on whether or not to go inside the church. We are SO glad we did! It was absolutely breathtaking, like nothing we've ever seen before. The pictures don't do it the least bit of justice. All I can say is that it's completely awesome and well worth the time it's taken to complete. I hope we can go back someday when the whole thing is done!

After Sagrada Familia, we jumped on the metro and headed north to Park Guell. Aside from housing more of Gaudi's works, the park also offers some great views of the city.

Some examples of Gaudi's trencadis tiling, where he smashed up ceramics and arranged them back together in mosaic patterns.

After Park Guell, we explored some of the Gracia neighborhood. We came across quite a few people out in the streets making decorations for their annual festival the following week.

Next we went to Gaudi's Casa Batllo followed by La Pedrera. We were running out of steam for the day, so decided to admire the buildings from outside, but did not take the tours.

For dinner, we took the metro to Barceloneta to check out the city's coastline along the Mediterranean.