Some Sangria and a few Spanish Adventures : La Sagrada Familia

Today the AIFS group went to visit La Sagrada Familia. La Sagrada Familia is a church designed by Antoni Gaudi and was started in 1882. They are still working on the structure today and will probably not finish it for another 13 years, maybe more. The original plans for the building were lost in a fire of Gaudi's workshop, but, along with the drawings, he made models of his buildings.The church is funded by donations and ticket sales.

Some background on La Familia Sagrada from our tour guide today includes: One entrance contains sculptures depicting Christ's crucifixion and the other entrance depicts His birth. There is another entrance to the building but it hasn't been completed yet. There are 52 pillars inside the church. There is one for each Sunday of the year. There are 12 pillars built up from the church for the 12 pillars in the Bible. The church is laid out so when seen from above it is in the shape of the cross. There is also a cross on top of the church which is symbolic for Christ and can bee seen as a cross from all directions. Antoni Gaudi's crypt is located in the basement of the church. They hold a service every now and then. The Pope visited last year to consecrate it.

After the tour was over, we took an elevator to the top and had some AWESOME views of the city and Mediterranean! We then had to trek down the tight spiral staircase to the first floor of the church. They only had a hand rail on the left side. So it isn't an understatement when I say the majority of us held on for dear life going down hundreds of stairs.

La Sagrada Familia is definitely a place I would love visit again in 13 years to see it completed!

After visiting the church I went and got my Spanish phone (woohoo!) and then did some shopping, although I only bought the necessities, I did try on a few things (I couldn't help myself).

The AIFS group then decided we wanted to do a "family" dinner. It sure was an experience getting ready for dinner. We showed up an hour late to empty tables...oops! Dale wanted to make an omelet and I had no clue what to eat. Dale browns her potatoes and puts Havarti on them and is attempting to crack her eggs when she realizes they are hard boiled. We then decided to do pasta and a salad for dinner. I was in charge of the sauce and the salad. After opening the salad, I nearly dropped the whole bag on the floor. But, we finally got our first homemade Barcelona dinner! We plan on having many more. Hopefully we will make it on time to the next one!

Classes start on Monday! Stay tuned for more adventures!

xoxo
Kelcey

P.S. Here are some picture from our tour today!

This picture is from one of the side entrances. It depicts Christ's crucifixion.

The church from across the street.

Another scene from the crucifixion.

The altar inside the church.

Some of the beautiful stained glass. Gaudi had designed a layout for the glass, but during the fire the plans got burned. They brought in a modern artist to recreate what they thought Gaudi would want it to look like.