Religious Experiences

September 3, 2023

La Sagrada Familia

Let me begin by saying I'm not Catholic, but I enjoy visiting signigicant places mainly for the artistry, design, and history of them.

In the center of Barcelona rises La Sagrada Familia, an iconic church and structure of Gaudi's design, famously under construction since 1882. Gaudi's vision is a cross like the symbol of Christianity and to have 12 towers representing the 12 disciples of Christ. Gaudi wanted to place the church in the center of town, midway between the mountains and the sea, for all of Barcelona to be welcome. Knowing at the start of construction that the means to complece his plan did not yet exist. But he had faith that future generations would have the knowledge to fulfill his dream. Even the citizens of Barcelona shared his optimism as the funding for construction came from public donations.

Using math and technology of the time, Gaudi knew to build pillars to support the roof to eventually be the tallest Basillica in Europe. Harnessing natural lighting with multiple colors of stained glass windows,  the interior will change colors throughout the day, and throughout the year. The glass pieces are arranged with geography and seasonal color changes (blues seeward, greens toward the mountains, oranges, reds, yellows above). The building's main door intentionally directed to the east to begin each day with the sun rise. The sun's rays reflect off the glass inside and among the columns to show multiple colors and patterns at all times of the day. 

As you can see, plenty of work is ongoing and will for several more years! Taking a tour of the Nativity Tower gives great vistas of the city, but be careful, there are dark circular passageways and narrow steps all the way down. 

And as mentioned before, a reservation in advance is a requirement, not just a recommendation. I visited early September and tickets for that time frame were available in July.

Montserrat

Montserrat is a serrated mountain and is home to the Benedictine abbey, Santa Maria de Montserrat. The best way to get there is by train from the Plaça d'Espanya station in Barcelona. I pre-purchased a package that included the train, a special rack railway to the mountain, entry to the museum and lunch at the site. There are various options to choose from, but I would suggest the round trip rack railway but purchase a separate ticket for the cable car for incredible views also, either one way up or one way down. If you get one way up, exit the main train at the Aeri de Monserrat station (it's the 2nd to last stop), or take the train all the way to the end, then the rack railyway up and the cable car down to Aeri station. Or just the cable car round trip or rack railway round trip. 

Many go to Montserrat as a pilgirmage to the Abbey and to see the statue Black Madonna for a pilgrimage. I wasn't able to see the carving for various reasons, but I mostly went to  to see the sites, a bit and enjoy the views and rock formations that are unique around Spain. The included lunch buffet was quite nice, bountiful and tasty. Of course I made it into a shop for some tastings of some monk made liquors Ratafia, Aromes, Avellana, Crema Catalana, each made with various herbs, spices, nuts, such as anice, hazelnut, and almonds. I only bought 6 tiny bottles. 

Heading down the mountian by cable car, I missed train to Barcelona by 5 minutes. The next train was an hour later. So it was a bit of a wait back to Plaça d'Espanya, then a couple of subway stops to near my hotel to retrieve stored luggage and then a 40 minute bus ride to Lloret de Mar, a seaside resort. The goas was to have a bit of downtime at the sea for relaxation. I just made it to my hotel in time for another delicious buffet. Although it was too dark to see the water, the hotel bar still overlooks the Meditteranean where I could have a drink to relaxing waves crashing into the shore. This area of Spain is called the Costa Brava. 

In the morning before my afternoon flight to Granada, I enjoyed a stroll on the beach and yes another Aperol spritz. Each place I visit of course deserves more time than I have. I really wish we could do four week vacations!

A beautiful beach and town in northern Catalunya. 

Next, I'll visit the South of Spain, Andalucia.