Wednesday 18 July: Barcelona

This was a big day. Hop on hop off bus in the morning, followed by a visit to the Sagrada Familia in the afternoon then a tour and concert at Casa Batilo, which is one of Antonio Gaudi’s former homes.

The big focus was on the modernist architecture of Barcelona, much of which was influenced by Gaudi. There is so much to see and photograph.

Hotter today and also windy on the bus. We had to hold on to our hats.

This building was very controversial in the early 1900s.

The city itself is beautifully designed. Many of the intersections have buildings designed to create a wider plaza feel and to improve visibility and safety.

Casa Batilo which is one of the more famous Gaudi designed houses. It is in easy walking distance from our hotel, although this photo is taken from the bus.

This is the former bull fighting ring, which is now a shopping centre after bull fighting was banned.

We had to get off the bus halfway through the red route as wouldn’t get around to the Sagrada Familia in time for our 2.15pm tour. We haled a taxi and had a 15 drive across town, getting there in plenty of time.

A model of the completed Sagrada Familia. They are working on the front entrance and Jesus tower at the moment. That’s the tallest, central tower.

Inside the Sagrada Familia looking at the ceiling

The blue/green stained windows are on the eastern walls and get the morning light.

We took the lift up the PassionTower. You have to walk the 400 steps down.

But you get to see the roof detail up close.

It’s a long way down. The Jesus tower will be 65m taller than the others. When finished there will be 18 towers in total (12 for the apostles, 4 for the evangelists, a Virgin Mary tower and a Jesus). There are about 15 completed now.

The orange/red stained glass is on the west. We were there late afternoon.

We had a quick turnaround at the hotel before heading back to Casa Batilo for the tour and musical performance on the roof terrace.

I didn’t take photos inside. It is all a bit overwhelming with so many people and also our audio technology failed for 3/4 of us so we were focussed on trying to get that sorted. That is something that Barcelona (in fact all of the sites we’ve been to in Spain) needs to improve a lot. Their audio guides on the whole have been poor with the apps being hard to navigate and there being a disconnect with the things you are looking at.