…. started early on Sunday, May 3rd.   Today we had scheduled a 5.5 hour tour of  3 of Antoni Gaudi’s works of art.

Gaudi was born in 1852 and was THE premier architect of his time.  Our first stop was Casa Batllo.

And check out the crowds, too.  It seems to be impossible now to go anywhere without a pre-purchased tour.  Our guide, Ida, was great and our group was small.

We toured the entire house all the way to the roof.  It was incredible architecture because there were NO straight lines!  Gaudi gleaned all of his inspiration from nature saying, “The straight line belongs to men, the curved one to God.”  He was also a devout Catholic so his work has lots of spiritual symbolism.  I didn’t take a lot of photos inside the house because EVERYTHING is available on the Internet.  Besides, I just wanted to observe and make sure I didn’t trip over all the young tourists staring into their phones. 

We toured for an hour, and then took a stroll through the city while we learned more about Barcelona.  

After a short bus ride, we arrived at Park Guell. This Park was originally intended for 20 homes for the rich, but it never took off.  Only two  homes were built and Gaudi himself lived here for a time.

Again, if you’re interested in more info, simply Google Park Guell and be amazed.

Our final tour stop was Sagrada de Familia.  And the only word for this place is WOW.

This IS the tallest church in the world and absolutely overwhelming.  Construction started in 1882 and still has another 10 years to complete.   I don’t have the words to adequately describe it.  So here are some images  …

Gaudi died in 1926 at 73 years old.  He was struck by a tram while walking to church.  Because he was modestly dressed with no ID, he was presumed homeless.  He is buried in the Sagrada de Familia.

With our tour complete, we decided to jump on the Hop On Hop Off bus

We really didn’t know where we were going, so we hopped off and walked until the found the Arc of Triomph.

Our feet were a little sore at this point so we stopped at a café for refreshments

Wandering around we found an Irish pub for a bite, and then taxi’d our way home. 

We all were beat …. our BIG first day.

I think we managed very well for our first day with jet lag. 

---