BARCELONA'S SAGRADA FAMILIA

As I tend to do when I travel, I still incorporate news of the day.  Here is something interesting.  Donald Trump is actually more popular than when he left office.  But that's not particularly good news from him, as all presidents after Nixon gained points.  Wait till Trump gets a couple criminal convictions.  From the New York Times.

As this is nostalgic Tuesday, let me take you 14 years back to when I first came to Barcelona.  Just getting to this city was an ordeal. 

• To quote:  Another truly monumental day, again a roller coaster of emotions with assorted tribulations and over the top stress. However, 24 hours after leaving the Delhi Le Meridien, I arrived at the Barcelona Le Meridien, and feel almost euphoric, for I survived India and am now in Spain.
• 
  You can read the entire posting HERE, but to summarize:
• Started great, for Lufthansa upgraded me to First Class on the flight from Delhi to Munich, with a change of plane then to Barcelona.
• In the Lufthansa lounge, I was asked by a uniformed officer to accompany him with my carry on baggage.
• We went through a security gate where someone with a rifle accompanied us.
• I thought, perhaps, someone in the Indian government did not like my posting on India Sucks, and I was perhaps to be executed.  By the way, click on that and the article has 73 comments, some critical, but most supportive, and so funny.
• 
  Well, it turned out that they saw what looked like a lighter in my suitcase, and their keys
  could not open my bag.  So I did, and they evacuated the lighter, and said OK and sent me back to the lounge.
• Flight was delayed, but the 8-hour flight was the best in all my years of flying.  One of the courses was caviar, and by the end of the flight I had 10 drinks.
• 
  The plane somehow landed in a whiteout,  Most flights in and out had been cancelled, and there were gigantic lines everywhere to see what was next.
• Because I was in First Class, they got me through the mob, and somehow found a plane that did, after a short wait, get me to Barcelona.
• Unfortunately, the snowstorm worsened, but I did get out five hours later.
• 
  Arrived in Barcelona eight hours late.
• Two days later I took a tour featuring architect Antoni Gaudi, who designed the iconic Sagrada Familia, which began construction in 1882 and should be finished in 2026, or perhaps 2060.  Someday, the church will sit 6000.

• There is a new structure lovingly known as The Suppository, which houses a water company,

About the Sagrada Familia:

• It is a Basilica, not a cathedral, with special status by the Pope.  Here is an explanation.
• When construction began in 1882, head of construction was architect Francisco de Paula del Villar y Lozano.  Antoni Gaudi worked in a junior capacity.  A year later, he took over,
• Gaudi died in 1926 at the age of 73 after being struck by a tram on his daily route to the church,
• There is an expectation that the church will be completed a 100 years after his death, or in 2026.
• Who has paid for the construction?  Not the church, nor public, but through ticket sales and private donations.  Current expenses are around 25 million Euros/year.

Here are a few photos of the Sagrada Familia today, with street scenes of Barcelona from the Cotton Club to the church, beginning with a few pigeons.

Hasn't changed much.  A few more photos.

Bought an onion for lunch,

Onion for dinner?  Yes, because at breakfast, packed away bread, salami, ham and cheese for dinner consumption.  And the breakfast restaurant is excellent.

Cava (Spanish champagne) for breakfast.

Most of our upcoming dinner came from here,

Dinner with beer.

We then went for a free drink at the bar to end the day.

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