After a leisurely breakfast, took the metro to Catalunya Square to pick up the tourist bus for its northern route. First stop I got off at was Sagrada Familia. If you’ve heard of Barcelona for anything but football, you’ve probably seen photos of this unlikely-looking cathedral with its organic spires. I wasn’t expecting to be overwhelmed, but I was. I took a guided tour, basked in the light from the stained-glass windows and watched the builders and sculptors at work. Massive as the spires are, the centre spire Gaudi planned for this three-generations-long undertaking will dwarf even them. From the modernist Passion of Christ at the door by which we entered, to the florid, playful, natural scenes of the Eastern door, the whole thing is a delight, and seems to transcend the stone it’s built of.
That said, the whole city is visual feast, so much grace and invention in buildings on every street.
Back
on the tourist bus, I got off on a whim in the northern suburb of
Sarria, which was much more the real lived-in Barcelona, although
pretty affluent as an area.
I then had to sort out accommodation
for the night after Guitar Craft, and found a cheap and basic place
near Catalunya, which will make it easier to reach from the train and
easier to depart to Girona. That settled I decided to go to the zoo,
which was a bit sad and empty, as it was late in the afternoon and many
of the animals were in their evening quarters. Another mistaken idea
was to go to an ‘original versions’ cinema in Cuitadello, which had
nothing on that I could imagine sitting through, so I just went back to
the hotel, but stopped on the way for a meal in a Japanese restaurant Kaede.