A GLIMPSE OF BARCELONA AND A VISIT TO SAGRADA FAMILIA
Scarborough-ON-Canada
February 10, 2020
THREE days earlier and prior to boarding the giant cruise ship Liberty of the Seas of the Royal Caribbean Fleet for our scheduled Western Mediterranean Cruise, yours truly, in the company of my wife, Lita, and two other couples who are our close friends, boarded an Air Canada 767 - destination: Barcelona.
I also wondered why in Nov. 7, 2010, though unfinished, it was consecrated in front of 6,500 faithful with another 50,000 outside, into a minor basilica by no less than Pope Benedict XV1. The attendees was so big that it took 300 priests and 100 bishops to give communion.
There must be a lot of very good reasons for all these, I kept telling myself.
Another day would be spent to visit Montserrat, that monastery up in the mountain of Catalonia. The third day, or whatever is left of those three days would be spent for miscellaneous activities. But these two days will be another story.
SO after a sound sleep after our arrival, and after breakfast on the next day, we took the Blue Turistic Bus on the way to Sagrada Familia.
We knew beforehand how beautiful Barcelona is, with so many historical churches, monuments, and museums. To name a few, there is Barcelona Cathedral, the Sagrada Familia, the Columbus Monument…etc.
Passing through the main roads and boulevards and judging by the view along the way, I formed an opinion of Barcelona.
Barcelona, in my opinion, is a people friendly city, and as an observation when we were on our way to Sagrada Familia, a city whose wide roads and boulevards, where everybody has a space: from tourist double-decker buses (better known as red and blue turistic buses); to hundreds of taxis providing excellent service to thousands of tourists; to local residents travelling from point A to point B - many, for exercise’s sake, and in order to save the environment by just walking; and because of distance, by bicycle; many, because of the high cost of gas by the very efficient public buses and by mini car, countless scooters and small motorcycles.
It was also an amazing scene to see that wide roads and boulevards are not only confined to be used by humans but also by other less harmful creation of God, as lined up along a part of the roads and boulevards where people walk, jog, run and ride their bikes are countless trees, mostly maple, that provide shelter and help reduce pollution, as well as flowering plants and manicured green grass that provides additional beauty in an already beautiful surrounding.
In this visit to this part Spain, the empire that colonized us for almost 400 years, the empire that gave us Christianity (whether it’s good or bad is subjective), the empire that built those many magnificent churches and cathedrals in my mother country, the Philippines. To say the least, my feeling was mixed, that of admiration for Spain for having built and maintained a beautiful city, and confusion why she did not develop some of the cities in the Philippines as beautiful as Barcelona.
After approximately an hour ride aboard the blue turistic bus, from a distance, I could see the towers of Sagrada Familia towering over other smaller and lower buildings. Soon, we were at the bus stop in front of this amazing edifice. We got out of the bus and in awe; we had a first hand look of Sagrada Familia, from the outside, that was.
Hundreds of tourists milled around the blocks that surround this magnificent edifice. They came from all over the world, but mostly from other European countries, both eastern and western. They came by chartered buses, by public transit, by hired taxis. They were mostly white people, but a number of Asians were visible, mostly Chinese and Japanese.
Long line at the gate could discouraged others from entering the compound in order to view the beautiful interior and we were one of them as after getting out of the bus and some photo shoot with the view of Sagrada Familia on the background, we decided that lining up was not for us. We waited for the next blue turistic bus to take us back to the hotel.
But deep in my heart, and I knew my wife felt the same; we were uncomfortable with our decision, for how could we miss this opportunity to view the interior, when this was the very reason why we were here. I always believe that if it’s beautiful on the outside, it is always more beautiful on the inside - except some human of course.
And so, close to the stop where we were supposed to get out, my wife suggested, “I think we should go back.”
I thought for a moment and without hesitation, I answered, “We should.”
After notifying our companions of our intention and suggested that they should do the same, we got out of the bus. Realizing it would be another hour ride, we sought comfort at the closest café to feel more comfortable.
After an hour or so, there we were, patiently waiting in the long line of tourists, with our eyes roaming and our mind anticipating how beautiful the interior is.
Much to my amazement, we don’t have to wait that long as there are many ticket booths at the gate to serve the visitors.
After about ten minutes of waiting in line, we were able to obtain our tickets and soon we were inside the compound.
At the front itself, which we were not able to see extensively from the outside because of the fence and other construction equipment doing some work, we posed for some souvenir pictures.
Always looking around, we slowly climbed the stairs, making sure we saw every square inch of this magnificent building.
And soon we were inside and a living witness to the genius of Antonio Gaudi and others who contributed their talents to the realization of Gaudi’s dream.
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TO BE CONTINUED