Out and About in BCN with Kris

Jun 20

Kris Moore came to visit for a week in May. It was an opportunity for us to show him bits of our favorite neighborhood and some classic spots to visit in the city. The week of playing tourists for some of it meant busy days. On Friday, we visited three museums! That isn’t our usual day, so it was fun to see lots of great stuff in a short time. The visit to the Sagrada Familia was planned in advance, of course. Having Kris with us was a great opportunity to go up in one of the towers and climb down. We hadn’t done that in many years.

Visiting Sagrada Familia

Nativity façade. The first one completed, and only one Gaudí saw completed.

Mirrored wall of the gift shop reflects the architecture.

Gorgeous bronze door with details of flora and fauna.

Soaring heights lined with gold.

The windows facing east feature a cool color palette.

Having a great visit with friends.

The windows facing west use a warm palette, to evoke sunset colors.

Good display of the history of building Sagrada.

Display in honor of the 100th anniversary of Gaudì's death.

Very cool for me to see careful restoration of the mosaics.

How builders used pulleys 100 years ago in construction.

Maquette of the St. Bernabe tower, the first tower completed.

Another set of beautiful bronze doors.

Up we go to the top of a tower.

Up this close we can see the host and chalice represented in mosaic.

Glimpse of the cross atop the Jesus tower. Just completed in February!

View out to the sea.

View down to pond across the street, covered in growing algae!

Hi Bob!

After tour, enjoying lavender and sun.

Kids’ Gegants Parade

I’ve reported before on the tradition in some parts of Spain of the Gigantes— the very large, elaborately created figures that people get inside to parade on special occasions. Neighborhoods have clubs with people who do this, and in order to learn how to be a Gigante—or Gegant in Catalan—they start young! There are the smaller version ones for kids to learn how to move and parade in the giant costumes. We got to see the Gràcia kids’ Gegants do a parade on the Saturday Kris was visiting. Click on the picture below to see a short video.