Barcelona - 2011

So we are back from our European trip and to say we took a few pictures might be a slight understatement. I'm just glad we have gone digital and we do not have to print all of our pictures, the good ones and the really bad ones.

Our first stop was Barcelona, so since I posted a picture of La Sagrada Familia before we left, I thought it appropriate to start off with this beautiful, and very unusual cathedral.

The first thing that I notice this year was the number of people there to see the cathedral. There were buses everywhere and lines almost a block long to get into the cathedral. Ten years ago there was little or not wait.

The other thing I noticed was so many more cranes hovering over the construction. Maybe there is a big push to complete and also with all the people visiting maybe there is more money in the budget for construction. Completion date is estimated to be 2026, hundred years after the death designer, architect Antoni Gaudi.

This is basically the same view I took in 2000; it is a little closer since the trees now are taller and the same view would cover more of the cathedral.

The is the view from the other side.

Travel Photo -La Sagrada Familia

With my wife and I planning a European Cruise, in which we start in Barcelona, my thoughts go back to when we were in Barcelona in 2000. The picture above, as everyone I'm sure recognizes, is the La Sagrada Familia designed by Antoni Gaudi.

Gaudi began construction on La Sagrada Familia (Blessed Family) in 1882; died in 1928 with only a quarter of the church completed. The construction passed a mid-point in 2010 and was consecrated in November 2010 by Pope Benedict XVI . The anticipated completion date is about 2026.

We are anxious to see the changes that have been made to the church in the pass ten years.