First day in Barcelona, Spain - 16 April 2012

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One of many windmills we passed <br />on the way to the airport... our plane to Barcelona... we flew directly over Cala Vinyes, <br />arrow is our condo... Barcelona... Barcelona airport... hotel lobby... hotel skylights... a very rare covered BMW C1 scooter, only made <br />for three years from 2000 to 2003... off in the distance, we spotted an apparition... a tall ungainly building... that was in fact the entire reason <br />we had come to Barcelona... under construction for the past 130 years... there still remains several decades of <br />work ahead to complete it... an imposing sight... that becomes more striking <br />the closer we get... it is Gaudi's masterpiece... upon which he devoted <br />43 years of his life... the Sagrada Familia... described by one art critic as, the "most extraordinary personal <br />interpretation of Gothic architecture since the Middle Ages"... it is a remarkable vision for one man... the Sagrada Familia is also an expiratory church, <br />paid for entirely by donations... the first stone was laid in 1882... the Passion facade and<br />its four bell towers... the Passion facade... sidewalk crowds... the Passion facade from the walkway leading into the Crypt, <br />the only part of the Church open this late in the evening... construction work on the outer Cloister... view upwards from the Crypt entrance... the Crypt...work began on this lowermost <br />chamber of the church in 1882... it was initially designed by the original architect, <br />Francisco de Paula del Villar... with the construction work taken <br />over by Gaudi in 1883... the altar keystone directly below the apse... work still continues in many places... the Crypt... the central altar... columns and arches within the Crypt... the burial place of Gaudi, <br />who died in 1926... Gaudi 1852 - 1926... a scale model of the finished church... a snail, one of many animals that grace <br />the exterior of the building... Sagrada Familia in twilight... Sagrada Familia in twilight... working poor, nearby Barcelona sidestreet... view from hotel lobby... Mary-Ann.