The Sagrada Unfamilia

One side of the Sagrada Familia

Inside the Sagrada Familia

The chapel in the forest

One of the Spanish tourist sites on our list was, of course, the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona.
I knew very little about it before we visited except it was a must-see.
I had a vision of this castle-like structure that Robert Langdon dropped into when he needed a place to hide for a minute in the "Origin" book.
Well, it is castle-like and huge. It makes you gasp at first glance, partly because it is so big and tall and it looks like a child has played in the mud to make the towers.
It's really indescribable.
It rises to 566 feet and has four different facades.
Inside it's like a big forest, serene and colored with the light from green, orange and blue stained glass windows.
It's very soothing and unlike any other cathedral we visited.
The ornamentation is all outside with statues that depict Christ throughout his life: when he is born, as he taught and as he died.
It's a spectacular feat of architecture overseen by Antoni Gaudi and under construction for 131 years since 1882.
There are still 14 towers to be constructed and much detail work to be done but the plan is to get it all done by 2026 even though Gaudi died at 81.
I came away much more impressed than I expected.
I knew we were seeing a World Heritage site, the most popular site in Spain but I didn't expect it to move me.
In fact, it wasn't until we were on the rooftop of the Casa Milà-La Pedrera that I fully appreciated it.
I could look over and through the archways and see the Sagrada Familia.

The Guida Pedrera, built with no rules

I am uncertain as to whether he was a genuis or a crazy man, with many experts divided as to what his decisions as architect and builder mean.
He was fined for building his Pedrera too high. He horrified the residents of Barcelona when he built what is a completely unorthodox multi-level home for himself but declared his methods as based on nature and therefore inspired.

On the rooftop of the Pedrera, high and spooky

He did his own thing. He bent the rules. He made buildings that have impressed and intrigued people for more than a hundred years, including the Park Güell, the Palau Güell, the Pedrera, the Casa Vicens, the Nativity Façade and the Crypt of the Sagrada Família, the Casa Batlló, and the Crypt of the Colònia Güel.
He's everywhere in Spain and talked about the world over. (Did you know he used the skeleton of a python to use as a model for the interior of the Pedrera?)
I think I vote for his being a genuis.
A note: You absolutely need tickets purchased online ahead of a visit. It sells out and there's no mercy at this religious site.