Day 5 - Barcelona, Spain

We had two tours today. The first was Gaudi's Barcelona which took us all over Barcelona to see the works of Antoni Gaudí (1852-1926), an architect who belonged to the Modernist style (Art Nouveau) movement and was famous for his unique and highly individualistic designs. In downtown Barcelona, we saw both the Casa Batilo (known locally as the House of Bones) and the Casa Milà (better known as La Pedrera) two of his most recognizable buildings. From there, we went to the hillside to visit Gaudi's Park Güell with its commanding view of Barcelona. Our last, and most impressive, stop was at the Sagrada Familia a massive Roman Catholic church started in 1882 and is still under construction today. We stood and stared in awe at both the Nativity Facade, and at the Passion Facade on the other side of the church. The inside was crowded but massive. The columns and ceiling represent a canopy of trees. When finished, it will hold a choir of 2,000 and seat another 5,000.

Our second tour of the day was called Panoramic Barcelona. The bus took us all around Barcelona where we saw sights like the Plaza del Toros (bull fighting arena) and the Olympic Stadium where the 1992 Olympics were held. Today's last picture is of John & Susan enjoying the view of Barcelona from Olympic Hill.