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Showing posts with the label Gaudi

European Exercise IX: Sagrada Família Revisited

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Magic Square , swiped from williamnyk on Flickr. Early the next morning, we dragged ourselves out of bed although we were quite tired. All in the name of beating the queue at Basílica i Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Família . However, we still had to line up for an hour in the cold. :S. Ate breakfast in the queue-- bought an on over-priced panini with way too much coriander flakes. We took turns standing. One would stay while the other would go exploring around the exterior. Much construction was still ongoing after more than a century. The spires were flanked by cranes and one can see the difference between new stone and weathered stone. Once the line started moving, we got in rather quickly. The entrance was through the Passion Façade, a work by Josep Maria Subirachs. Depicts the Passion of the Christ through the use of "bare-bone" sculptures with rigid and angular lines. I didn't quite like it. Inside, I was awed by the sheer size of the nave. Gigantic columns rose

European Excercise VI: Propera Parada~ Barcelona!

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T2 Swiped from williamnyk . Early in the morning, we headed to the London City Airport . We were greeted by a long check-in line at British Airways. However, seeing that we were running late, we were bumped ahead of line. Before leaving the UK, we were meticulously asked about our itinerary and travel arrangements by the BA staff. The flight was quite pleasant and we had an in-flight breakfast of sausage, bread and hash browns. Arrived at Barcelona Airport T2 . Quite empty at that hour. We did not know where to go to catch the Metro down to town, so we just followed the crowd. Actually we had to take a free shuttle bus to another terminal. The train ride was quite pleasant. Very amused by the Catalan "Next Stop" announcements: Propera Parada, Propera Parada . So catchy. Our stop was at Passeig de Gracia , one of the main Metro interchanges. Upon arrival we were greeted by stern warnings from the security staff regarding pick pockets. Seemed to be rampant. That kind of