Saturday July 20th

Saturday! Woot! Today we finally went to Sagrada Familia, or the church of the holy family. For those of you who don't know this is a basilica that was designed by Antoni Gaudi and has been in construction since 1882. Gaudi is famous for his modernism and so the whole place has that feel to it. In 2010 it was consecrated as a basilica by Pope Benedict XVI. This was when the interior was completed, however the exterior is not expected for completion until 2026! This would be an excellent completion date seeing that Gaudi died in 1926 and this would be the centennial of his death. 

We were lucky to get there as early as we did. We were there about 8 o'clock and the line had already begun to form and was around the corner. Who should we find first in line? A fellow Aggie. Oh how we love Utah State. (I know we are both going to the University of Utah this fall, but Aggies are just good people!) We chatted with them for a bit and then they said, "you should just hop in line with us." We declined the offer and headed for the back of the line. Our new friends persisted and the gentleman came to the back of the line. "I asked a few people behind us if it would be okay, they said yes. Come get in line with us." Wow! To the front of the line we went. They were so fun to talk to! We passed the time quickly, paid, and were through the gates by 9:05am! (They open at 9.) We had a tower tour set up for 9:15! We were thankful that the tower has an elevator up and then you get to travel down the steps and look at everything. I would try to describe it, but how about a few pictures instead?

Utah State, Hey Aggies all the way!

 The view from as high as you can go!

 (Looking down)

 Turtle!

 (Can you find the English? Hint: Give us this day our daily bread.)

 Angel

 Lion

Deer? ( Sorry this is so blurry!)

Bird!

 (Look again.... Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John)

 (What has been completed or will soon be completed.)

 

(The red and some of the yellow have yet to be completed.)

 

This was a gorgeous basilica and I hope that one day we can see it in its entirety. AMAZING! We spent about 3 hours just walking through it and looking at everything. We decided that there must be some sort of code with all of the words and especially with the words that stand out on the doors. One day someone should break the code and write a book about all of the secret messages that Gaudi left.