Last month, I was able to cross off two of my top ten bucket list destinations. It might’ve taken me a while to realize my dream of visiting Barcelona and La Sagrada Familia, but it was well worth the wait. I only wish I had gone sooner! I had to do some serious reshuffling on my “top five favorite cities ever” because I fell in love with Barcelona. There’s a stunning surprise around every corner. Plus, what’s not to like about tapas and beaches? Barcelona has everything.
La Sagrada Familia is Antoni Gaudi‘s masterpiece. A stunning example of warped Gothic architecture and a blend of everything that Gaudi had designed previously, La Sagrada Familia hasn’t been completed yet. It was started in 1882, and the story of its creation, along with the story of Gaudi’s brilliant career and subsequent downfall and death are like something out of a novel. Gaudi devoted the remaining years of his life to La Sagrada Familia. He poured his savings into the construction of it, and eventually ended up living in the cathedral. He was tragically killed in a tram accident at the age of 73.
La Sagrada Familia is a collection of religious symbolism, and it’s filled with all the characters that represent the life of Jesus. When La Sagrada Familia is complete, it will have a total of 18 towers. Each tower is dedicated to a different religious figure in history, and each tower is completely hollow to allow the placement of various types of bells.
Proceeds from tourism fund its ongoing construction, which should be finished by 2026. It’s sad that Gaudi never got to see his life’s work completed. At the time of his death, only the crypt and the Nativity tower had been built.
Canadian expat Carrie Kellenberger has kept a home base with her husband in Asia since 2003. A prolific traveler, Carrie has funded her travels primarily as a writer, editor, travel blogger and photographer, but she has also worked as an educator, voice over artist, model and nightclub singer. She draws upon her 15+ years of travel experience to write about travel-related issues and the countries she has visited on her award-winning web site, My Several Worlds.
Her photography and travel articles have appeared in both print and online publications around the world, including Travel and Leisure Asia, Unearthing Asia and Hip Compass Escapes.
