Holidays: Sagrada Familia 2

Last time we looked at the front, now it’s time to enter. I momentarily feared I was going to be shot at the security checkpoint because I jumped towards my backpack as they were trying to open it. But the nice people were trying to open a backpack full of camera equipment holding it so that my lenses would fall out. They afterwards agree that it’s a nice camera…

Anyway, when you enter you walk past a gate with flower and plant decoration, complete with assorted beetles. I couldn’t find out if there was something special about this fellow, but it was polished shiny from all the hands, so it seemed customary to caress it as well.

©Giliell, all rights reserved

Visiting in the evening is amazing as the sun shines directly through the windows, basking everything in light and colours. We were extremely lucky with the weather. In Mataró it had rained all morning and when we set out, it was still cloudy. In Barcelona the clouds tore up, the air was clear and fresh and the sun shone all evening. When we got back we saw that in Mataró the rain had returned with a vengeance…

©Giliell, all rights reserved

©Giliell, all rights reserved

©Giliell, all rights reserved

©Giliell, all rights reserved

Holidays: Sagrada Familia 1

This year we decided to finally visit the Sagrada Familia, Gaudí’s masterpiece, which just now got a construction permit. I went there 20 years ago, when you just showed up, threw a few bucks at them and then explored at your leisure. Now you have to book in advance, have a 15 Min window to enter and then have to go through security like at an airport. We bought “evening tickets” which are cheaper and give you an hour to explore the cathedral, which we deemed to be enough with the kids and also we wanted to see it again later in the dark. The entrance prices showed why the whole thing is absurd, since the kid who had to pay reduced admission was complaining and staring at her phone the whole time, while the kid who got in for free called it “the best thing she’d ever seen”.

Let’s start with the outside.

©Giliell, all rights reserved

You enter the cathedral through the “Birth Portal”. Why it’s called that we’ll see in a minute.

©Giliell, all rights reserved

©Giliell, all rights reserved

You can clearly see the older and newer parts here.

©Giliell, all rights reserved

©Giliell, all rights reserved

©Giliell, all rights reserved

And here we have him, baby Jesus, apparently needing a bath in a tub.

The Art of Book Design: Fly Away Fairies and Baby Blossoms

Louise Clarkson Whitelock. Fly Away Fairies and Baby Blossoms. New York, E.P. Dutton and London, Griffith and Farran, 1882.

The artwork in this week’s fairy tale book is typical of the Victorian period. I’m not especially fond of this style of art, but I think this book is interesting because its fairies look a lot like like cherubs. I also think the eyes of the children in the book look dull and creepy which is an unexpected bit of a laugh in a children’s fairy story book.

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Fungi Friday

This photo brings us to the end of the high-resolution fungal portraits sent in by Opus. All of the photos in this series have been quite interesting and it’s been fun to see the different types of fungus in such clear detail and vivid colour. Thanks, Opus.

British Soldiers ©Opus, all rights reserved