Sagrada Familia is probably Gaudi’s most famous work, a basilica that was started in 1882 and has never been completed. They say it will take another 80 years to complete it. Damn unions! However, the inside was recently completed and was just dedicated a few weeks ago by Pope Benedict XVI. For that reason, and the fact that two religious holidays fell on Monday and Wednesday here, the line to get in (and pay 12 euros for the privilege) went around the block. I didn’t realize that this was a special occasion and assumed this was the case all the time to get in. Which made me think with that kind of money coming in, it shouldn’t really take longer than a 100 years in total to complete, but that’s just me.

I was not about to wait two hours to get in, but when I was told that it was an unusually large queue, I gave it another shot a couple days later.  Sure enough, I was in in about two minutes.

Everyone is quick to point out that this is not a cathedral, but a basilica, and that Barcelona has only one cathedral. Which, being of different faith, made me run to WikiAnswers to see what the difference is. Completed or not, it is an impressive piece of work.

As previously mentioned, the influence of architect Antoni Gaudi is all throughout Barcelona, from houses built for the wealthy, to the design of Park Güell to the famous Sagrada Familia, the basilica that was started to be built in 1882 and is still under construction.  Gaudi uses the influences of nature, color, and mosaics to build truly unique structures.  The sad thing about Gaudi is that such a large figure had such a, pardon the pun, pedestrian death as he was hit by a tram on the street.  One of his most famous building, commissioned by a wealthy couple, is known as La Pedrera, a nickname meaning “The Quarry” in Catalan because it took so freaking long to build, the neighbors hated it.  Kinda like a mini version of the Big Dig.  Technically, it is known as Casa Mil à.  You can tour some of the apartments and go on the roof.  Note, there are a lot of steps going up but you don’t realize it until once you’ve passed the elevator and regret not taking it.

Without a doubt, Barcelona must be on any list of the top architectural cities in the world.  I mean, wherever you turn is another magnificent building.  There are many styles here, from Gothic to Neoclassical to Art Nouveau to Modernism.  One of the most important architects is Antoni Gaudi, whose designs dominate much of the city.  More on his work in a separate post.  But here are some samples of the great architecture here.

One of the questions I get a lot from everyone is about the food on the trip. Many of the places are not known for a specific cuisine. There’s Australian beef (and yes, the shrimp on the barbie). Hong Kong would be Chinese, but you really think of the mainland for that. Israel has middle eastern food like falafel, but that’s not specific to the country. The only culinary place with a specific food type would be Thailand. And Thai green curry will forever be a favorite of mine now. So while there have been good meals, there hasn’t been much country-specific culinary experience. Until Greece. I forget how much I love Greek food. You can’t help but trip over a Mexican restaurant every ten feet in LA. But unfortunately, there is not an abundance of Greek restaurants. So I sought out specifically some traditional Greek cuisine from souvlaki to taramosolata to Greek lamb chops. Let’s just say I got some strange looks as I took photos of some of the dishes (but some places were too dark).  Enjoy!

Before closing the book on Greece, two more posts. The first is the trip to Mykonos. For all that I didn’t like Athens, I do have to say it was worth it to get to the Greek Isles. I chose Mykonos because I hadn’t really researched many of the islands. And, being that it was off-season and much of the shops and restaurants closed on most of them, I thought I would choose one that was popular and one that I could do it justice in two plus days as opposed to a place like Crete, which needs a longer stay. So Mykonos it was. Once I finally got there, it was everything that all the pictures and films make it out to be. Stark white buildings with blue, green, red shutters and doors. Crystal blue Aegean Sea. Clean, crisp air. Actually, for a place that pretty much closes up for the winter, it was about 70 degrees the entire time. Hardly winter weather. There were some restaurants and a few shops open. But as far as the crazy nightlife and partying that goes on in the summer, there was none of that. And after nearly two months of travel, that was fine by me.

I stayed at the Rocabella Art Hotel and the accommodations could not have been better. During the winter they only book seven of the rooms so the attention to detail is impeccable. They truly go above and beyond. Breakfast is served in your room. I was upgraded to a room with a patio and jacuzzi that had a view of the ocean, although I could never get the jacuzzi to work right. Spyro, who basically ran the place even drove me to a nearby restaurant he recommended and picked me back up.  And refused a tip! Basically anything you wanted, they would do for you. I don’t know what it is like in the craziness of the summer. But anything close to this kind of service is well worth the extra expense. Here are some pictures to give you a taste.