From the archives. This entry was originally written for the internet blog I was commissioned to write at Astral Media, and posted on March 19, 2010. In the spirit of les vacances and all the travelling happening over here during the month of August, I thought it might make a timely addition to this one as well.
On a side note, while travelling through Spain earlier this month, I had a minor meltdown when it turned out that the train we wanted to take from Barcelona to Sevilla was sold out, unless we wanted to travel business class for 250 euro. I was hot, sweaty, tired, achy, hungry, cranky, toting a giant backpack, and operating on about three hours of sleep, having woken up super-early to pack and make it to the station for 8:00 a.m. Not exactly the ideal conditions for coping with unexpected bad news. Let’s just say that tantrums were had. In that moment, I could probably have stood to re-read my own writing. However, after a much-needed nap and a bit of time to regroup, we decided to take advantage of our extra day in the city and see the Sagrada Família, Antoni Gaudí’s famous unfinished church. And you know what? It ended up being my favourite Barcelona sight.
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The surreal exterior of Gaudí’s unfinished masterpiece, the Sagrada Família, was stupefying enough, but it was the interior, with its complex shapes and sophisticated interplay of colour, light and shadow that really took my breath away. I can’t believe I almost skipped it.
The Vanishing Point 