Inspired

Paris--Kenya--Spain, part five.

No trip to Europe would be complete without visiting some grand cathedrals and churches. These aren't even all of the ones we saw. 

We ended up visiting Notre Dame in Paris twice. Once after standing in an extraordinarily long line, which thankfully moved fairly quickly (is it always like that now?). 

And then again when we showed up the next night to see if there were any tickets left for a concert. There were! I thought the poster said it was an organ concert, and I wanted Maryann to experience organ music wrapping around and filling us up like I remember on many Sunday afternoons when I was there before. It turned out to be a choir concert with organ accompaniment, so we didn't have the experience I was hoping for. But the choir was beautiful.

Before we left Paris, we headed up to Montmartre and Sacré Couer (photo below taken from the second level of the Eiffel Tower, which we had climbed to the day before). We happened to visit the church during mass, and it was lovely to watch people walk forward and receive communion from both a priest and a nun.

The cathedral in Granada was perhaps my favorite of the old cathedrals we visited. I loved all of the massive carved wooden cupboards, drawers--which contained the bones of saints? I wasn't sure--and doors. I also loved the pale blue dome with golden stars.

The cathedral in Seville surprised me a bit. It's jam packed with gold and silver treasures (starkly opposite of the kind they say is laid up in heaven) and more creepy gothic details then usual. For example, one of the pall bearers carrying the alleged remains of Christopher Columbus below is wearing a robe covered with bats.

 

The highlight of visiting this cathedral was walking the 35 floors (ramps, not stairs) up to the top of the bell tower.

It seemed fitting to visit La Sagrada Familia in Barcelona on the last day of my trip. A progression from older to newer. 

We first saw it from a distance, and were surprised by its size.

 

We were still surprised by its size when we got up close.

And then we went inside. Wow. Wow wow wow. I confess I was a bit ambivalent about Gaudi before visiting Barcelona. I thought his work was intriguing and I enjoyed his sense of whimsy, but I'd only seen his work in photos. They simply can't do it justice. He was genius.

Gaudi's ability to translate elements of nature and incorporate unusual geometric principles into a building of that scale absolutely blew me away. 

I also discovered something Gaudi once said that will endear him to me forever. He had been studying plainoids (curved surfaces made with straight lines), and he wanted to apply them in his architectural designs. 

But he wasn't sure why no one else had. He expressed what I believe many people who see things a little differently feel, which made him human.

The fact that they have not been applied before and that I am the first to do so has made me think a lot. This would be the only thing that, in any case, would make me hesitate. Nevertheless, I believe that, convinced as I am of the perfection they represent, it is my duty to apply them.

Apply them he did, which made him a pioneering example for those of us who see things a little differently.

Here's the exterior and interior of a building with this undulating structure. It's a school on La Sagrada Familia grounds which was used to educate the children of construction workers.

And it contains one last gem I want to share in this post: a delicious replica of Gaudi's studio. 

La Sagrada Familia, which was begun in 1882, probably won't be complete for at least another 15 years. It's comforting to know in this age of microwave ovens, tweets, and quarterly financial statements that we humans are still capable of investing in long-term projects.