Independence ... yeah!

Independence day in Catelonia is definitely something to be apart of... assuming you're a local of course. For us outsiders it was great just to feel the vibe and be buffeted by their enthusiasm and good will. We have learnt that after centuries of seriously degradation based oppression they are now proving their worth to the wider humanitarian cause by be being open minded, forgiving, not holding grudges and generally getting on with everyone. In doing so wealth is pouring into the region and they want their fair share. Soon they will vote (yet again) for succession from Spain. Yet again the result will be resoundingly positive and yet again nothing will transpire because in the overall scheme of world politics it quite simply does not make sense. It sure does create a great vibe though. Even if their colours do look like an OH&S union march.

After 3 days we're pretty comfortable with the place and so seamlessly got to our Placa destination early with two stops for caffeine and breaky on the way. The walking tour of Gaudi was booked months in advance and luckily the Pope had nothing to do with it and as such it went ahead (afternoon tours were cancelled and had that effected us I reckon I could have found a blame link there). 20 of us took off and were shown the outside of some very interesting buildings of which Catelonias favourite son had significant influence over. Interesting to see and hear what he did and how he did it. We took the MET to get between significant locations some of which we'd already spotted previously, however with fresh knowledge it soon became apparent that more time here would be well spent by actually going inside. Another day ....year, decade maybe.... Eventually we ended up at Sagrada Familia for the 3rd day in a row. However this time it was serious as we were actually going in... Dumping one tour guide for another we got corralled, wired up with headphones and given the right amount of commentary explaining what we were seeing and then, as we walked inside she quite rightly shut up. OMG... Gaudi had the vision to inspire people towards the big G using all the tools within his kit and the results are absolutely spectacular. Needless to say these eyes have seen many awesome cathedrals etc. over the years, most of them really impressive as to what they achieved so long ago.

This is different. It takes the whole concept to another level and whilst the dude himself died many years ago we now have modern technology and techniques frantically trying to complete it. The spaces inside are rife with differently themed colour spaces. The columns are purposely built to resemble trees as they reach up towards the heavens (aka outer space). And it's only half done. Goodness knows what it will be like when it's completed. One thing is for sure; - when it is - it will be the biggest tourist attraction in the world - the irony is... it's tourist dollars that are funding it. So in reality it's the biggest crowd funding project on the go at the moment. And worth it - at least so our current architecture community can learn from it. Enlightened (not converted..sorry mate) we swam into a swarm of locals heading in for the rally. We just saw a snippet in our own little pocket and it was great. A tide of yellow with red stripes and the star of the flag surrounded us. Obviously normal people of every age, demographic and whatever else all wanting to vote "Si" in the upcoming referendum. Any excuse to have a public holiday. This was serious though. The police had all the roads blocked off. All the streets were literally lined with buses and only the clever cafe's were open. We were clever too - whilst the rally was going on down the street (could easily hear as they had PA systems set up covering kilometres of roadways) we walked around the corner and enjoyed watching the locals in their revallry whist having Sangritas, Red wine and mussels for dinner. Halfway through the rally ended and they all came past and surrounded us in another sea of yellow and strange dialects.

Back around the corner and up the ancient lift to our penthouse apartment to pack up whist observing the remenants of the revelries in the street below. Tomorrow we move on... leaving behind a city mostly unexplored. Definitely worth returning just to see the church when it's finished. Of course people have been saying that for over 150 years...