Don’t Visit Barcelona without Deep Dive into Gaudí Architecture

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Day 111, 2025 Grand World Voyage

Friday, April 25, 2025; Barcelona, Spain.

After all the partying and visiting yesterday between the passengers and crews of the Zuiderdam and Volendam, today we got around to actually seeing Barcelona.

My sisters Eloise and Elaine, with friends Jett, Kelly and Jolanda from the Volendam joined Alan, Sharon, Tom, Monika and me from the Zuiderdam for a private tour today of all things Antoni Gaudí, including the architect and designer’s most famous creation, the Sagrada Familia.

Gaudí took over responsibility to design and build the Sagrada Familia in 1883 after the initial start a year earlier. He devoted the rest of his life to the project and died in 1926. Ninety-nine years later, the church isn’t yet completed. The central tower may be done by the 100th anniversary of his death, but the entrance through the Glory Façade will require the demolition of a nearby building, which has yet to be negotiated.

I last visited the Sagrada Familia in 2011, and it was exciting to compare the progress made since then. Interestingly, private donations and more recently ticket sales receipts have funded the work, which was only consecrated as a church and minor basilica in 2010 by Pope Benedict XVI.

Our guide could only scratch the surface in describing the symbolism employed by Gaudí on the exterior facades. The interior is illuminated through stunning stained-glass windows.

From there it was on to Casa Batiló, a multi-storied home that Gaudí seems to have designed without the use of straight lines. It’s also known as the House of Bones.

His design included innovations such as window frames that rose, opening to make the front room a balcony; seating close to a heat source; and a ceiling that is anything but flat.

We climbed a series of staircases through the open central atrium to the rooftop, one of the building’s most popular features. Its arch resembles the spine of a dragon, with the turret and cross symbolizing the lance of Saint George, Catalonia’s patron saint.

Finally, we headed to Park Güell on the edge of a mountain range north of early Barcelona. Wealthy residents escaped the summer heat at villas in the mountains, and the park’s developer hired Gaudí to plan a private development surrounding a garden. The lots didn’t sell, and eventually the city took it over as a park.

On my first visit we started from the lower entrance, with its buildings resembling Dr. Seuss houses to me.

This time, we started at the top, where the park is less developed, and worked our way down. A giant terrace is surrounded by what some call the world’s longest bench, an undulating “serpent” decorated with tiles.

The terrace also collects water, channeled through columns below into cisterns underground.

Once we returned to the ships, we had to say a quick goodbye to each other, as both ships would soon leave – the Volendam for Cádiz and the Zuiderdam for Alicante. We will meet up again in Lisbon before the Zuiderdam starts her two-week journey back to Fort Lauderdale and the Volendam heads north, ending its cruise in early June.

I joined friends tonight for a final Canaletto dinner. Typically, the Canaletto operates from a section of the Lido Market, but for this world cruise it serves as a pop-up restaurant in the Pinnacle Grill. Because of the length of the world cruise, each restaurant is seldom full, so this arrangement has worked well. The Italian menu in Canaletto is one of my favorites, and I had my usual customized entrée of spaghetti topped with the veal and sage meatballs from the appetizer menu.