La Sagrada Familia, Barcelona

Barcelona is a very old city in which you can feel the weight of history; it is haunted by history. You cannot walk around it without perceiving it

Carlos Ruiz Zafon

As the world unites in turmoil, let’s remember our front line workers and those suffering. Stay Home Stay Safe, and let’s add something to your post COVID travel wish list.

I don’t usually care much about the monuments of a place because I get bored but the architecture all over Europe and especially the Gaudi architecture all over this city made me fall in love with these places. Right from seeing Imran go past this place in a taxi in the movie, Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara with a backdrop of the song Dil Dhadakne Do, to actually being right there with the sun glaring down on my phone camera lens, Barcelona was a dream come true. This magnificent building here is La Sagrada Familia, considered by many art critics to be one of the finest interpretations of Gothic architecture in the world and even though it’s construction plans began in 1882 it has still not been completed to this day.

Barcelona is the city where you see everyone bond together. Whether it’s the millions that come onto La Rambla every day, or the courtesy that the Catalan people show the tourists, or maybe you see it with the 90000+ people that crowd inside the Camp Nou on a football match day evening, it could also be the crowds at the beach where you see amateurs matching up to professionals with their arts, or it’s just because the city has such great food (You know about restaurateurs and their hospitality). To be completely honest, I really don’t know but it’s one of my favourite cities and a place that I would want to visit as many times as I can in my life-time because I don’t think I’ll ever get over the haunting beauty of Barcelona.

I’ll leave you with another quote by Danish author, Hans Christian Andersen, “We crossed spacious streets, with building resembling palaces, in La Rambla promenade ; the shops were well illuminated and there was movement and life… I did not decide to go to sleep, even though I wished to, so I could rise early and contemplate, in daylight, this city, unknown to me: Barcelona, capital of Catalonia.” This city can only be described as metaphorical magic, a truly unique display of life, architecture, and intensity.