Sagrada Familia, Barcelona

 Shown above is a photo taken of the Basilica i Temple Expiation de la Sagrada Familia, in English the Basilica and Expiatory Church of the Holy Family. This church was begun in 1882 and taken over by the Catalan architect Antonio Gaudi in 1883. He guided it until his death in 1926. The money for its construction is from donations and admissions. It is not a cathedral; it was dedicated by the Pope in 2010. It is estimated that it's completion will be in 2026.

There are three facades: the east facade, shown above, depicts the Nativity; the west facade depicts the Passion of Christ; the south facade, now under construction, depicts the Glory of the risen Christ.

The photos above show the four towers of the east facade and  some  fruit or flowers on the top of some arches on the east. Below is a tree with birds on it located between the four towers on the Nativity facade.

Below are three photos of sculptures from the Nativity facade. The middle one with the children is my personal favorite.

Below is one of he towers on the west or Passion facade.

The photos below are all of the west or Passion facade. The style of these sculptures and layout is very different from the Nativity facade. It is very stark and modernistic. This is the work of an artist by the name of Josep Maria Subirachs.

 The photo below is of one of the towers.

If you are in Barcelona the Sagrada Familia is well worth the metro ride. You  can purchase tickets and go inside and go up at least one of the towers. We did not due to time constraints. It is a fantastic building and well worth a look.

Malaga, Spain

Malaga is a port city on the Costa del Sol in southern Spain. It is an old city with both Roman ruins and a Moorish fortress. Below are photos of the Moors castle.





This photo is of an arched doorway in the castle.



This is a living statue. He wants you to give him money. I was able to take this photo without him being aware of me. If they see you photographing them and not giving them money sometimes they get aggressive.



An example of the aggressiveness is this bird man shown below. Unfortunately he saw me photographing and not paying and tried to grab Roberta. No harm done, but very unpleasant.



Below is a photo of a window in a building in the old quarter and a door from another building in the same part of town.





This is an old Roman theatre. It's in quite good shape, and located just below the castle.



No one had more fun than this baby.



Malaga would be a good place to stay in Andalusia. From Malaga you can make day trips or longer if desired to the white villages, Grenada, Seville, Gibraltar and other places.

Spanish Village....With Apologies to W.Eugene Smith

Mijas is a village in Andalusia 20 or 30 miles outside of Malaga. It is a hill village, several miles up from the shore and hidden from shore by a hill. This was done to prevent pirares from finding and pillaging the village. These villages are part of the Costa del Sol, now a major tourist attraction. Mijas retains a lot of it’s charm; all buildings, including houses, must be painted white. Paint has replaced whitewash. Donkeys and horse drawn conveyances are available for taxis.



The old part of town has narrow curving streets with interesting doors and windows.





There were still some of the older locals about, as you can see.



The market had mostly locals doing their shopping.

The only problem was Mijas was very crowded with touristas.

"Shut the barn door, I think the horse is out!"

Cadiz is is the Spanish port from which the explorers and adventurers set forth and the port which received the treasure from the Spanish conquests and colonies. Consequently there are several fortifications built around the harbor entrance. One questions how effective they were, since Sir Francis Drake successfully attacked Cadiz and the Spanish fleet in 1587 and a combined English and Dutch fleet sacked the city in 1596. Then they built the forts.

There is a fortified seawall around the old harbor which makes a fine walk with old forts, parks, etc. Cadiz is ancient; there are ruins of a Roman theatre, below.

The photos below are of doors and windows, a street called Pirate’s Alley, a fountain and the remains of an arch in the medieval city wall.







I didn't quite hit vertical on some of these photos(doors,arch). Sorry about that. These are straight from the camera. I have no software on this small computer to do any editing. I will try and do better.