Barcelona -- La Sagrada Familia & Sant Pau Hospital

After seeing Casa Batllo, we walked to La Sagrada Familia [also known as the Basilica i Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Familia], which is a large Gothic-styled Roman Catholic church, designed by Antoni Gaudi.

These pictures don't do it justice, but it was absolutely huge!

It still is not finished, which is why there are construction cranes above the spires.

Gaudi's original design called for 18 spires, representing the 12 Apostles, the four Evangelists, the Virgin Mary and Jesus Christ. Eight spires have been built as of 2010, four in the front and four in the back.

There were beautiful stained glass windows throughout the church.

And very tall pillars holding up the intricately designed ceiling. Gaudi designed these to represent trees and branches. Gaudi is buried in the crypt below the church.

La Sagrada Familia was so stunning. Words cannot explain how immense and intricately detailed the church was. It is definitely a must see for anyone who visits Barcelona!

Rose and I then wandered to the Hospital de Sant Pau. It was on a tour guide's list of places to see and it was free, but as we wandered into the abandoned area, we actually had no idea what it was or what it held.

We were the only ones wandering around the grounds, which was eerie, and we realized it was because the buildings were being remodeled! This place was very beautiful and I wish we could have ventured into the buildings and seen more of the grounds.

Rose and I were a little creeped out because we were the only ones walking through the hospital grounds... but then we saw some cats...

And then we saw an old lady who set down her bags by the cats, which were full of cat food and milk! This woman clearly had come here before and the cats were rubbing up against her. She put out containers of milk and set up cat food on the ledges. She also had cardboard boxes and newspaper and she set up little homes for these cats. I thought she was an angel.

Rose really wanted to catch one of these cats!

We then walked to Torre Agbar, the 38 story tower that resembles a bullet.

And then we made our way down Gran Via de les Corts Catalanes and spied the Arc de Triomf from down the road!

The Arc de Triomf was the main gate for the Exposicion Universal de Barcelona in 1888. The front frieze reads Barcelona rep les nacions, which in Catalan translates to Barcelona welcomes the nations.