Friday 29 May 2026
For thirty years—nearly 11,000 days—I had been dreaming and talking about visiting Barcelona, Spain simply for Antoni Gaudí. He is one of my most beloved artists.
Why did I postpone going?
Why would I substitute Barcelona with other international destinations, deluding myself by saying: “Next time.”
So finally; I went!
January 2026.
Weeks before my May 2025 open-heart surgery, I swore I would go to Barcelona when I had healed sufficiently enough to board an airplane. No more waiting. No more regrets.
“We are all walking time bombs. Don’t know when or how, but soon enough we will all die,” I said countless times before my open-heart surgery. I’m silently reciting right now Dylan Thomas’ poem, “Do not go gentle into that good night.” It’s a good motivator. I don’t intend to go gently either.
I don’t understand how I convinced myself “Next time” when my postponements were senseless and unconvincing. Why was I torturing myself? If Gaudí was as important an artist as I made him out to be, people couldn’t understand my lame excuses for not going to Barcelona. How could they when I couldn’t explain it to myself. We only have so many finite and healthy days. And I squandered so many opportunities to see Gaudí’s Barcelona. Nothing is as sobering and wasteful as not living the life you always imagined. “Just go.”
In September 2026, several airliners lowered their overseas rates. Facebook and Instagram flooded my feed with ads from British Airways, Iberia Airlines, and others. And they all featured discounted airfare prices specifically for Barcelona. Oh, how Big Brother knows everything about me.
First accomplishment: I booked my airfare. I WAS GOING!
And of course; I stayed at the Sercotel Rosellón Hotel. I selected a room with a Sagrada Familia view. I could then see and experience Gaudí’s masterpiece anytime by simply looking out my hotel room window. Doing so was well worth it. Moreover, the view of Sagrada Familia from Sercotel Rosellón Hotel’s rooftop bar is astonishing. From that vantage point, Sagrada Familia reminded me why I fell in love with Gaudí’s architecture. Standing there, I tried to sense its aura. “It” didn’t happen; that sensation, the creative life-force energy all works of art have, didn’t stun me. Did I wait too long? This moment was intended to be another peak in my life’s journey. I was worried.
I needed to make up for thirty years’ worth of procrastination. I didn’t say anything. I probably even had a melancholy smile. “Why did I wait so long?” I asked myself. The answer didn’t yet come to me. I sat there and gazed upon it as if my life depended on it. And it did.
The moment I first discovered Gaudí, I honestly don’t remember when, how, or where I found him. Was it in an art book? Which one? Disappointing yourself for 30 years, I lost track of that important date. A lesson now learned: keep an intellectual diary. Write down every new intellectual and artistic discovery.
Booking entry tickets to Sagrada Familia beforehand is mandatory.
Should I visit in the morning or afternoon? Timing makes a difference: in the morning, the sunlight glows in blues and greens; in the afternoon, sunbeams blush in reds and yellows. If you truly know me; you are correct. Purchasing two different timed entry tickets, I experienced all the hues. Both the Nativity Tower and the Passion Tower offer different viewing experiences and require two different tickets, and I experienced both, too.
During my morning tour of Sagrada Familia, I stood in the central nave, wondering “Why? Why am I not feeling “it”? I felt “it” when I visited the Vatican’s Sistine Chapel. I cried. I stuttered. I trembled. Michaelangelo’s masterpieces stupefied me. I expected (and wanted) to feel “it” inside the Sagrada Familia, even more powerfully than before. “I guess I waited too long,” I confessed. A silent and pathetic defeat overcame me.
Hiding the tear in my eye, I looked upward. The tree-like pillars soared, and I stared.
Then I felt “it.” “It” felt like wind. Goosebumps. I was experiencing “it.” Finally! “I waited this long because I needed to be HERE at this exact moment! Not in 1996 or 1999 or 2017. My unconscious chose January 2026 for a reason. I wasn’t yet a college professor in 1996 or 1999. In 2017, Sagrada Familia didn’t yet have a roof. In January 2026, I witnessed workers and engineers complete the Tower of Jesus Christ. If I hadn’t visited Barcelona when I did, I wouldn’t have been able to “feel” the blues, greens, reds, and yellows of the stained-glass windows. If I had visited earlier, I wouldn’t have had the same experiences. I was a different person, and Sagrada Familia was a different church then.
I knew before landing in Barcelona that I would return. For some reason, Gaudí’s La Pedrera – Casa Milà was closed during the week of my visit. Moreover, I ran out of time to visit his Cripta de la Colònia Güell in Santa Coloma de Cervelló.
¡Buen viaje! And in Catalan, Que tingui un bon viatge!