LA SAGRADA FAMILIA. .. If you are like me, most of the names of these buildings are new. And, many will be hard to pronounce or remember. However, even I knew La Sagrada Familia before setting down on Catalan soil. This temple occupied Gaudí the last forty years of his life.

Begun in 1882, it still isn't completed. I knew that. But, I didn't know that it isn't even half-way completed. Some people feel it will never be finished. Others believe that it shouldn't be touched any more and sort of left as a monument to Gaudí's genius. However, those in charge of the construction claim that it should all be complete in 2022.

MARTIN

The man behind the idea for the temple was a rich publisher named Josep Marià Bocabella i Verdaguer. When Pope Pius IX called for a renewed devotion to Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, Bocabella listened. La Sagrada Familia, which translates as the Sacred Family, was begun as a wake up call for decadent Barcelona to return to the Holy Family and confess their sins. If you walk the Rambla at night, you can see that he wasn't one hundred percent successful.

MARTIN