Sagrada Familia: The Genius of Antoni Gaudi

For tonight's special presentation on our talkshow on Straight from the Sky brings you a talk about SunLife of Canada by Michael Manuel's SunLife of Canada Chief Marketing Officer. It has taken nearly three years for me to catch Mr. Manuel whom I met in Cebu during an economic presentation given by SunLife. He was brutally frank telling us that despite a bungling President, then Pres. PNoy Aquino, the Philippine economy was on the rise. Yet we mistakenly thought that our strong economy was due to the economic policies presented by the Aquino Regime. But it turned out to be another propaganda.

So watch this highly-informative and interesting interview with Mr. Michael Manuel tonight on SkyCable's channel 53 at 8:00PM with replays on Wednesday and Saturday same time and channel. We also have replays on MyTV's channel 30 at 9:00PM Monday and at 7:00AM and 9:00PM on Wednesday and Friday.

***

ON THE BOARD MV ROYAL PRINCESS - Yes we are now on board the Royal Princes cruise ship on our Mediterranean cruise on our way to Marseille, France. This is my first ever to take a cruise liner and although I'm not the worrying kind, one cannot forget what happened to the SS Titanic decades ago or very recently the Costa Concordia a modern cruise liner that sank when it struck a rock. But other than that, I'm sure we would be okay.

Incidentally today is the 16th anniversary of the infamous bombing of the World Trade Center by Muslim terrorists using airliners to crash into the twin towers of the World Trade Center. It has been 16 years since the world witnessed a terror incident of that kind. However we just left Barcelona, which was subjected to another type of terror attack only last August 17. While Barcelona is still reeling from the incident, however the tourists visiting this Catalan City apparently is oblivious to the terror threat and flocks to the famous La Rambla tourist spot where the terror attack took place where 13 people were killed and 130 were injured.

We finally dropped by the famous Sagrada Familia Basilica, the first and last creation of famous architect Antoni Gaudi. I have seen numerous photographs and video documentaries about the Sagrada Familia, which apparently it was a project was not originally to Gaudi. However the original architect left the project and this was given to Gaudi. No one knew that the young Gaudi was an architectural genius and he did not want to take on another Gothic church project for the simple reason that there are so many Gothic churches in Europe. One such famous Gothic Cathedral is the Norte Dame in Paris.

The planners acceded to Gaudi's new plans and the result was the Sagrada Familia that has become world famous today as a great work of art and not just a plain Gothic Church. Construction started on March 19, 1882 and remains unfinished today. Apparently Antoni Gaudi was hit by a Tram and no one knew who he was so they put him in a poor man's hospital until someone discovered him. But it was too late. He died from his wounds on June 19, 1926 leaving his work unfinished. They call it the Art Nouveau architecture. Other architects follow Gaudi but no one dared depart from his original plan.

What is remarkable in the Sagrada Familia is that it was built entirely from donations of the people of Barcelona. As Barcelona's top tourist drawer, getting tickets to see the Sagrada Familia means enduring long queues. However we paid for a reservation with an English-speaking tour guide. Seeing the Sagrada Familia up close simply takes your breath away. Inside the Basilica is just as remarkable as it is outside. Incidentally, you can see the crypt of Antoni Gaudi in the bowels of this church.

The biggest question in everyone's mind is, when will the Sagrada Familia finally be finished. Right now the official answer to that question is on June 10, 2026 on the 100th anniversary of Gaudi's death. Aside from the Sagrada Familia, there is the Casa Galvet, the Casa Batllo and the Park Guell just to name a few. Tourists who come to see the Sagrada Familia and realize the genius of Antoni Gaudi make a beeline to Gaudi's other equally unique work of art, which is spread throughout Barcelona.