Now that Amazon debacle sounds like chalanting for sure. The one time I used it it was NOT intuitive. Ugh.

I've been to Barcelona a number of times and seen the Sagrada familia from the outside but never in. My son went with his family this year but didn't go in either - perhaps the cost, perhaps the heat and a whiney 4 yo in tow. I was saddened to here the Parc Guell was also pricey - when I went twenty years ago it was free. But yes, the architecture of churches are incredible, and their history, though imagine if the effort and money went to the people instead of the church..

Did you ever read The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett? It was one of those books I squirreled off Mums shelf as a kid when I was transitioning to adult books - about the building of a cathedral over decades, with the story moving through the lives of generations of people involved in its construction, politics and surrounding community. Though I can't recall the details much I remember the enormity of the project. How a building can draw so many into its vortex.

You in the dive bar - oh yes, that looks like a hangover waiting to happen.