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<\/a>Old Parc Guell Entrance<\/p><\/div>\n
Today is a kind of Antonio Gaudi day. We have a reserved time for the monumental area of Parc Guell, designed by Gaudi and the plan to walk and see the exteriors of a few of his buildings around town. We take a metro to the Alfons X stop, where our tickets include a free bus shuttle uphill to the Park. Of course, the tickets do not tell you which of the four possible exits to use from the metro, so we take a guess and choose the Alfons X plaza exit. We chose wisely as a bus is waiting when we hit daylight.<\/p>\n
<\/a>Gaudi Land<\/p><\/div>\n
We enter the park about an hour earlier than our entry time and wander to find the entrance to the Monumental Zone. The rest of the park is free and not on a schedule. When we find an entrance and ask the guy if this is where we enter later, he tells us we can go in now if we want. That is fine with us as we have learned that the later you go, the more tour groups find their way to you.<\/p>\n
<\/a>Pathway of Columns<\/p><\/div>\n
We descend the pathway of columns which looks kind of like a surfers tube as it undulates down toward the original entrance into this area. The park was owned by Mr. Guell, a very rich industrialist who had hired Gaudi on previous projects. The plan was to make this area a Gaudi real estate development, exclusive, in its residents. It ultimately failed as apparently the high society ladies did not want to be so far from the then center of Barcelona and all its activities and social affairs.<\/p>\n
<\/a>Touchdown<\/p><\/div>\n
We check out the Hall of 100 columns which is having some restoration work done. It was designed to house a market for the 60 mansions planned for here. Some columns lean in, some out to give it a curvy feel. We have to climb the Grand staircase to the Hall. It includes a ceramic dragon fountain, and ceramic tiles along the banisters. We also enter one of the two houses in the area. The interior is not really that great but the exterior is very colorful and Gaudiesque.<\/p>\n
<\/a>Sitting on a Park Bench<\/p><\/div>\n
We climb back up through some gardens to the Terrace which is surrounded by curved tile benches to sit on and enjoy the Barcelona View from this hilltop perch. We exit the monumental zone and walk around a good portion of the park. We find a nice bench to enjoy our sandwich lunch that we packed and then walk back to the shuttle bus area. I think we both were expecting more of this park. The paid area was much smaller than we imagined, and for some reason, we thought there were more structures within the park. It was nice but not, oh I would go there again, or recommend it nice. Back at the metro station, we get our bearings and walk to our next stop. We are out of the tourist zone as our over a mile walk takes us through neighborhoods going about the business of living.<\/p>\n
<\/a>Casa Vicens<\/p><\/div>\n
Our next stop is Casa Vicens, another house designed by Gaudi. This is the newest one available for touring but we just wanted to see the exterior, which is very nice and colorful. It also has a very cool wrought iron fence surrounding it. From there, we walk towards Casa Mila, another Gaudi design built for another wealthy industrialist. Along the way we get a slice of pizza to fuel our continued walking.<\/p>\n