Parc Goell

(July 2, 2008)

After La Sagrada Familia yesterday, I was all psyhed for Parc Goell. This is a park located on a hill overlooking downtown Barcelona--a very pricey patch of real estate nowadays. I took the L3 (Green line) to the Vallcarca Station, and then trudged toward the park. Part of the walk is uphill. I thought it was crazy, but part of the walk uphill is eased by a few esclators! Very nice on a hot and sunny day!

On the way to Parc Guell I noticed some grafitti, and a flag stating feelings some locals have against tourists (and specifically, some of us "capitalist" tourists!). Nothing wrong with that. I know our standing globally isn´t the greatest. We can´t help how our government represents us in the world. Oh well.....

So, I entered from a fairly high point of the parc. There were a few items up here, but mainly I walked around the many paths, and explored. After exploring the "outskirts" portion of the Parc, I headed toward the central area. This is where much of Gaudi´s magic lurked. There is a an elevated "central square", which he elevated

with an array of pillars from below. So, one can hang out on top, or below. On top, the boundary of the square consists of a long bench with exquisite tile work. It´s a surprisingly comfortable bench. From the bench one can take a snooze or gaze upon downtown Barcelona below. It was really packed here when I was around, so I couldn´t imagine taking a quiet nap. I investigated the upper square and then went down the left flank. Along this path there are interesting "caves" Gaudi made out of brick & rock. Once you swerve back toward the center of the Parc you are around the entrance of the Parc. Here you can see two interesting buildings which looked like outposts on either side of the entrance. One of them looked like a gingerbread house!

I then slowly walked up the main entrance stairs. Here you can see an old fountain, and also a famous tiled lizard. There were also tons of us terrorists/tourists taking pictures here. Once you reach the top you are at the front of the lower

Square. In here you can see Gaudi´s famous pillars (I think they are of the same unique style he has at La Sagrada Familia). Once again there is more tile work to admire. I swear I could get lost in the lines, colors, and curves of Gaudi´s work. I knew I´d use lots of disk space taking pictures here! Once again, I won´t ramble too much here. I´ll let the pictures speak for themselves. :)