Barcelona: Park Guell

Where were we?? Oh yes…So we had one more day left in Barcelona. We had to plan out our itinerary for the day carefully in order to hit last minute must-dos on our list.

In the morning, we headed to Park Guell. It is the most important park in the city, as it was designed by Gaudi, of course, on request of Guell-guy. Originally, the area was supposed to turn into a serene estate for the rich, that’s why it’s a bit out of the city’s center. Unfortunately, the idea fell through and the only three houses that ended up being built there were Gaudi’s, Guell’s, and their lawyer’s. The park was a nice refreshing walk up and down the hills with some unique architectural designs—a good break for kids, but nothing out of the world unbelievably fabulous (at least I, Lyana think that).

One the most valuable tips we got from our guide from the previous day was that when going to Park Guell by metro, get off at a metro stop called “Vallcarca” and not the next one. That helped us a lot because otherwise…I don’t know if we would have survived the long walk from the metro stop to the park entrance without whining (from Robert).

Instead we did this:

Oh no, these are not tilted pictures.  This is truly how steep the streets on the way up to Park Guell. How is this better than the other possible route?

This is why it’s better-ha! Half of the streets had escalators! So fun !

Looking back at the street.

We got to the top entrance of the park, looked at the map written in Catalan and decided on a route not really knowing where we were going.  A few steps ahead we saw something that we had never seen before! haha Cacti with writings on them!!! Katya and Alex thought that was pretty amazing, of course.

The view on top was fantastic with clear skies and the whole city in front of us. The kids made it up the hill just fine.

La Sagrada (it has to be mentioned in each post at least once, you know?) is towering over the rest of the buildings.

Morning sun.

I am not sure what this monument was for. It was located on top of another small hill that had only steep winding stairs leading you to the top. I actually was too scared to go up…but Robert and the kids did it (I think I am beginning to suffer from fear of heights or something).

Making our way through the park we came across a place to rest.

A very interesting “passage way” where we were unsure which way was up or down or what. Fun for the kids.

That’s the passage way, made to look like the columns are actually palm trees, growing out of the ground.  Gaudi used a lot of natural elements in his architecture.

We came out of the “tunnel” and headed for an open area with a nice view, and this Serpentine Bench.

This technique of breaking tiles and then putting them back together is very Gaudi. It is gorgeous in real life.

Another nice view of the city in the background. I guess we were supposed to make a wish if we sit on it (I found that out too late), so make sure you do, when you go. The bench was a bit cold, but very comfortable.

We had a quick snack on the bench of crackers and mandarin oranges.  And, let’s say, one of us spilled a whole bunch of crackers on the ground. The best thing we could do is step on those spilled crackers to make them small enough for all the pigeons to eat.  Free pigeon food for kids to run around with.

The open area is great for children and

funny little green birds. Or should I say great for children who CHASE those birds.

Right by the main entrance to the park, you can find the famous DRAGON (or lizard). Very busy spot to take pictures, so this picture is a masterpiece considering the fact that we had to fight for our spot in the sun with a dozen of other people taking the dragon picture.

And here are a few more from the same stairs but opposite the lizard.

This is how busy it was, and that’s during an off-season month. So go early in the day.

Part of the entry design—houses with frosted roofs that look like they are from “Handsel and Gretel” fairy tale.

And finally, we found a Magic Ball that let us pick and choose which child we wanted to appear.

Or if we wanted to see all of them at the same time, the Magic Ball could do that too.

Okay, fine. For real, Robert was just having fun with the camera.

We spent almost two hours at the park, and that was plenty.  We walked a good fifteen-twenty minute downhill from the park towards the metro station, stopping on the way to pick up some bread, cheese, meat and fruit for a picnic style lunch. The kids couldn’t wait for our next stop that day—the beach.  So go find your sun glasses before you read our next post.