Barcelona! Park Guell!

Again the weather was not on our side in Barcelona. We wanted blue skies and sun and we got grey skies and no sun. With promises that it would clear up later in the day we headed to Park Guell. It's quite easy to access from both Vallcarca and Lesseps metro stops then a short walk. We went with Vallcarca which offers outdoor escalators to aid you in getting to the park.

Along the way we stopped in a cute little store where I purchased some pretty earrings for €6.  As we stepped into the large park we welcomed the blossoming cactus' and the beautiful walkways.  There were quite a few people also visiting the park along with us as we worked our way through the park towards the area containing Gaudi's portion.

The lovely view of Barcelona! Not. You can see Torre Agbar on the left and in the middle La Sagrada Familia with all its lovely cranes around it. The weather was warm enough just to get by in my pretty new top from Primark.

As we reached the lower area of the park we saw our first glimpses of the Gaudi area. The last time I had gone with my mother the place had been swarming with people. It did not look so bad there today but the reason why I am sure is because they are now charging to enter this section of the park which is known as the Monumental Zone. The rest of the park is entirely free but you must pay €7 to enter the park in a designated time slot. We got to the park around 1 pm and our slot was 2:30-3 pm so we wandered around the other parts of the park to pass the time.

At one of the highest points in the park there is Three Crosses and we climbed up it to get a view of Barcelona. Wishing it was sunny as the view would have been amazing but the sun was still hiding and Barcelona's city scape was still unclear. We were serenaded by this crazy gentleman in the photo below. Nothing like weird noises and repetitive "Oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah!" to complete your trip to this beautiful park.

Finally it was time to head back down and we perused the earring and jewellery stands that were set up for tourists such as ourselves. I ended up getting a bracelet and a pretty pair of earrings. We headed into the main terrace where a long bench covered in mosaics. Happily posing for seated pictures and admiring the different coloured mosaics. I think I have more photos of mosaics from this day then anything else.

Park Guell was designed by Antoni Gaudi, the famous Catalan architect who designed so many of the buildings from my previous post. Casa Mila, Casa Batllo and La Sagrada Familia to name a few. The park was built between 1900 and 1914 and is 17.18 hectares making it one of the largest architectual works in south Europe. It is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site and I think this is why they have started to charge for it and control the amount of people entering the Monumental zone. The park was originally part of a commercially unsuccessful housing site, the idea of Count Eusebi Güell, after whom the park was named. 

The famous mosaic lizard also called a dragon was happy to pose for photos. I didn't mind paying the entrance fee to see this beautiful park again. With the crowd control it was actually a pleasant visit and people were very courteous of taking turns to pose with the lizard.

 After feeling like we got our fill of the Monumental zone of the park and its gardens we headed out and walked leisurely towards the Lesseps metro stop. We stopped in a building advertising a 4-D Gaudi experience but skipped the show and instead checked out the large model of Park Guell and I posed with Gaudi himself.  He didn't seem too keen on smiling.

We left feeling quite happy and were even happier when we found some delicious fresh fruit popsicles. I got watermelon flavour and I think Jess got apple-kiwi? I can't remember but I know they were both delicious and Canada should get on that bandwagon for yummy popsicles.

Next post from Barcelona will be on La Pedrera so keep an eye out for it!