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Parc Güell and walking through the old town
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Tuesday 27 November, Parc Güell and walking through the old town
Our last whole day in Barcelona we want to spend in Parc Güell. Last summer we have been walking there for a few hours and we think it is the nicest park in the whole city. La Sagrada Familia is an impressive masterpiece of Gaudi, but this park is his 'natural' masterpiece, in our opinion. Nature and art are interweaved in a superb manner and the result creates a serene peace which even the tourists and schoolkids cannot disturb. It is a pity it is cloudy this day and cooler than the days before, but still 15°C.
The walk to the park is an experience you don't want to miss: a steep climb with, fortunately, escalators in the open air. Our legs surely are very thankful for that...
From the park on the mountain Muntanya Pelada in the district La Salut we have a nice view on the town and from almost everywhere we can see the Sagrada Familia in the distance, Gaudi's other masterpiece.
The weather seems to get a bit better since we can take our coats off, here. But when the sun disappears again it feels quite chilly.
Between 1900 and 1914 Gaudi was busy building this park, an assignment of Eusebi Güell, and he was assisted by Rubio, Berenguer and Jujol. In 1906 Gaudi went to live in the park in a house designed by Berenguer. Nowadays there is a museum about Gaudi in this house. On the way to the house we see a dog chasing a cat into a tree. To the right a portait of Gaudi.
The pathways through the park merge with the landscape and even the pillars seem to be a special natural phenomenon instead of artificial structures.
In this park a hundred villa's were supposed to be build, but due to financial problems the project was never finished.
To the right the two houses that have been build, typical Gaudi-like fairy tale houses. To the left a lizard which is in fact the drain of a water reservoir, located under an enormous square, supported by large pillars.
Our feet hurt and our legs won't carry us anymore, so it is time for another long break. There are quite a lot of people near the central square of the park, but on most places one doesn't notice since the park is very big.
Back in the centre we visit the cathedral at the Placa Nova. It is dedicated to St. Eulalia. In the ambulatory there is a subtropic garden with orange trees, medlars and palm trees. And there are 13 noisy geese, representing the age of St. Eulalia when she died as a martyr. The cathedral was founded in the 13th century, but the facade dates from the 19th century. Since the weather produces bad light for photographs we use here a picture we made last summer.
In southern Spain and Portugal many houses have nice inner courts with lots of trees and plants. In Barcelona we didn't see much of that, everything is more closed. But we find a view. Here a court we pass in the afternoon and later again, that night.
Of course we have to make a picture of the hotel, but the view from our room is much better: the old harbour of Barcelona.
We make a last long walk through the city, through the narrow streets of the old city with its colourful shops and over the Ramblas, to say goodbye to Barcelona. Now and then we stop at a bar to have a drink or eat a snack. Barcelona really is a paradise to just wander about.
© Teije & Elisabeth 2000 - 2023 
