Parc Güell

Wake up calls were hardly heeded at first, we were so dead to the world, but a hearty breakfast with lots of protein options had us in the bus by 9:10 and off to a day of Barcelona's best, the work of the city's celebrated architect, Antoní Gaudí.

We have a local Catalan guide and we head up the narrow streets as she explains the design and layout of the "Expansion" part of the city (the newer part west of the old Barrio Gótico). I am particulary excited because this is where I lived here when I was a 16 year-old, just above Parque Guell.

Gaudi's plan for Parque Guell was for it to be a "gated community" where lots would be sold and houses built. A church and a school were to be part of the plan. People lost interest and the project lay idle for a while, when eventually the sons of the Guell family sold it to the city and it was turned into a public park. Gaudi, as always, incorporated ahead-of-his-time ideas of recycling, conservation of nature, and religion in every aspect. The "Wave" colonade has the fluid feel of a surfer being in the curl of a wave. The columns are free form, but some are feminine in form. Water flows through his structures, animals live in them, and spaces are preserved for plants to be a part of the experience.

We follow the "rosary beads" of Gaudi (he was intensely religious)

to the central terrace, the longest park bench in the world, a wavy ceramic design, using recycled materials. The day is gorgeous and the view of the Mediterranean is better than usual for a day in Barcelona. No smog, fog...perfect.

The view to the entrance from up here is wonderful, with the "Hantsel and Grettel" houses for the gardner and gatekeper on either side.

The support for the terrace is an impressive "Forest of Columns" designed to be a market for the community. There is great tile work in the ceiling.

We finish with what should come first, the entrance.

At the very entrance, we have the gate itself. Ironwork (gates, lamps, balconies, banisters, window frames) was always a specialty for Gaudi, another chance to let the imagination speak.

Ironically, we see this space, designed for people to slow down, relax and commune with nature and art, all in 45 minutes. But we managed to beat out a parking lot full of Japonese tourists, and the battle proceeds to La Sagrada Familia where there are plenty more!