Gaudiland

OK, it’s not really called Gaudiland. That’s just me being a smart-aleck.

It’s really called Parc Güell, named for Eusebi Güell who was Gaudi’s patron. He dreamed of developing an English-style garden city on a hillside overlooking Barcelona. Gaudi’s job was to dress it up which, as you will see, he did.

The development failed and the land was sold to the city. It reopened as a public park in 1926.

Let’s pretend that we are potential homebuyers circa 1910. We arrive at the property to find a formal entrance between two fanciful gatehouses.

We marvel at the extensive tile mosaics as we climb to the observation plaza supported by a forest of large columns. We stop to take a photo of an interesting lizard but are thwarted by an old crone who will not get out of the way.

We have a quick look at the outside of Gaudi’s house, where he lived until he moved into his studio at the Sagrada Familia in 1928. Sadly for us, the house is closed today.

End of the imaginary homebuyer tour.

Here’s what the park looks like today. The area we’ve just seen is numbers 1-4 and 9 on the map.

We will now stroll counter-clockwise along the extremely curvy main path until we reach Güell’s house at number 16.

Here we are at Güell’s house, peering through locked gates.

We stroll down the remaining section of the main path (to the right on the map), admiring Gaudi’s walls and other works.

Just before the exit, between the columns of an elevated roadway, we came across a trio planing Spanish music. The percussionist doubled as a Flamenco dancer!

We hung around for a while, thoroughly enjoying the music. Then it was farewell to Parc Güell and off to find Tapas for lunch.