Time For A Journey To Barcelona!
It’s a beautiful city located on the Spanish Mediterranean, and you can get an amazing view of the “old city” by taking an aerial tram to the waterfront!
We did just that – along with many other adventures in this great city, which also has some of the most amazing parks in the world, including this one:
Welcome To Parc Guell!
It’s located on a hill overlooking central Barcelona, and was originally a proposed housing complex called “Parc Guell”. Quick backstory: Eusebi Güell assigned the design of the park to Antoni Gaudí, one of the world’s most renowned architects – and the face of Spanish Catalan modernism. The park was built between 1900 and 1914 and was officially opened as a public park in 1926. In 1984, UNESCO declared the park a World Heritage Site under “Works of Antoni Gaudí”.
Parc Güell is now one of the world’s most unique public parks – a series of gardens and architectonic elements located on Carmel Hill in Barcelona. As you can see, there are beautiful views of Barcelona from the park!
You can see one of Gaudi’s other Barcelona masterpieces in the distance on the left of the photo: the “still under construction” Sagrada Famiglia, an incredible Catholic church that has been “in progress” since 1882! Here is what it looks like up close:
Barcelona is full of Gaudi’s incredible work, but nothing is as inviting and full of unique touches as Parc Guell….
The park is packed all day with tourists because it is a fascinating place to roam, with amazing views and architecture. One of the first things you see when you arrive is the “Salamander Fountain”:
Here we are getting a shot with the salamander, which is very difficult because it is always surrounded by people doing the same thing!
This entire park is filled with unique walkways and catacombs: you could wander through these for hours on end…
The park is full of unique architecture and amazing art everywhere you look, including right above you:
As you can see, there are walkway both outside and within the structures, so you get a variety of great pictures like these:
This is a park for wandering in, and for taking picture after picture after picture…you see something unique every time you make a turn….
Sit Down And Feel Some Gaudi!
Yes, there is even art when you sit down! There is a large flat area amid the hills, and you can sit and relax for a minute, on these beautiful art benches!
The park has some of the original buildings that housed the owners, but we spent most of our time just taking in the amazing views in the distance – and all of the art around us:
As you can see, Parc Guell is an incredible place to wander and explore….in a city that is full of amazing adventures:
We had such a great time in Spain, our great friend Barbara gifted us this great book called “Gaudi Pop-Ups”:
It is complete with, you guessed it, pop up versions of some of his amazing work!
Remember the Sagrada Famiglia? How about “pop up” style:
Here is my story of the day we explored the inside and out of the Sagrada Famiglia…read it by clicking here:
http://johnrieber.com/2014/04/19/barcelonas-sagrada-famiglia-the-worlds-most-beautiful-construction/
Of course, there are SO many amazing things to explore. This was just one part of our incredible Spain adventure…if you missed any of those stories, here is what we did:
Check out the incredible Boqueria, Barcelona’s world famous food market…you can click on that story here:
http://johnrieber.com/2013/06/12/barcelonas-famous-boqueira-food-stalls-tapas-hanging-ham/
If that makes you hungry, then come along with us for some Tapas!
Here we are outside the world famous Cal Pep restaurant. You can see our entire menu by clicking here:
http://johnrieber.com/2013/05/20/barcelona-tapas-cal-pep-the-battle-for-tapas-supremacy/
Many consider Cal Pep the best tapas restaurant in Barcelona – but the great Chefs at Passadis del Pep may disagree!
You can read about our food adventure at Passadis by clicking here:
And of course, you can see all of our Barcelona trip by jumping on one of their high flying aerial trams!
Get the entire journey, with some fun aerial videos, by clicking here:
http://johnrieber.com/2013/08/08/barcelonas-sky-high-view-flying-over-spain-by-tram/
And we also had a great night at Barcelona’s “Magic Fountain:”
You can see some video of the fountain at night with its amazing light show by clicking on my story here:
http://johnrieber.com/2014/02/21/barcelonas-magic-fountain-spains-magical-city-at-night/
And we got the chance to explore the Spanish “Costa Brava” as well!
And of course, you can read all about our adventure on the Costa Brava, especially as we searched for Salvador Dali’s house! Click here for that misadventure:
http://johnrieber.com/2013/11/02/searching-for-salvadore-dali-our-costa-brava-adventure-hello-dali/
At the end of the day, it was one of our favorite adventures ever, thanks Spain!
And thanks to Barcelona for such an amazing architectural adventure!
