Gaudi and Parc Guell

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Today we finally got some of that legendary Spanish summer heat. We decided to take a trip to Parc Guell, a wooded and hilly 30 acre park in the north of Barcelona (that was intended to be a gated community a century ago). The Parc features a number of structures designed by Antonio Gaudi.

Antonio Gaudi was a engineer, architect & artist who lived in Barcelona in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and whose work is part of the "Catalan Art Nouveau" style. The buildings he designed are very unconventional, and feature curved (rather than straight) lines, bright colors, and evocative shapes. They are sprinkled throughout Barcelona, but this park features a concentration of them.

After finding our way to the park by bus, we took a nice (though very hot) walk through the wooded area, where Michael (aka Jeff Corwin) caught a tiny lizard. When we arrived at the main set of Gaudi structures, the boys played soccer, while the parents took photographs. This is a popular tourist attraction, and once again there were people there from all over the world. And, there was a local man whose self-appointed task was to make sure that people treated all of the Gaudi sculptures and buildings with respect by not standing on them. This he did by blowing a whistle and yelling in Catalan at people who violated his rules.

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Photos

Casa Mila (La Pedrera)
This Gaudi building is not in Parc Guell, but rather in downtown Barcelona, not far from our apartment

Boys atop the summit
The 3 Crosses in Parc Guell

Witch's House in Hansel & Gretel
Parc Guell entrance

Children
in Hansel & Gretel (Parc Guell Entrance)

The Main Entrance
to Parc Guell

Trencadis Salamander Fountain
Many tourists wanted to touch it (for luck?)

Soccer on the Square
Notice the man-made arches and columns giving the impression of natural caves.

Serpentine Tiled Benches
These benches surround the upper part of the square

The Square above the Hall of Columns
Surface is designed to filter rainwater into reservoir for fountains through the columns below. Genius!!

Unique Ceiling Designs
in the Hall of 100 Columns under the Square (there are only 85).

El Senor con Whistle
He made sure the tourists kept their feet off of the artwork.

Soccer in a schoolyard
on the grounds of Parc Guell