Mike Jones
<font color=993300>....nothing clever to say... ju
- Joined
- Jun 23, 2003
- Messages
- 1,372
(Link to Full Index, Days 1-6)
Day 5 - Thursday 12 October 2006.
Slept solidly until 5:30am awoke to find it was still raining so back to bed for another couple of hours. By the time we had showered and left the hotel the rain had more or less stopped, leaving the air much fresher and cooler than yesterday.
We stroll through the old town, past Le Seu (Cathedral) where a flea market is setting up in the main square.
Breakfast follows, at Vildsvin (the oyster bar from the other night). Fresh orange juice, omelette, chocolate pastry and coffees. 12 Euro, and very nice too.
Our objective today is a visit to Parc Guell. This is far enough north to justify a tube ride. We take the Metro from the Liceu station on the Ramblas to Vallcarca, the nearest stop to the estate. From here, there is a signposted, pedestrian route of less than half a mile, although most of it is steeply uphill!
Sadly the rain has returned. We follow the directions and enter the park at what appears to be an alternative access point close to the uppermost level.
A bit of history Parc Guell was undoubtedly Antoni Gaudis most ambitious project after the Sagrada Familia. Commissioned by his patron and friend, Eusebi Guell, it was conceived as a private housing estate of more than 60 dwellings laid out on a hillside overlooking the city. With aspirations to become almost a garden city, aimed at the wealthy, upwardly-mobile citizens of the period, it was to have included a market, school, recreation areas and church. However, even though it was in progress from 1900 1914, it was a commercial failure, and in the end only two houses and some imposing monuments and features were completed. It was subsequently bought by the city and opened as a park in 1922.
We choose to climb from the edge of the park where we enter and are soon standing upon a raised dias with stunning views of the city and surrounding hills. This spot is marked by three crosses and was to have been the site of Gaudis church in the original plan.
We follow one of several, meandering paths off the hilltop and walk down through pleasant, wooded gardens to the main terrace area, an area marked and enclosed by a bright, mosaic-tiled and serpentine bench around its perimeter. The views are excellent and include the two completed buildings below.
The rain continues to fall and the African vendors are today flogging umbrellas at a very reasonable 3 Euro instead of their usual scarves, bags and sunglasses!
Gaudi actually lived in the park, from 1906, theoretically until his death in 1926, although for many years he effectively camped out at the Sagrada Familia, his enduring love. His house is called Casa Vicens, and was built for the architect in the grounds of the park in 1904. The property is now given over to the Gaudi Museum, and stands a little uphill and to the side of the terrace.
Day 5 - Thursday 12 October 2006.
Slept solidly until 5:30am awoke to find it was still raining so back to bed for another couple of hours. By the time we had showered and left the hotel the rain had more or less stopped, leaving the air much fresher and cooler than yesterday.
We stroll through the old town, past Le Seu (Cathedral) where a flea market is setting up in the main square.
Breakfast follows, at Vildsvin (the oyster bar from the other night). Fresh orange juice, omelette, chocolate pastry and coffees. 12 Euro, and very nice too.
Our objective today is a visit to Parc Guell. This is far enough north to justify a tube ride. We take the Metro from the Liceu station on the Ramblas to Vallcarca, the nearest stop to the estate. From here, there is a signposted, pedestrian route of less than half a mile, although most of it is steeply uphill!
Sadly the rain has returned. We follow the directions and enter the park at what appears to be an alternative access point close to the uppermost level.
A bit of history Parc Guell was undoubtedly Antoni Gaudis most ambitious project after the Sagrada Familia. Commissioned by his patron and friend, Eusebi Guell, it was conceived as a private housing estate of more than 60 dwellings laid out on a hillside overlooking the city. With aspirations to become almost a garden city, aimed at the wealthy, upwardly-mobile citizens of the period, it was to have included a market, school, recreation areas and church. However, even though it was in progress from 1900 1914, it was a commercial failure, and in the end only two houses and some imposing monuments and features were completed. It was subsequently bought by the city and opened as a park in 1922.
We choose to climb from the edge of the park where we enter and are soon standing upon a raised dias with stunning views of the city and surrounding hills. This spot is marked by three crosses and was to have been the site of Gaudis church in the original plan.
We follow one of several, meandering paths off the hilltop and walk down through pleasant, wooded gardens to the main terrace area, an area marked and enclosed by a bright, mosaic-tiled and serpentine bench around its perimeter. The views are excellent and include the two completed buildings below.
The rain continues to fall and the African vendors are today flogging umbrellas at a very reasonable 3 Euro instead of their usual scarves, bags and sunglasses!
Gaudi actually lived in the park, from 1906, theoretically until his death in 1926, although for many years he effectively camped out at the Sagrada Familia, his enduring love. His house is called Casa Vicens, and was built for the architect in the grounds of the park in 1904. The property is now given over to the Gaudi Museum, and stands a little uphill and to the side of the terrace.
