Friends Visit

Our dear friends, Maggi and Genelle, took a tour in Israel, then detoured over to Barcelona to spend time with our family.  It was wonderful to see them!  We meandered around Barcelona, ate good food (of course!), and even spent time at home figuring out how to make a great chocolate chip cookie!  (My previous attempt a month ago had failed...something must have gone awry amongst all the conversions... although we ate them anyway!)

Our first dinner out was at Cuines de Santa Caterina, adjoined to a great farmer's market.  

They have great pork ribs for those who like to eat pork.

 Here we are near the Arc de Triomf, which I have posted in previous blogs. 

I realized that I have not given any history or information on the Arc de Triomf (this is in the Catalan language, BYW), which is an spectacular landmark.  Barcelona hosted the World's Fair of 1888, and the arch was built as the gateway to the fair held in the massive Ciutadella Park.  The architect, Josep Vilaseca, designed the arch to show respect to the nations participating in the World's Fair (or Universal Exhibition) by showing Barcelona welcoming nations to the fair as they walk in, and on the other side Barcelona awarding medals to participants of the fair.  He also wanted represented the modern Barcelona at that time with images of agriculture, industry, commerce, and art on the sides of the arch.  This photo, taken at a different time, shows the welcoming of nations across the top band.

We made our way down to the beach and watched several games of soccer/volleyball.  It is a volleyball game where they only use their feet, chest, and head to hit the ball.  

It was captivating to watch and truly impressive...such ball control!!  

In my opinion, it should be an Olympic sport!

We went to Las Ramblas and saw the street costume artists again...

Together on Las Ramblas

Maggi and Genelle visited La Sagrada Familia (designed by Antoní Gaudí) and took great photos...thought I would share a few.  They went in the late afternoon/early evening with some good lighting inside.

We also went to Park Güell, which was designed by Antoní Gaudí.  This area was built from 1900-1914 and was originally planned to be a residential area with high quality homes and modern advancements for comfort, and that would incorporate English style gardens and open space throughout the neighborhood.  The concept never took off, as they could not sell the residential plots, being too far from the main area of town at the time.  

Here is a view from the park (before walking into the the real "artsy" part).  To the left is La Sagrada Familia.  Our first month in Barcelona we lived 4 blocks from those two towers near the ocean.

La Sagrada Familia on the right; you may notice that it is still under construction...

will be complete in 2030, they say.

 Now we are in the "artsy" part of Park Güell (or Parc Güell for the Catalan spelling)

This building is called the "porter's lodge" with a "Catalan vault style of construction...one of the few examples of modest dwellings created by Gaudí."  A bit nondescript as to its purpose, but still 

Standing next to the famous mosaic lizard.

You can't really get a photo of the lizard without the guard who is there to ensure that no one sits on or near that valuable colorful reptile...  :)

From this bench, you can get a decent view of the sights in the park below, as well as a bit of the city.    

View from the bench...

This space was originally conceived as an open and covered space 

to be used as a market, among other things.  

 

Some of the tile work at the top of the columns.

This is the grand terrace above the columns where you can look out over the city.

Views over the city from the terrace.  Yes, that is part of a Gaudí structure from below.

This bench, in the form of a winding serpent, winds around the perimeter of the terrace.  

It was not actually designed by Gaudí.

 This is the at the bottom of the park looking up the steps to the columns and top terrace.

So, that is MY version of Park Güell.  This is Nicholas's perspective:

What most people say about Parc Güell: it was very beautiful and my favorite part was the lizard by the front.  

This is what really goes down once you enter those fatal gates:  you swagger through the black metal on hinges that are open for poor hapless visitors, then you stagger up a deathly set of stairs to a glop of cement carrying a bunch of haphazard, colored shards of otherwise useless bits of unidentified objects on it (the famous lizard of many colors).  Then you must ooze your lump of flesh up more stairs and onto a dirt plaza which burns the very hairs on the back of your neck if you don't stay in the shade.  Then you hurtle out of the park and into an awaiting air conditioned tourist shop and pay rip-off prices for water.  Then you go home.  

Don't I love Parc Güell!

There is always funky artwork around the city to discover...these were a bunch of letters spelling what seemed like some wierd form of "Barcelona".

Nicholas on the "N"

Jacob on the "O"

A family photo