Fri 18.Feb.11
Barcelona, Catalunya, Spain
Whee! A Greek island this ain't, not least because nobody
understands Greek.
Welcome to Spain!
Here we are in the big city, in a pension on the second floor --
European
counting: ground floor = zero -- of an old multi-story building
in a central district called Barri
Gotic (Gothic Quarter).
Park Güell, my first must-see attraction, is about 20 minutes walk
uphill from the nearest Metro station. This is a modern-looking part of
town.
An honest to goodness escalator in the
sidewalk for a particularly steep block! A godsend. (Where was it's
counterpart on the climb out of the Metro station? Out of order, I
think, perhaps because they are constructing a new station for a new
line.)
Bocce Ball!
Been years since I last saw old men playing bocce ball in a park, I
think in Madrid or southern France. Maybe Italian Switzerland.
Anyway, it is a good heart-warming
sight. I wonder what they call it here? Probably not bocce ball - that sounds improbably
Italian for Spain.
Park Güell
(Pronounced "way". "Park Way", as in what you drive on.)
The park is a celebrated, exuberant, playful masterpiece from the great Catalan
architect Antoni Gaudí.
Even in mid-February, a sunny day draws a big turnout, and rightly so!
This place must be a zoo in high season.
Admission is free - this is public space at its highest!
A recurring theme is the smooth segue between natural and
artificial, blurring the usual sharp distinction, mixing features of each.
Oops!
We are at the end of the page.
Let's putter along here on the Park Güell (so to speak) until I get the next post together.
Contents Copyright 2012 Jeff Bulf