A nice Sunday Walk in Barcelona

Sunday is such a calm day in European cities. Most of the shops are closed and the streets are noticeably quiet.

I worked all morning, then decided to go out for a walk up to Parc Guell. I have been there before but was mainly interested in a bit of exercise - and it is straight uphill from my hotel.

Along the way there and back there were many interesting diversions.
Navigating my way by sound and smell was the way to go. There are little shops selling baguette sandwiches and some roasting chickens with garlic. Mmmm the aroma is mouthwatering.

Up near the park there is an exposed rock face. Some climbers were getting in some training time. It was hardly dangerous - they were only a foot off the ground. But they were prepared to go 30 feet straight up.


Parc Guell is another Gaudi creation from the turn of the 20th century. A rich friend of his hired him to create a modern 15 acre estate for the rich to live. Unfortunately it did not get enough buyers to make it work and it was abandoned. But the city bought in 1918 and made it a public area. It is also a UNESCO world heritage site.

Gaudi loved curves. He would break beautiful tiles into pieces so he could use them in mosaics on curved surfaces. And the park has some amazing masterworks such as the lizard at the entrance, the balcony and the crazy houses at the bottom.



You can see the Mediterranean in the distance in these pics from the balcony.









I love street art. Here are a few examples from my walk. The graffiti is on the sliding metal window cover - used to prevent break ins when the shop is closed.



Rambling, rambling...


So I was walking back to my hotel feeling a little sorry for myself. On Sunday everyone is out walking with their sweetheart or their children or both. I have neither. So I was feeling a bit sad.
Then I followed the sound of some music - it was the swing tune Mack the Knife. Barcelona Spain is an odd place for such a tune. I came into the square in front of the church of St. Joan and found about a hundred people dancing! There was a DJ playing You Give Me Fever and a Louis Armstrong tune and everyone - all shapes, sizes and ages - were dancing! It was wonderful! I couldn't help but smile.



This is another crazy Gaudi building around the corner from my hotel. Its called Le Pedrera.


Feeling better I ducked in to a restaurant called Glop for lunch. There's nothing like a nice frothy beer, endive salad with Rochefort dressing and Sobrasada. Sobrasada is a soft, paprika spiked salami. It is gorgeous.

Well, back to work. I have some emails clogging my outbox and inbox and I am back researching Monday, so there is much to do. Later tonight I have a tapas restaurant in my sights. I got caught a bit late last night and couldn't get in. Not this time!