A Day at Park Güell: Color, Mosaics, and City Views

Yesterday we went to one of Barcelona’s most visited landmarks, the iconic Park Güell. The famous artist, Antoni Gaudí left his mark here as well. It is a very expansive park that sits on a hillside on the outskirts of the city. It was beautiful and busy!

Metro Pole Dancing and Anti-Tourism

We had to ride the metro to get there, which is always fun. This ride was bumpier than we’ve ever experienced, and resulted in a fairly embarrassing moment for me. I wasn’t hanging on very well and as the train lurched I fell backward, bumped into one person and stepped on the little man behind me. As I was falling, one foot in the air, I grabbed a hold of the pole in front of me. Once I was back upright, Alexis said through all of our laughter, “Mom you looked like you were pole dancing”.

We knew prior to coming to Barcelona that not everyone loves tourists. Aside from some aggressive local bike riders, we haven’t experienced any animosity so far. As we were waiting for our timed entry to the park, we saw these anti-tourism messages. We talked about how in an effort to get their message across they are really making things ugly.

The Beautiful Park Güell

A businessman named Eusebi Güell, originally planned Park Güell as an upscale city of 60 private residences. In 1900, he commissioned Antoni Gaudí to transform the hillside into a small garden community. The idea never took off though, as no one wanted to live that far outside the city. The park opened to the public in 1926 and became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1984.

It is an extremely popular place. We had to buy tickets ahead of time and they are timed entry. Once inside the park though, we could stay as long as we wanted. The main entrance showcases two gingerbread style houses. They look like something out of a Roald Dahl book.

Leading up from the entrance, is a beautiful mosaic stairway. It is centered around the colorful salamander/dragon fountain that has become the park’s most iconic image. I didn’t get a great picture of this, there were so many people.

There is main terrace is at the top of the stairway with a huge open plaza. This was meant to be a place for people to gather. There is a mosaic bench wrapping around the entire thing and beautiful views of the city below.

Directly below the terrace is the “Hall of 100 Columns”. This was meant to be the market place where residents could set up stalls to sell goods and services. There are intricate mosaic medallions covering the entire ceiling. It was stunning!

Throughout the rest of the park there are beautiful viaducts and colonnaded walkways built directly into the hillside. Many of the columns lean and tilt at angles that make them look almost like they’re part of the rock itself. It was a really beautiful place to spend the afternoon!

Beaches and Bargains

Today we took the metro a few stops north to check out a new beach. It was equally as crowded as our local beach, but we all agreed the sand was better and we enjoyed reading, relaxing and playing catch. A new grocery store (Aldi) just opened a block from our Airbnb, which I am super excited about. The prices are slightly cheaper and the produce selection is much better than other stores we’ve tried. It’s bringing me so much joy! We’ve really settled into living here, but nothing makes you look more American than buying two giant bags of groceries at a time. We ALWAYS have way more items than anyone else in line.