Monday, July 4, 2011

Park Güell - Antoni Gaudí

It was a loooong walk to a destination I wasn't sure what or where to stop.

The bus dropped me off, or rather, I dropped myself off at a random location I thought was appropriate, only to find myself several stops too far from where I should be getting off.

Afterall, I couldn't speak the language, no one could understand me, it's all down to my instinct, which was terrible considering I'm a self-declared road idiot.

walk up to park guell
up, up and up.


As luck would have it, and I'm usually lucky in my travels, I found myself in a beeline with random walkers, all heading towards the same direction. I knew Park Güell shouldn't be too far.

I was wrong.

It was bloody far.

long way down
see all the way down the bottom? I came from there.


Not knowing where I was coming from or heading to, as usual, it turned out I ended up entering the park through the back way instead of the main entrance, which I heard could be a little difficult to locate coming from where I was; wherever I was.

I took people's words for it too easily.


park guell map
the map! I must be in the park! woo~hoo~~!


And then, at one point of climbing, the view became better.

barcelona city view from park guell


And better.

view from park guell_large
view large size here.


and BETTER.

barcelona city from park guell_large
HAVE to view the large size here.


Finally, from a distance, I could see the main part of the park.

park guell_large



Park Guell is free to enter, and as a park with many visitors, you will find many performing artists at every corner doing their daily/weekly routine.

trio


park guell visitors
rooftop of the court


invisible man
the invisible man!


colorful fans
random vendors were there too!
I love these colorful fans


park guell main entrance
Now that's the entrance, where I should be coming in from. Which I used to leave Park Güell later. -.-


corridor
weird corridor at the side of the court, where a lot of people took photos of/with/in.


ceiling
the court unique mosaic ceiling


round stone ceiling


top of hall
the side


Saw two singers at the court surrounded by a crowd, they were good.

singing duo


Let's have a look at the main piece of Park Güell.

park guell lizard
Not the girl


I bet most of you have seen this mosaic lizard somewhere, read it somewhere during your childhood.

park guell mosaic dragon


Well if you have not, just know that it's bloody famous. I've always remembered this piece of lizard, it's actually a dragon, but never knew it's the symbol in Park Güell, I was glad to have made the effort to come all the way to the park.


park guell mosaic dragon 2


me and park guell
me!!! Phew! Finally manage to get a spot with the dragon, everyone was fighting over it.


park guell mosaic drago3


Other parts of Park Güell:

mosaic sculpture


candy house
looks like a candy house



A little fun facts about Park Güell: built in 1900 to 1914, one of the works of Anthoni Gaudi, the idea of Count Eusebi Güell, hence the name; Park Güell used to be a high-end housing site for the rich, inspired by the English Garden City movement, but it turned out unsuccessful, instead of having allocated 60 lots to build luxury houses, only few of the rich bought the land here to build their homes.

Including Gaudi himself.

Parc Güell (in Catalan spelling) was where you would find the famous Catalan Architect lived, till his death in 1926.


Let's have a look at his house, shall we?

gaudi pink house


pink house on park guell


Oh yes it's pink alright.
Gotta love the man for having taste. ;)

gaudi head


He might be old, but never lost his charms.

gaudi statue


After Gaudi's death, the house was bought over by an Italian couple who owned an musical instrument shop in Barcelona. In 1960 their heirs sold the house off to friends of Gaudi who made it into a museum it was today.

In the house, you would find a lot of Gaudi's inspired furnitures, as well as things left by the musical Italian couple.

twin chair


triplet chair
the early evolvement of the new age sofa?


piano room


living room


toilet


arch to toilet
remember the arch? very Gaudi aint it?


Oh and I LOVE this.

mirror holder umbrella stand
It's a stand mirror, with two side mini platform to put keys and stuff, and also two umbrella holders.

Brilliant!


antique lamp
lamp


Let's have a last look at the magnificient and failed but completed project of luxury housing community: Park Güell.

entering park guell
The entrance.


park guell stairs


When I finally gathered my things and prepared to leave Park Güell, this time through the main entrance, it was almost sun set.

There was a lizard man at the entrance allowing tourists to take photos with him.

lizard man and kids


So cute. They even provide photo-takers with matching lizard hats for the picture.

lizard man and i


*Hello, meet my brother"



View his other works here:-
Casa Milà
Casa Batlló &
Sagrada Familia

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