Parks / Plazas, Barcelona

I passed by this park on the Bus Turistic. It was built back in the 80's and was quite controversial. Its supposed to be a modern version of Roman baths. The towers are like lighthouses and the park houses various sculptuers including a large one of the dragon of St George fame.

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This palace was formed out of the Finca Guell summer estate and was intended as a summer residence for the Spanish Royal family. They hardly stayed here but its a nice place to wander round the grounds, have a picnic etc. There are two museums in the palace now - one for ceramics and the other for decorative arts.

On the edge of the estate you can also see the Pavellons de la Finca Guell. Gaudi designed these gatehouses to the Guell estate. well worth a look

The district of Barcelona l'Eixample begins from the Catalonia square and includes the big site of that refers to as heart of modern Barcelona. The idea of architect Ildefons Serd-i-Sunier consisted in the creation of garden city on the basis of squares of the streets crossed perpendicularly, with internal spaces in each district, intended that their inhabitants could spend there leisure-times.

If you want to relax, listen to some great music, have a few beers (and maybe a few other goodies...), you should really check out the Parc de Ciutadella on Sunday afternoons. It's a very laid-back place where younger people (not too young - mostly 20 - 30 year olds) hang around just being mellow and enjoying the afternoon. It's a good bit hippyish/artsy, and oftentimes vendors are selling homemade crafts and homemade foods, in addition to the Moroccan immigrants selling you cerveza for $1 euro (not a bad buy). If you want to enjoy the city but not really do anything, or need to nurse that nasty hangover, this is the place for you.

If you like parks this is one I think you'd like to visit. It's the ideal place to take a rest and even a picnic. If you have visited Palau Pedralbes or Pabellons Güell you can go to this place which isn't far from them.
Go along Av Diagona until you are in Francesc Macià square. From there there is Av Pau Casals. Take this street, keep walking and in a cuople of minutes you get t this park, named by the way Turó Parc)
Monet would had enjoyed this place and sure he'd had painted the water lilies in the ponds there.

Sunday at the Ciudadella Park
Every sunday, hundreds of people used to get there to spend the evening having a great time, just by enjoying the surroundings, listening to several percusionists and drums enthusiasts, and feeling the good vibes just for being part of the crowd.

Those days are over thanks to the local authorities. Now is quiet and sometimes boring.

Hopefully, one day the party will return....

When you are in Parc de la Ciutadella, take a good look at the high palmtrees standing here. In the top of these trees you can discover wild parrots makes their nest or taking care of their young ones. Really a nice thing to see.

This park is a massive park, a little way down from the Placa d'Espanya. It has football pitches and sporting areas, and then an elevated section with a small lake and this huge statue by the Catalan artist Joan Miro.

The sculpture is called Woman and Bird (Dona i Ocell in Catalan) and is pretty typical of Miro. This is not my favourite Miro creation. Paris has a much better one in La Defense (see my Paris pages for this). If you like Joan Miro, then his Foundation (Art Gallery in Montjuic, Barcelona is a must see).

Use Metro Tarragona.

This palace contains a ceramics musuem, but the gardens are a very beautiful place and quite formal. The gardens are used by many people for first communion photos.

This is on the new tram system, closest to Palau Reial.

Sadly, Snowflake, the only known albino gorilla in the world has died of skin cancer in November 2003. He was the main attraction of the Barcelona Zoo. He was 38 years old, and conceived 33 successors, but none of them white as he was.