A Day with Gaudi

we started the day by going to Parc Guell. my poor girls. actually, my poor arms. i pushed Claire uphill all the way up to the park in 90 degree heat. but it was all worth it. it was worth it to buy the girls popsicles just so they'd be distracted from the heat. it was worth the endless, are we there yet?? i'd seen pictures of Parc Guell, but they couldn't quite convey the magical quality of the place. if you took away the heat and all the tourists (us included) :) Parc Guell seemed like a place for fairies and nymphs. how did Gaudi do it?

when i explained to Skye how Gaudi used broken tiles to create his mosaics, she felt quite inspired. i told her she could do the same thing, just substitute tiles for paper. i think we have an art project to do when we get back home!

while i was busy admiring Gaudi's work and taking pictures of the beauty around us, others were busy taking pictures of Claire. yes, she upstaged Gaudi! a mother with 3 teenage daughters thought she was the cutest thing and asked me permission to take pictures of Claire as she was pushing her stroller with her bear strapped in.





Gaudi's pink house in the background





in the afternoon, Phil and i went to the Sagrada Familia. i was truly impressed by some of the unexpected ways Gaudi chose to portray some of the very familiar and traditional aspects of cathedrals. first, as we entered through the Passion facade, i was struck by the cross of Christ sticking out horizontally from the facade, instead of hanging vertically. and then inside, the numbers of columns were dazzling, despite the ongoing construction. a placard explained that Gaudi was inspired by trees when he conceived of the design for the columns. he wanted people to feel like they were sitting in a forest. i couldn't imagine a better setting than sitting under trees for worship.



the cross of Christ hangs out horizontally


columns inspired by trees







while at Sagrada Familia, i was glad we didn't have our kids with us. there were several families there and all the kids were whining and complaining about the heat. i couldn't blame them. of what interest is Gaudi to them? :) my kids were with our sitter again. the other day, we went out in search of a playground for Skye and Claire and instead discovered something we have been calling "the water park." it is where the locals with kids hang out. we almost missed it - the entrance is a dark corridor in the middle of a block that opens up onto a courtyard surrounded by tall apartment buildings. this courtyard has a wading pool surrounded by sand. the girls had a great time jumping into the water and playing with the sand. Claire was so upset when we had to leave. i had to remind her she would return with our sitter. so that was where they were while Phil and i took off to catch some sights. :)



after Sagrada Familia, we headed over to Barrio Gotic. we saw sections of the old Roman wall. i was also hoping to wander around, looking for the bookstore from Carlos Ruiz Zafon's books, but unfortunately, we haven't discovered it yet. we found Carrer de Santa Ana which could be the Calle de Santa Ana from "The Shadow of the Wind", but alas, no bookstore.