Our first full day in Barcelona started rather late. Thankfully, they gave us time to sleep in a bit, or I think the day would have really sucked. I didn’t sleep much that night; I blame my body for still being on US time.
We had a delicious breakfast, curtsy of our fabulous hotel! We all trooped outside and got on a bus for a guided tour of Barcelona. Our first stop was Park Guell! Park Guell was designed by Antoni Gaudi, one of the most famous architects in Barcelona! His buildings and everywhere, and very distinctive.
Since Gaudi had such a distinctive style, Park Guell is so interesting to visit. It feels like a whole other planet. It was bulit up above Barcelona, and supposed to be built with houses all around, but only one house was ever actually built on the park.
There were parrots everywhere! They would fly around between all the different buildings. It was so cool!
From here, we walked into the iconic mosaic portion of Park Guell. It’s what I think crosses people’s mind when they think of Park Guell (besides the lizard!)!
From there, we walked around to the area where the lizard is set-up on the stairs.
Once we got to the bottom of the stairs, for a quick group pic, we heard about how the two houses built at the bottom of the stairs were based on the story of Hansel and Gretel.
This one was the candy house that the Witch lived in!
And this one was the prison/ cage Hansel and Gretel were kept in (because of the bars on the windows apparently!)!
Next, we went and got our pictures with the iconic lizard! I’m not really sure of the significance of the lizard, but he was gorgeous! The mosaic was stunning!
After this picture I got yelled at in Spanish for sitting on the edge of the fountain (at least that's what I'm assuming he yelled at me for...)!
After we were done touring Park Guell, we were packed back onto the bus, and taken to the Olympic Stadium! It was used in the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona!
They’ve done a good job of preserving the site; it’s still used as a sporting complex, and the apartments that were used to house the athletes are now apartments for rent!
The disc up on top of the little tower is where the Olympic Flame was lit for that year!
From the Olympic Stadium, we went to the overlook that looks over all of Barcelona, and the Olympic Port, in the Parc de Montjuic!
So, that’s it for now! Stay tuned for my post on La Sagrada Familia!