Going to the Park

I am a park person. I go year-round and I go often. Recently, I discovered a new park close to my house and I have frequented it of late. I love going to soak in the springtime freshness and just get away. I also love watching people. Wednesday, two boys rode by me and stopped to ask if I had seen two girls. About 20 minutes later, I saw the girls chasing the boys across the park--I love 12-year-old flirtations.

One of the things I loved about being Europe this past summer was visiting parks. Natalie and I would often go and enjoy the parks in all the cities we visited. Today, I am going to post some pictures from Park Guell in Barcelona, designed by Antoni Gaudi. Barcelona has so much amazing architecture designed by Gaudi. I will save Sagrada Familia for its own post. But, if I could go to any park in the world today, I would love to revisit this park. It is truly stunning. Enjoy the pictures.


This is on the outside wall of the park. The park is huge and is on a hill that overlooks Barcelona.













Here is one view of the city--truly enchanting .


Here is the main overlook area, and a close up of the tiling.


The work is so intricate and so diverse throughout the park, and it is all beautiful. I particularly enjoy how Gaudi worked nature into all he did. His architecture and art is organic--imbued with undercurrents of natural objects and motions. In the next photo, you can see how this section of the park resembles a wave as it approaches the shore.



Here are some other shots of the park.




















































It was all very easy and natural. The designs and structures seem to grow out of the hillside, to be part of it.













This last photo was of a man we saw a few times, and we called him our Spanish Walt Whitman. We tried to get a better picture, but couldn't. It is a little awkward to try and casually take a picture of someone, but I love his ensemble.