Guade's Parc Guell project and the Joan Miro gallery

Saturday March 19
Guade's Parc Guell project and the Joan Miro gallery

Luckily I decided early to take a 4th day in Barcelona as I now was able to fill in the last day with left-over visits. I just could not achieve my plan for each day. I found myself get extremely tired as the end of each day. I walked huge distances.

Patch Guell I found to be best served by bus 24 which had a stop front of my Hostel. Such as convenient place.

This Park is on the low hills a little west of the main city but it is still in the suburbs.

Guade built this park as commissioned work by the Developer Guell and is yet another of his masterful creations. I got off the bus at the high entrance to the park and walked down to the main entrance. I was able to see his design of the walkway bridges and covered ways in full detail.

I descend to great suspended plaza which is surrounded by Guade 's archetype balustrades and ornamentation. His use of brightly coloured broken tile pieces set into the concrete to form a variety of patterns and designs were very stunning.

Moving down the stairways on either side of the plaza you moved under the plaza and into a cavernous area where large columns are supporting the plaza above. These columns are all done in Guade's bio-mimicking style and the column rise into the roof there tree-like branches forming into arches and support for design on the ceilings. Large medallions covered by this broken tile colouring. It was an awesome place.

The steps lead further down to the entrance gate and beside me were large broken tile, concrete and stone statues of lizards and frogs. Their mouths spilling out water into small ponds in front of then as part of a fountain structure descending with the stairway. At the bottom were two entrance buildings which could only be described as "cute" in the context of their surroundings.

Walking back up to the plaza I was passing a number of street vendors, whom I usually avoid by keeping my transfixed on the distant, when colourful plaster cast of Guade's lizards caught my eye.  The skilled vendor immediately responded and offered me a handful of other objects. I took no notice and pointer to the lizard an request a price. 10 Euros was the quick response. 4 Euro I said. Pause, I showed disinterest, he claimed impossible price. 7 Euro best price! 6 Euro! Done. So I bought my first souvenir. It should find its place happily amongst the other animals statues beside our front pond. (Must think up some Guadean addition to that pond - mmm).
I left the Park Guell and got the metro all the way across Barcelona to the Miro Gallery. Walk 650 meter to
Vallcarca Metro Station Stop ID: 331 Subway L3 Subway direction: Zona Universitària  (12 mins, 9 stops) to Metro stop Paral·lel ID: 322 Walk to Fundaciò Mirò about 16 mins (1.1 km).
I learnt a lot about Miro, in particular that he decided early in his career that he need to learn how to draw (for and abstract painter that is a very significant decision which may who paint abstract would never consider as necessary - I'm convinced it is necessary) and later he refused to join the Spanish abstract society and he insisted that a painting required a connection with reality to make its point. Miro developed a symbolic language of his own which you have to know in order to understand his paintings. It was a worthwhile visit and something I had always wanted to do. It help to clarify my wondering along the line from representational to the abstract.
Saw some buskers on the train on the way back to the hostel and I took their photo assuming I would be committee to pay them. They got of the train before I had time to offer them money???
I did not have to walk back to the metro as i found a cable car close by the gallery which took the metro tickets and went directly to the metro station. An easy end to a long day.