So today, rather than study for our test with our lovable but also probably senile professor, Don Jim, we went to Parque Guell on the outskirts of Barcelona.
The park is this super kooky amalgamation of buildings, landscaping, and stonework that was originally meant for an early 20th century luxury real estate development.
A wealthy developer commissioned Gaudi to do his Gaudi magic on some undeveloped land, but ultimately no rich Barcelonans bought any of the estate—located on a rocky, dry hillside overlooking Barcelona—and, voila! A free public park was born!
It's a funny place. Amongst the throngs of tourists and opportunistic vendors are endless music groups and art school students trying to scratch together enough euro for dinner in innovative ways. My favorite was an Andalusian guitar and voice duo in the middle of a cyprus grove that probably made ~5 euro, if they were lucky, due to their extremely remote choice of jam location.
And then there was all the people in it for the kids—like this guy, who walked around on stilts in a vaguely demonic costume, carrying around a large stash of bright red hats and scarves and throwing them at the small children who chased after him. Note the joyous kid in the foreground, so happy to be wearing a cheap velvet hat.
Because it's on the top of a rather steep heel, there are also quite a few athletic locals jogging around, up and down the hill. And because it's a park, they had random basketball courts strewn throughout. And we can't forget the dogs. So very many Spanish people walking their dogs.
Gotta love Spain.
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