Some pics

So, what does this Gaudí artwork look like? Well, there are tons of pics out there on the internet on these buildings, but here are some of the pics that I found which I thought were some of the better ones... So here goes...

First out: Parque Güell:

The famous dragon at the entrance of the park. V. purdy.

Another famous attraction: The benches. You'll probably hear this from every single tour guide in Barcelona, owtte (or words to that effect), but these benches are shaped exactly after the shape of the body when you sit down, so it is by no means uncomfortable in its shape at least. The only factor against it is that its really COLD to sit on those tiles in the shade, so hog the best spots!
This is taken from a sort of open-air hall around the entrance behind the dragon. Note the mosaic ceiling. These are found several places in the hall. Also when we were in the park there was a Spanish accordion player who played some old tunes... Classical tunes, I think they were... The park is entirely free of any sort of entry fees, except from the fact that there is a person dressed in an outfit representing the Güell dragon to whom you can give donations to the maintenance of the park (I think).

La Pedreira. It looks funky from this angle, and believe me, from other angles as well. If you know about the computer game called "The Neverhood" and the clay construction of the buildings there, you have a pretty good idea of what to expect from La Pedreira. But step onto the roof of the building and you get an excellent view of the city as well as see the mosaic work that was so typical of Gaudí's buildings. There is even a piece wherein the mosaic tiles were made by shards of green glass from bottles! Really quite fascinating!

Also, inside the building itself - there is an exhibition in the attic on how Gaudí was influenced by nature in constructing his buildings and also how they were constructed in order to use the space and light available as much as possible. In the floor underneath it there is a sort of museum where you can see how a typical apartment in that building looked like at the time when it first was built (1920's). Lots of antique stuff and knick-knacks there. And yes, there are people living there at the moment. Two floors underneath all this are being let (to pretty stiff prices, I assume) to some people who actually can afford it.

Bummer! Can't fit any more pics in this entry! Hang on a sec...