July 27: walk to Park Güell
On the third day of the sightseeing blitz, I took a long hike through the city with a number of stops along the way, focused on works of Antoni Gaudí. The first of these was Park Güell. I had already briefly visited Park Güell on a morning run but had not explored it extensively.
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To get there, I rode the Metro to Passeig de Gràcia and thence to Vallcarca. Here, a striking view of Tibidabo up the Av. de Vallcarca, with the Carrer Viaducte de Vallcarca crossing overhead.
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At the corner of Av. de Vallcarca and Carrer de Cambrils: this is what's known in urban design as a "cheese wedge."
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Across the way from the next block down Vallcarca, a nice collection of subtle Moorish-looking façade details, plus a bonus: cantilevered Catalan vaults.
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Just down from there and across again: thin-brick diagonals.
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And across from there. I think horizontality is not adequately emphasized here. More horizontals please.
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Adjacent to the previous: I assume the middle portion of the wall was originally an internal lightwell. The exteriorized plumbing stacks are a pleasant touch. Talk about expressed systems.
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Then I turned left onto Baixada de la Glòria, which is so crazy steep that most of it is escalators.
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Here at Carrer del Repartidor, a rare ramped section of the Baixada. Note how the parked cars mostly do not have their front wheels turned toward the curb. #scary
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The precipitous view back down the Baixada from Carrer de Sostres.
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Right at the top of the Baixada is Park Güell itself. The Park's cliffs jut out at left, forcing the Av. Coll del Portell to bend around them here.
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The start of the ascent into the Park.
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Lots more prickly pearlets in the view back to Baixada de la Glòria.