/ Begin your pursuit of architectural masterpieces created by Antoni Gaudi (1852-1926), Barcelona's most famous architect. A good strategy is to start at Parc Guell, a whimsical whirl of colored ceramics, sculptures, sinuous benches, weird buildings, bizarre pavilions and curved paths winding through a lush garden setting, with a view across the city from its hill-top perch.
The park's structures are curved in a mélange of fairy-tale shapes covered with mosaics of broken tiles in a style called "trencadis." Most of these tiles are brightly colored creating dazzling surfaces on the benches and columns, while other tiles are earth-brown fragments covering various pavilions and structures that look like they have grown out of the ground. Craftsmen worked under Gaudi's direction to create these amazing mosaics by smashing porcelain plates and pottery into little pieces then arranging them like a jigsaw puzzle. Some sculptures are similarly covered, especially the salamander fountain on the divided staircase that leads up to the 86-column Hypostile Hall. There is usually a small crowd waiting in turn to be photographed next to the bizarre salamander.
Gaudi was the city's most famous architect, best known for his still-unfinished Sagrada Familia church which is also worth seeing but is not as pleasing as this park. He lived from 1852 to 1926 and designed Parc Guell at the beginning of the 20th century as part of a large housing project that never got built. Instead we are left with this much more interesting and valuable 37-acre park that is one of the city's most popular attractions. Its main section consists of a broad terrace rimmed with benches and steps leading down to the front gate, which is flanked by two small Hansel and Gretel-inspired huts topped with ice cream sundae-shaped roofs. These small areas get very crowded, making it difficult to properly appreciate this premium destination, so your best strategy is to arrive when the park opens at 10:00 a.m. in order to see the colorful sights without a thousand other tourists getting in your way.
Parc Guell is too far from the center to comfortably reach by walking but you can get there in 30 minutes by public transportation, preferably bus number 24 heading in the Carmel direction, which conveniently drops you off right next to the upper level of the park. You can catch the bus from major downtown locales including Placa Catalunia and along the Passeig de Gracia. Alternatively, the metro could bring you to the general vicinity, but requires much more walking than the bus. If you prefer rail, take the metro Green Line L3 and get off at the Lesseps or Vallcarca stations and tackle a 20-minute walk, with the last portion leading up a steep hill and then into the park along a pleasant winding path through the woods. Some of that uphill climb is alleviated by outdoor escalators running alongside the road, but overall you'll find it easier to take the bus. The same bus route will take you back to downtown after the visit.
Gaudi lived on the property in one of the two houses that were actually constructed here. His home has been converted into a small museum of his memorabilia, for the die-hard fans. However there is not all that much in the way of attractions inside the house. They display some of the odd-shaped furniture designed by Gaudi, and visitors can enter his study, bedroom, living room and other parts of the house. There is an admission charge and the visit will take time, so you might find it unnecessary to enter this little museum, but you can certainly admire the outside of the house and garden for free, and it is conveniently located near the exit for the bus stop.
It only takes 30 minutes to see the park from top to bottom, but you might linger in the gift shop and get something to eat at one of two snack bars. The food and seating is a bit better at the lower café near the front gates, but the sandwich counter up above on the main terrace has a pleasant outdoor ambience, with a strangely entertaining way of ordering food in which you tell the clerk your sandwich choice and he barks back "five minutes" without taking your name or giving you a number, but all works out well in the end. This is not great food, but it's a simple, inexpensive sandwich on a long, hard roll, and if you are hungry it is conveniently located in this beautiful setting which could hit the spot.