On With Our Trip.....




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On the second to the last day of our trip, we went shopping a bit in La Ramblas and decided to go see Palau Guell at night.   The brochure indicated that Palau Guell opens at 10am and closes at 8pm daily.   We arrived at 6pm on a rainny night.   When we approach the front door, a woman guard was just closing the door and pushing people away.   She told us that they were closed and to come back at 10am the next day.   I was mighty disappointed.

The next day, we woke up at a reasonable hour, had breakfast (Tommy's favorite sandwiches at a deli near our hotel), and headed down to Pavillion Finca Guell.  I don't know what it used to be, but it is now a research center of some sort.   When we arrived, the gate was locked and there were a few people waiting outside.   A professor looking like character came out with his head down, did not look any one in the eye and opened the gate for us.   I took out my brochure and realized that Pavillion Finca Guell actually is closed from the month of October until spring time!  We were quite lucky because there was a lecture or something going on that morning and he was nice enough to let us in, too!  We looked around and waited patiently for the shy professor to let us out of the locked gate again.

After Pavillion Finca Guell, we went to the last sight I wanted to see - Palau Guell, the one we missed the night before.   When we arrived, it was 12pm but the guards at the doors were already pushing people away.   Apparently, they only have a number of tour tickets per day and no advance tickets are sold.  At 12pm, all the tickets were already sold for the day.   I nearly cried as I really wanted to see Palau Guell!!!  Finally, two Italian women asked if they could be allowed to be let in to go to the store for some souvenirs.  Tommy and I immediately asked the same.   We were let in and left alone.  After purchasing some post cards, my pouty face turned into an evil smile. I turned to Tommy and suggested that we sneak in to one of the tours that was about to start.   At first, Tommy was shaking his head and reluctant, but after I grabbed his hand and walked quickly toward the group, there was no turning back.   We ended up touring Palau Guell for free!!

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Another shot of the neighborhood near the Picasso Museum
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Santa Marie del Mar

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Santa Marie del Mar
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The Columbus column

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At the bottom of the column was a headless boy and we don't know why
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Back of the column

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Notes on Palau Guell - Guell's house in town

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We arrived 2 hours before it was supposed to close, but it closed on us anyway
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Fireplace in the master bedroom - the counter on top allows people to put buckets of water on top to keep warm water in the winter

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One of the towers from inside the house - three stories can be seen from this room; the ground level, the level with windows, and the level where the orchectra would go when Guell entertained guests
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One of the many chimney tops on the roof of Palau Guell