Our last day in Barcelona began with a leisurely breakfast at the hotel, a Metro ride, and a long slog up a steep hill (estamos viejos, pero estamos fuertes) to Parc Güell, Gaudi’s outdoor fantasyland, and home for about 20 years. It was designed as a gated community for Barcelona’s upper class, but World War I and a few other issues changed all that and now it’s a public park. You do pay a fee to enter, but if you live here it’s not very expensive.

Gaudi’s fascination with nature was clearly his inspiration here. The aqueducts, tunnels, and facades are made of local stone to resemble palm trees and rock walls. The walls are anything but smooth—large rocks project out from ceilings and walls and suggest that they might cave in any minute.

The grand entrance is the iconic element of the park with its mosaic dragon, grand stairway, gingerbread houses, and columned portico that supports a huge open courtyard encircled with meandering lines of mosaic benches. The entire park is on a steep hillside with wonderful views of the city and the Mediterranean Sea. The many paths invite exploration.

Here are some photos. You know the drill by now.