From the Top of Guell to the Top of Axel

I’ve been to Guell Park several times already this summer but Rob doesn’t want to go alone so I join him for one more visit.  Unlike some of the other Gaudi adventures this one is a beautiful park and just being there provides the enjoyment that any beautiful park does except for the huge crowds that are ever present in Parc Guell.

By now I know the Metro trip like an old pro and have even figured out the best way up the steep hill after you get off the Metro.  There is one street where they have actually installed escalators for several blocks to help with the climb.  That’s the one I like!  We want to arrive early but actually arrive about noon which now that I’ve been in Spain for a summer has become my early.

Rob is awed by the many surprises the park has to offer and runs (yes, runs) from one delightful wonder to the next.  This is truly nature and art coming together in the best way that can be imagined. And as many times as I have now been to the park I must admit I am still enthralled with some new discovery every time I go. 

A family is trying to set up a picture with several children and mom while dad is snapping.  Frist the crowds and then the children are making this much more difficult that it needs to be.  I stop and chat up the kids, then do a bit of crowd control and dad gets his shot.  We are all laughing as we wave good-bye and go on our way.  I am briefly reminded of all the wonderful interactions I’ve had with complete strangers this summer.  Maybe they were only moments but then it is the moments that make up the day that make up the life, it really is all about the moments.  These moments have made the summer.

Rob has covered every inch of the park but is still asking for more, I finally am able to convince him he has seen it all.  However, on our way to finding the correct exit we are able to revisit a couple of his favorites one more time.  He leaves happy.

We don’t have a plan for the rest of the day so as we walk back to the Metro I ask Rob what he’d like to.  To my delight he wants one more lemonade beer from what is now known as ‘our’ beach shack.  Perfect!  It’s been hot in the park and a lemonade beer sounds really good so it off to the beach we go.   As I maneuver our way to the beach Rob compliments me by saying, ‘I am so impressed with how well you know your way around Barcelona’.  I can’t imagine anything else it all feels like home to me at this point.

At the beach shack we score a great table in the shade and are ordering our first beers before we’re seated. This is where I discovered lemonade beer and the last one proves to be just as delightful as the first one was.  The only difference is that the first one was a surprise and the last one an excited anticipation. 

It’s been a long hot day with lots of walking and by the time we reach the flat we are both ready for a rest.  Rob has big plans for us tonight which will involve staying out later than usual.  The hotel Axel where he will stay after I leave Barcelona has a rooftop bar and we’ve both become very fond of the rooftops of Barcelona so we intend to go there after dinner tonight.

We keep dinner simple………..one last stop at The Ginger Bar.  I actually just want to order two of the Prawns Potato Salad but Rob talks me out of it by saying he promises to eat just a couple of bites of it and leave the rest for me so we just order one.  I’m happy with this arrangement!  As much as I like the food at the Ginger Bar I have not gotten to know the owner, an English woman who has always seemed a tat unfriendly to me or the waiter/bartender who is pleasant but in a perpetual hurry so saying good bye here is easier than it has been at some of my other favorites.  And although the waiter is cute enough to take a picture with I’m sure he wouldn’t have been able to find the time!

Now it’s off to Rooftop heaven.  The Axel Hotel is in the L’Eiample area so we take a taxi instead of walking.  The elevators in this hotel are funky as they often are in Spain.  There are two elevators in the lobby but when you get in them there is no button for the rooftop.  You actually have to go through a bar and into what looks like a service elevator to find the secret button.  I ponder at what the history might be here.

But once the elevator door does open the Rooftop Bar is noisy and full of life!  We both order a vodka tonic and sit down to enjoy the view, the night air and the energy of this bar. Rob has chosen his hotel well!