The very kind monastery receptionist rang the garage this morning to book it in for it’s 20,000km service. Time and time again the locals have proved their friendliness and helpfulness. Something that we have been very appreciative of. The locals (shopkeepers, café owners) are also very good in reminding you to look after your things and to watch out for pickpockets. Something that they are obviously very mindful of. Although the only evidence of this type of street crime that we saw was a scuffle between an older man and a man in his early 30s over a laptop outside the library. This was quickly sorted out by the library security. Not quite what the storey was here as they ended up having a pleasant conversation together. We wondered if it was an attempted repossession rather than a theft. Strange I know, but you do get used to seeing the strange, weird, and bizarre. Although we were commenting today that we haven’t seen the really weird and ‘off the wall’ ones on the streets for a while. By ‘off the wall’ we mean throwing themselves around and yelling random obscenities. This was particularly evident in the ex Eastern Bloc countries which made us wonder if there was insufficient mental health treatment either currently or the recent past.
Anyway … back to today ... we started the day by heading up to ‘Park Güell’ or Gaudi’s Garden. It is a rather steep climb up the hill, but this is assisted by a whole series of escalators going up in place of the footpath. When we got to the top we expected to be treated to a fantastic view of the city, unfortunately you can’t always get what you want. The sky was so hazy that the white of the sky blended in to the suburbia, so that the horizon wasn’t even apparent. We aren’t sure if this is what it is always like, or perhaps it has been assisted by the fireworks and street parades over the last few days and weeks. The best view of the sun that we got for most of the day today was a very weak glow straining to be seen through the haze.
Our first real view of the garden was an area of dry dirt and stone, covered in patchy scrub. On the summit was a monument like pile of stones with a cross on top which people seemed determined to climb up to so that they could scan the non existent horizon. As we started descending again we just hoped that this wasn’t the extent of what the garden had to offer, and we were pleasantly surprised. As you descend towards the other side of the park, you come across a large plateau type area which has a typically Gaudi style seat around its perimeter, snaking its way around, and covered with brightly coloured mosaics. Overlooking the city, and a couple of Gaudi’s architectural examples. This plateau is supported by a combination of organic looking pillars and fluted pillars that look like they came straight out of a Roman temple, although as you would expect, these pillars aren’t all vertical. As you descend down the mosaic lined staircase, from the table top back to street level, you pass by creations such as his famous mosaic lizard. Very, very cool. As you look from the Gaudi buildings at the bottom, up the stairs, past the columns, to the curving, winding seats at the top, you get the strong impression that Gaudi really didn’t like straight lines … anywhere.
Up on top just a few meters in from the seats and also lining the perimeter are the touts. They are there with their sheets spread out and covered in wares ranging from a pair of maracas for five euro to a bright and light scarf for two euro, perhaps some sunglasses and various other odds and ends that serve no earthly purpose. What we have wondered whilst roaming the streets, is why these touts have a piece of string tied to each corner of the sheet, coming together in a knot in their hand. Today we found out why. As I said these guys were everywhere, and then as if by magic, they just disappeared within seconds. We turned around and they were gone. And then we saw the police, who were obviously looking for illegal traders. These guys just gathered up their sheets (with the strings) and walked into the scrub. With 10 minutes of the police leaving they were back trading again. We then noticed that one of the buskers happily playing his guitar had a string attached from his wrist to his amp cord, so that he could immediately cut the sound if he needed to. Incredible.
Back to the subject in hand, Gaudi’s garden is quite a popular tourist spot and it had the tour groups to support that, so much so that it was hard to get a descent photo, so we took up our other favourite hobby, getting into as many peoples photos as possible. Bonus points for getting in to multiple photos by the same photographer. The objective is to become someone’s ‘that guy’. As they are about to take a photo of their mother, sister, aunt, cousin or best friend, stroll nonchalantly past, turning and giving them a big smile just as they ‘click’. Hours of fun.
We spent the rest of the day walking around the waterfront and along the beach front where they are setting up for the ‘Air Race’ which is happening next weekend. It’s a shame that we won’t be here to see it. As we got to the city end of the beaches we were greeted by an ‘interesting’ sight. There were two guys (about mid 20s) walking towards us along the boardwalk, one fully clothed as you would expect, and the other completely striped down nude. As we got close the nude guy did a bit of a stop and pose for us as we went past, the clothed guy looked the more sheepish of the two. We got the impression that he was doing it on a dare, and the other guy was there to make sure that he did it. Perhaps it went something like this, “If you walk down the length of the beach and back, nude, I’ll buy your drinks all night”, “Yep, I’ll do it, but you’ll need to come with me to carry my passport”.
After catching the Metro home tonight, we got talking about the Public Transport system. The Metro is absolutely fantastic, and cheap. You can hop on and off, transfer between lines, trams, and buses, and as long as your journey is completed within 75 minutes it will only cost you 77 cents. The longest that you will need to wait for any Metro transfer is five minutes, but usually it will be within 2 minutes. And we have experienced this type of transport all over Europe. Cities with the population of Hamilton have integrated Tube, Tram, Train and Bus services. With a service like this there is no reason why anyone would choose to drive a car. Time and time again we are reminded of just how pathetic the public transport in Auckland is. Where even the half hourly trains often just decide to skip a train, where the Link bus every 10 minutes, means 3 buses at the same time every half hour. Pathetic!
Anyway … back to today ... we started the day by heading up to ‘Park Güell’ or Gaudi’s Garden. It is a rather steep climb up the hill, but this is assisted by a whole series of escalators going up in place of the footpath. When we got to the top we expected to be treated to a fantastic view of the city, unfortunately you can’t always get what you want. The sky was so hazy that the white of the sky blended in to the suburbia, so that the horizon wasn’t even apparent. We aren’t sure if this is what it is always like, or perhaps it has been assisted by the fireworks and street parades over the last few days and weeks. The best view of the sun that we got for most of the day today was a very weak glow straining to be seen through the haze.
Our first real view of the garden was an area of dry dirt and stone, covered in patchy scrub. On the summit was a monument like pile of stones with a cross on top which people seemed determined to climb up to so that they could scan the non existent horizon. As we started descending again we just hoped that this wasn’t the extent of what the garden had to offer, and we were pleasantly surprised. As you descend towards the other side of the park, you come across a large plateau type area which has a typically Gaudi style seat around its perimeter, snaking its way around, and covered with brightly coloured mosaics. Overlooking the city, and a couple of Gaudi’s architectural examples. This plateau is supported by a combination of organic looking pillars and fluted pillars that look like they came straight out of a Roman temple, although as you would expect, these pillars aren’t all vertical. As you descend down the mosaic lined staircase, from the table top back to street level, you pass by creations such as his famous mosaic lizard. Very, very cool. As you look from the Gaudi buildings at the bottom, up the stairs, past the columns, to the curving, winding seats at the top, you get the strong impression that Gaudi really didn’t like straight lines … anywhere.
Up on top just a few meters in from the seats and also lining the perimeter are the touts. They are there with their sheets spread out and covered in wares ranging from a pair of maracas for five euro to a bright and light scarf for two euro, perhaps some sunglasses and various other odds and ends that serve no earthly purpose. What we have wondered whilst roaming the streets, is why these touts have a piece of string tied to each corner of the sheet, coming together in a knot in their hand. Today we found out why. As I said these guys were everywhere, and then as if by magic, they just disappeared within seconds. We turned around and they were gone. And then we saw the police, who were obviously looking for illegal traders. These guys just gathered up their sheets (with the strings) and walked into the scrub. With 10 minutes of the police leaving they were back trading again. We then noticed that one of the buskers happily playing his guitar had a string attached from his wrist to his amp cord, so that he could immediately cut the sound if he needed to. Incredible.
Back to the subject in hand, Gaudi’s garden is quite a popular tourist spot and it had the tour groups to support that, so much so that it was hard to get a descent photo, so we took up our other favourite hobby, getting into as many peoples photos as possible. Bonus points for getting in to multiple photos by the same photographer. The objective is to become someone’s ‘that guy’. As they are about to take a photo of their mother, sister, aunt, cousin or best friend, stroll nonchalantly past, turning and giving them a big smile just as they ‘click’. Hours of fun.
We spent the rest of the day walking around the waterfront and along the beach front where they are setting up for the ‘Air Race’ which is happening next weekend. It’s a shame that we won’t be here to see it. As we got to the city end of the beaches we were greeted by an ‘interesting’ sight. There were two guys (about mid 20s) walking towards us along the boardwalk, one fully clothed as you would expect, and the other completely striped down nude. As we got close the nude guy did a bit of a stop and pose for us as we went past, the clothed guy looked the more sheepish of the two. We got the impression that he was doing it on a dare, and the other guy was there to make sure that he did it. Perhaps it went something like this, “If you walk down the length of the beach and back, nude, I’ll buy your drinks all night”, “Yep, I’ll do it, but you’ll need to come with me to carry my passport”.
After catching the Metro home tonight, we got talking about the Public Transport system. The Metro is absolutely fantastic, and cheap. You can hop on and off, transfer between lines, trams, and buses, and as long as your journey is completed within 75 minutes it will only cost you 77 cents. The longest that you will need to wait for any Metro transfer is five minutes, but usually it will be within 2 minutes. And we have experienced this type of transport all over Europe. Cities with the population of Hamilton have integrated Tube, Tram, Train and Bus services. With a service like this there is no reason why anyone would choose to drive a car. Time and time again we are reminded of just how pathetic the public transport in Auckland is. Where even the half hourly trains often just decide to skip a train, where the Link bus every 10 minutes, means 3 buses at the same time every half hour. Pathetic!
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