On the second day of my trip I walked up into the hills 🗻 to the Fundacio Joan Miro 🔴. It had rained ☔️ in the night and walking up into the hills there was that lovely smell of just rained on tropical foliage 💧🌴. It was wonderful to climb up above the city, I passed a man with a dalmatian 🐶and the most fantastically located outdoor swimming pool 🏊- not open - but as far as I could make out the pool, and staggered viewing seats above, must have one of the best views of Barcelona, I took a nice photo 🙏.I arrived at the Joan Miro Foundation 🔴🔵 and queued but not for too long. I have always been really intrigued by Miro 🔵- all that blue 🔵 with those black lines ✏️ and white dots ⚪️ and red ♦️ - fun to look at, but never entirely satisfying. It turns out Miro 🔵, who was born in Barcelona, experimented with all sorts of art styles, he never wanted his work to be classified as one 'type' 🎨. And he really did experiment with all sorts of mediums 🔨✒️. I enjoyed his early fauvist works 💖, and really liked his large scale abstract works - Fireworks I, II and III in particular 🎉🎉🎉. I wasn't so sure about some of his sculptures 🗿and his works in textile 🎪are quite peculiar. But I do like the way he kept pushing the boundaries - not allowing himself to be defined by any one type of technique or medium - although there is almost always something distinctly 'Miro' about his works - and you can't miss his spectacular use of primary colours 🔶♦️🔷. I was also delighted to find Alexander Calder's mercury fountain ⛲️ - an image of which had been featured in the Calder exhibition at the Tate - it really is mesmerising.I had lunch 🍴 at the Fundacio Joan Miro - sandwich 🍕and a coffee ☕️ and then wandered down through the Jardins de Laribal 🌳. If you ever find yourself in this area of Barcelona definitely visit these gardens 🌳- they are rather beautiful and there was practically no one else in them.I then took the metro 🚝 to the other side of the city to Park Guell 🏡. I was citymappering 📉 about Barcelona and it told me it was a 20 minute walk from the metro station to the park....being city mapper it failed to mention that this was up a VERY steep hill 🗻. On my way home I passed some inappropriately dressed, slightly over weight British tourists starting this ascent, and am pretty sure they would have soon been cursing whoever suggested they do the 'short walk' from the metro station to the park... 😳Anyway, I did make it to the top 💃 and spent a pleasant afternoon in the park 🌳. I wandered about the Gaudi colonnades and bridges 🎢, and found the Turo de las Tres Creus - 3 stone crosses high up in the park ⛪️, and definitely the best view over Barcelona. I liked Park Guell - it was rather fascinating with Gaudi's house 🏰serenely sitting at the centre. I didn't actually pay to go into the main part - it was so crowded with people, but you can see most of it from above.I headed home with a quick stop to have supper 🍝 in La Monroe - a very trendy bar. I had a very very good strawberry 🍓salad - although did order 'chips' and got a whole bowl of crisps 🍟😔... but they were very kind to me. Eating out on my own is not something I have mastered well - and I have to admit I spent a huge amount of time on my phone 📱 using the free wifi, all that instagramming to do 😉... I did get better towards the end of my trip - less phone time!!I really enjoyed these two areas of Barcelona - it was rather nice to see a completely different side of the city - and I would highly recommend going to both.Alice xxx 
