Swimming, Park Güell, and Port Vell (Part 1)

My dad and I had a full day yesterday, even though we got off to a late start. Sometimes it's nice to sleep in! We started off by going to swim at Piscina Sant Jordi, which was a very nice 50-meter indoor pool in which you're not allowed to take pictures. Here's a picture:

After the swim, we went back to the apartment to have breakfast, and then we set out for Park Güell. There isn't a metro stop at the top of the hill where it is, so we had to walk all the way up the hill. The hike was well worth it, though, because the park was awesome. The idea of the park was that it would be a gated community for rich people around the beginning of the 1900s. It didn't work out that well as such, but it's a great park, and tons of people go there every day. Here's the entrance:

The houses to the right and left of the entrance are supposed to look like gingerbread houses like in Hanzel and Gretel. Inside the structure with the columns in the center of that picture, the ceiling has mosaic sorts of things made out of random items, such as broken glass bottles. Note the broken bottle in the dark green part:

It also has prettier mosaics:

But the coolest part is a big open space above this area, with an amazing view of the city and a bench that goes all the way around the area. Here's a picture:


The bench is also made out of the mosaic style, and it's really pretty:

Here's the view from this area:

We're going swimming now, so I'll finish this post later. We're going to one of the Olympic pools this time!