Tag Archives: park

Strolling Paris

Posted by whitneyandjared in Travel, Whitney and tagged with , , , , , , , , ,

Our first full day in Paris, I gave Jared a walking tour along the Seine so that he could get oriented. I originally wanted to take him to the Eiffel Tower to continue the tradition of going to the highest point in a city to get our bearings, but the elevator to the top was out for the week. We’re hoping for a clear day next week to go back. Anyway, we settled for a nice walk and planned out some museum stops for when the rain arrives (this weekend and next week – boo).

Le Pont Alexandre III

Place de la Concorde

Jardin de Tuileries

We wove back and forth across the river so we could catch a few points along the way. We also stopped to check out the love padlocks along the Pont des Arts. The tradition is that lovers write their names on a lock, then lock it to the bridge and throw the key into the river, thereby stating that their love is eternal. I particularly enjoyed the numerous combination locks that were affixed to the bridge. Keeping their options open, I guess?

On Monday, we did even more walking and visited two spots that I had never been in Paris. First, we walked through Père Lachaise Cemetery, which is a short walk from our apartment. Those of you familiar with Père Lachaise will know that this cemetery is famous for being the largest in Paris and the final resting place of numerous French legends (Balzac, Colette and Molière to name a few). It’s also home to several notable foreigners such as Oscar Wilde, Chopin and Jim Morrison. I’d like to say that we visited at least the people I’ve listed to pay our respects, but this place was huge and confusing. We got lost more than once. If I had known, I would have brought a map of just the cemetery (pro tip for next time). In the end, we only found Oscar, but the cemetery is beautiful and I found it way more peaceful than creepy. At any rate, it’s nice to stroll amongst the greats for a while.

it's so vast that it has its own street signs

I find this disturbing, especially that his crotch has been rubbed...

Next, we ambitiously walked all the way down to the Promenade Plantée, which I was very excited to visit. The Promenade is an elevated park built on the old Vincennes railway line, and was apparently the inspiration for New York’s now infamous High Line park (which we love). Naturally, this park really shines when everything is in bloom, but it was still fun to see a slightly hidden spot that isn’t that well-known by tourists.

We had a leisurely stroll and picnic lunch, and then walked to the Metro along the street so that we could check out the shops built under the Promenade. They were all closed, which was a tragedy because we wanted so badly to pet the CUTEST PUPPY IN THE WORLD that ran up to greet us.

this picture does not do justice to his wee-ness

but this one does!

OMGTHATPUPPY. I am still thinking about him.

So you can see how we’ve walked our a**es off in the past few days (especially yesterday at Versailles, which I’ll post tomorrow). We’re pretty exhausted, but it’s easy to wear yourself out looking at gorgeous places in Paris – especially when they’re free to visit.

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Gaudí’s Utopia

Posted by whitneyandjared in Travel, Whitney and tagged with , , , , , , , ,

Jorge had to rest on Sunday so he directed us up to Park Güell, which was at the top of my list. This post goes out to the lovely Nick who made us promise to visit the park for him while we were in Barcelona.

Park Güell was the idea of Count Eusebi Güell and designed by Gaudí as a planned, self-sustaining community on the Muntanya Pelada  above Barcelona. Ultimately, it was a failure since it was a tough sell at the time to convince wealthy Barcelonians to move away from the action of the bustling city in the early 20th century. The idea would sell like hotcakes now, but Guadí was always a little ahead of the curve.

He designed the space in 3 segments: the colorful, fanciful first stage for the youngest residents, the more reserved second level for the middle ages, and the most austere top level (with the best view) for the senior citizens. It seems that the bottom level gets all of the attention, since it is in Gaudí’s bright Trencadís tiling, but it would have been really interesting to see what this park would have been like had it realized Güell and Gaudí’s vision. Nowadays, it’s a bit crowded with tourists (I would recommend visiting on a weekday). However, it’s free to visit and affords some of the best views of Barcelona.

After our visit, we went over to Jorge’s friend Valerie’s apartment and she and Jorge cooked us a delightful meal of Moroccan chicken, quinoa, carrots, salad and orange cake for dessert. It was such a nice treat to have a home cooked meal (that I didn’t have to prepare) and some great conversation with friends.

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A Ride In the Park

Posted by whitneyandjared in Travel, Whitney and tagged with , , , , , , , , , ,

Last week we were graced with a nearly 70-degree day so we agreed that it was best spent outdoors and spent the day in Maria Luisa Park. I had been told by more than one friend that the park was amazing and we HAD to visit it ASAP. It’s located just south of the Alcázar, so it was a manageable walk and we meandered on down.

We’d read in advance about the Plaza de España, but we weren’t really prepared for how grand it was. It really surprised us! The Plaza was built in 1928 for the Ibero-American Exposition of 1929, and features intricate tile work depicting each province of Spain, and a small moat that you can rent boats and row around (sadly, Jared was not up for rowing a boat).

the provinces represented

It was pretty fascinating to see something so grand that had been built for the world stage. It doesn’t really seem like that’s done anymore. Jared and I were reminded of one of our favorite books, The Devil In the White City, that describes the enormous undertaking to built the structures for the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair.

The Exposition was held throughout the park, so there are other interesting spots and buildings dotted around, but the Plaza de España is by far the most spectacular (for good reason – they had to represent!).

After we picked our jaws up off the ground, we began to explore the park a little and found a stand renting bicycles. Jared used to ride every day in New York, so being off a bike for 4 months has been torture for him. We rented 2 bikes for 5 Euros each and figured it was a bargain to be able to more easily cover the enormous space.

I told him to look happy...he looks deranged.

I have to admit, it was really nice to be on a bike. We were pretty giddy riding around the park on such a nice day. We stopped and had a nice little picnic lunch and Jared did his best to make all the birds in the park love him.

lunch spot

The Mudejar Pavilion

the monument to poet Gustavo Adolfo Becquer

Sadly, Jared’s back tire had a spectacular blow out (it sounded like a gun shot), so we ended up having to walk our bikes back to the rental stand. It wasn’t a huge tragedy since we were due to return them in 15 minutes anyway, but it was a little deflating after the glee of riding around (um, sorry for that tire pun).

If you’re ever here, I highly recommend seeing the park by bike. There are local stands all over the city that you can use if you don’t feel like renting the ones in the park, but it’s totally worth it to hop on a cycle!

this was just before Jared's tire blew

Bird’s Eye View

Posted by whitneyandjared in Travel, Whitney and tagged with , , , , ,

Last week after we went to see the crèche, we walked up the hill to the Château park above Nice. The sun was about an hour from setting so we had some beautiful light for photos (and by now my love of sunset photos has been well documented).

The Château is the site of the former citadel and literally has many layers of history: there is an excavation project underway to unearth some Roman ruins that were recently discovered near the playground.

the way up

Jared and I were thisclose to climbing the "Tour Eiffel"

found artifacts on display

dog in a sweater!

The best thing about the Château is that you get views of both the port on the east side and Vieux Nice to the west.

Le Port

famous paintings depicting Nice are placed all over town

Nice and the mountains

The next best thing about the park is the series of waterfalls at the top of the hill. When we first arrived and it was really windy, the water was blowing everywhere, so we knew to hold out for a calm day.

The waterfalls overlook the beautiful western views of Vieux Nice and the sunset:

La Grande Roue of Terror

On the way back down, we briefly walked through the grand cemetery that is also up on the hill. The tombs were beautiful but pictures weren’t allowed. I still took some, but out of respect I’ll keep them to myself.