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Horta-Guinardó - The Garden City |
For all its alluring qualities, Barcelona is not the greenest of cities. Notable exceptions include, the Parc Guell (naturally), the Ciutadella Park and Horta-Guinardó - another district with medieval origins. Although part of Barcelona City since 1904, the "market garden" (horta in Catalan) has kept its farm-house enclave traces vital. After the original urbanisation neighbourhoods like El Baix Guinardó are even reclaiming land without touching the old farmhouses that defiantly remain scattered around the district. Horta, is for anyone wishing access to the marvels of Barcelona while staying in a charming residential area removed from the energy of the centre. The district is a case of "two for the price of one" offering a relaxed reprieve from the big-city and access to interesting sights easily overlooked .One of these, Parc del Laberint (1791) is a place to really "lose yourself," as the gardens with streams and a waterfall includes a cypress labyrinth- challenging those who feel they "know their way around". Gaudí's fabulous Parc Guell, on the other hand, is anything but overlooked, and easily reached from Horta as its lies just north-west (in Gràcia) of the district's main green spot Parc Guinardó.
One of the more impressive urban transformations in this city -which has seen quite a few of those (!)-, was the conversion of the Vall d'Hebron neighbourhood from a barren wasteland to one of the main sites for the ‘92 Olympics including the Velodrom built for the cycling and archery events, now also host of big-name concerts in Barcelona. If shopping or emerging yourself in Barcelona night-life isn't exercise enough, the Vall d'Hebron delineating Horta from the hills of Collserola should do the trick. The natural park offers plenty of itineraries for shorter or longer walks whereas the Olympic area includes public sporting facilities. If you have trouble locating the place, just follow the giant matches (Claes Oldenburg's sculpture Els Mistos) that light-up the area, keeping the metaphysical Olympic flame still burning. There is a Barcelona beyond the limits of the Old city, and there is a different Barcelona waiting to present itself also in “roads less travelled”. Horta is among the more charming of these.
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