Late Afternoon at Park Güell

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Back to the hostel to rest a bit an then I'm off to spend my remaining daylight at Park Güell.  Gaudí designed a planned community on a hill outside the downtown area.  As I understand it, the planned community failed but the city kept some of the plans to make it into a park.  There are trails, outlooks, and playful structures like fantasy-inspired stairways.  There's a paid central Monuments Area but the rest of it is free.  I assumed I wouldn't have time for the paid part so I didn't buy a ticket.

No importa: the free portion was a joy.  Lovely paths and gorgeous views, though a lot of it was in pretty bad disrepair.  Frequent ¡Peligro! signs and closed paths.  As I'm about to call it a day, I come across the Tower of Three Crosses, with a lot of people lounging on top.  Climbing up to join them was a little hair-raising with the hand rail stopping before the top, but I'm glad I did.  I was treated to the best view of the city I'd seen yet, and right at sunset too.  I'd been considering skipping the park in favor of rest - so glad I didn't!  It helped turned a meh day (that began with train frustrations and Picasso) into a great one.

In desperate need of rest for my feet and phone (I am abusing all of these) I return to my hostel for a shower and laundry.  While waiting for my clothes, I found a hammock on the roofdeck so I literally hung out there for a while, gazing upon Casa Batlló.  When I'm finally ready to go out for dinner, it's late even for Spain.  I have to try a few bars to see if they're still open, but I eventually find a nice spot in the Barri to eat a ridiculous amount of cheese and peppers.  On the way I saw a Dunkin' Coffee shop but sadly I didn't have a camera.