Port Visit: Barcelona's Park Guell

Gaudi's famous salamander made of mosaics at Municipal Garden

Another major landmark that you have to see in Barcelona is Park Guell located on Carmel Hill. A Spanish entrepreneur, Eusebi Guell, who made his money in the industrial revolution in Catalonia, commissioned Antoni Gaudi to design the park, which he did from 1900 to 1914.

Gaudi lived in this house (1906-26) which is now a museum

Parc Guell was officially opened in 1926 and in 1984 was declared a Unesco World Heritage Site.

Originally the park was meant to be a commercial housing project but it was unsuccessful: the land was basically a rocky hill with few trees and vegetation, but the location was away from smoky factories, hence the air was relatively clean.

Guell had hoped to build 60 lots of luxury housing here that were fitted with modern technology, and he tried to initiate buyer interest by moving there himself into an existing country house called Larrard House in 1906.

Entrepreneur Guell lived here in Larrard House

However, in the end only two houses were built -- one as a show house, the other for sale, but no one was interested in buying them. So at Guell's suggestion, Gaudi bought one of the homes and moved in with his family and father in 1906 and lived there until 1926.

The house contains original works by Gaudi and is now a museum called Gaudi House Museum. Unfortunately we didn't have time to go inside.

However, we did wander around the colonnaded footpath under the roadway viaduct and heard some flamenco music being played and saw some musicians along with a flamenco dancer.

Benches are shaped like a sea serpent at Municipal Garden

We also sadly missed the Municipal Garden, made famous by Gaudi's colourful mosaic salamander called "el drac" or "dragon". This part of the park also requires paying an entrance fee. I visited this part of the park over 20 years ago and I was blown away by how creative Gaudi was with the long bench that is shaped like a sea serpent. 

Singapore's Floral Treasure

Orchids were everywhere you looked in the National Orchid Garden

On our last day in Singapore we headed out a bit earlier to the Singapore Botanic Gardens. It was founded in its current location in 1859 and is a Unesco World Heritage site. Again the gardens are free admission except for a few places.

We were very surprised to see a number of morning walkers with their dogs! Some people were running, walking, doing tai chi, and it was great to see so many people taking advantage of such a beautiful place.

The scenic entrance to the National Orchid Garden

Our main aim was to hit the National Orchid Garden and then have brunch, which we did in good time. Orchids are Singapore's national flower, and this garden is proud to present over 1,000 species and 2,000 hybrids, all for the admission price of S$5.00, or S$1.00 for seniors!

It's a pretty large area and everywhere you look there are orchids of different colours and shapes. What was really interesting was seeing orchids growing off of tree branches because it's so humid there, that they naturally grow like this.

There is a VIP section, where visiting dignitaries have orchids named after them. In October 2014 Prince William and Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge visited the garden and saw the orchid, a white one, named after his mother, Princess Diana.

Other orchids include ones for former UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, former Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji, former Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien, and Japanese Empress Michiko.

There are over 1,000 species of orchids on display

After seeing the National Orchid Garden and wandering around to see the swans in the lake and Symphony Lake, we headed to the cafe for brunch and were sated by the large portions! I had baked eggs with garlic bread, zucchini and tomato sauce, and another variation was a frittata, Continental breakfast or executive one with eggs, sausage and bacon.

When we were getting ready to leave, we heard thunder in the distance and were glad to get our Uber ride just as the drops started falling.

Speaking of Uber, in general the drivers were friendly, efficient, and in general cheaper than taxis. Only one misrepresented himself as driving a BMW when in fact it was a Ford Focus. We did get a ride to the Night Safari in a BMW and the driver, probably in his late 50s, was kind enough to give us phone chargers to use!

Orchids of all kinds of shapes and colours were in full bloom

All of them used GPS to get around, placing their phones on right side of the dashboard, and almost all of them tuned the radio to 80s music, which for me was like going down memory lane...

Colourful Historical Gardens

At the entrance of Casa Garden, a UNESCO World Heritage Site

Next to Morrison chapel is Casa Garden, a pink and white Portuguese colonial style house in pink and white with dark green shutters.

A relaxing feline by the entrance of the building

It was built in 1770 by a wealthy Portuguese merchant by the name of Manuel Pereira. Later on it was rented out to the British East India Company for the directors of the Macau branch to live there.

At the brick-paved entrance is a symmetrical star and then a pond in front of the house. Around it are lots of plants including bright red hibiscus flowers.

The building, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is the headquarters from the Macau delegation of the Orient Foundation where they hold periodic art and history exhibitions.

The entrance to Luis de Camoes Garden next door

As I approached the house, I saw a ginger-striped cat sleeping with its legs outstretched and yet its head was upright. I started taking pictures of it from a distance, worried that if I made too much noise, it would be startled and run away.

But even as I quietly walked up the stairs, it did not flinch and I managed to take a good shot of it. And sitting by the door was a black dog that also didn't seem to care about my appearance. I guess they get along...

To the left of Casa Garden is the Luis de Camoes Garden, named after the Portuguese poet from four centuries ago.

The first Korean priest St Andrew Kim

It's deceptive how big this place is and in it are many winding pathways that go up and down and with stairs so you do get a good workout -- especially in the hot and humid weather like I did!

There's even a library here with many signs pointing to it. But kids seem to enjoy running around the verdant area, while elderly men avidly watched a Chinese chess match in progress.

I spied a statue and went up to take a look. It's St Andrew Kim -- the first Korean priest. He was born in 1821 and when he was 16 years old he came to Macau to study theology. Kim then returned to Korea in 1845 but a year later was arrested and martyred at the age of 25!

Pope John Paul II canonized him in 1984 and a year later this statue was erected, and then repaired and rededicated to Korean Catholics in Hong Kong and Macau in 1997.

Gorgeous lotus leaves and flowers at the park entrance

I also climbed up to what seemed like the highest point of the park, but the overview wasn't particularly inspiring.

Checking out a Chinese chess game in progress

Along the path I also encountered another two kittens, one sunning himself, the other cautious of me and scurried away but then sat there watching me with his big eyes.

Nevertheless after wandering around here hot and sweaty I decided to take a break though I'd only covered about half of the park. There's still a grotto area where Luis de Camoes lived here in a cave when he was exiled to Macau.

Here he finished his epic poem Os Lusiadas, a fantastical interpretation of the Portuguese voyages of discovery during the 15th and 16th centuries written in the style of Homer.

A pair of cats hanging out in the park

It's too bad I missed the grotto and the bust of Luis de Camoes, but perhaps for another day.