Like any other city, Barcelona is comprised of several neighborhoods. We visited Montjuic, built on the highest hill in Barcelona, El Born, an older residential neighborhood, and Park Guell, a Gaudi project that was never finished.

Monjuic is a lovely green neighborhood high above the waterfront of Barcelona . It is home to the Barcelona Art Museum, the site of the 1922 World Fair Exhibition, the Olympic stadium from the 1992 Olympics, and the very old Montjuic Castle. We took a bus up to Montjuic and from there took the cable cars up the steep slope to the Castle. There has been a fortification on this hill for almost a thousand years, and over the years it has been rebuilt and renovated. The castle is now open to the public and boasts the best views of Barcelona and the Mediterranean. We walked all around the fortifications on the top of the castle and could see for miles.

Another day we visited the neighborhood of El Born, basically an older district in Barcelona with very old buildings and narrow, cobbled streets. It's a residential district where many middle class Barcelonans live and work. They are not happy with the huge increase in tourism they've seen in the last decade and let it be known with signs and negative attitudes, The buildings and streets are historic and interesting, but the people are definitely not welcoming . It is home to the Cathedral of Barcelona and the very old Church of Santa Maria del Mar. We walked through the area and home by way of the waterfront and Las Ramblas.

Yesterday we rode the bus a few miles north to visit Antonio Gaudi's Park Guell. Park Guell was conceived by Gaudi to be a 60 mansion gated community. The Park and infrastructure were built and in 1914 the first world war halted the development of the community. Only two homes were built, one of which Gaudi lived in for 20 years while he oversaw the building of La Familia Sagrade, his famous church still under construction today. The entry courtyard, the aquaducts and Gaudi's home are open to visitors as well as the farther reaches of the park. We walked through the park and could see Gaudi's vision of a planned community. The landscape reminded us of Prescott's high desert. Unfortunately, the people of Barcelona in the early 1900's didn't see Gaudi's vision and didn't want to move that far out of town at the time. It never took off as a community, but it is a beautiful park with nice views over the city.