{"id":6231,"date":"2016-04-02T08:49:37","date_gmt":"2016-04-02T12:49:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/?p=6231"},"modified":"2016-03-28T10:27:23","modified_gmt":"2016-03-28T14:27:23","slug":"hall-columns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/hall-columns","title":{"rendered":"The Hall of the Hundred Columns"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"parc<\/a>Right from the entrance,\u00a0you\u2019re captured by the colors that\u00a0zig-zag across 42 acres of chiseled\u00a0vegetation and stone. As you sit on\u00a0the famous Serpentine Bench\u2014with its row of concave seats said\u00a0to be formed by the park laborers\u00a0taking a break in wet clay\u2014you\u00a0hear the pitch-perfect notes of a\u00a0flamenco guitar. Following the\u00a0music, you find a young man\u00a0casually dressed, hunched over an\u00a0instrument made of rosewood,\u00a0strumming melodies as old and as\u00a0celebrated as his surroundings.<\/p>\n

Flamenco, the folk art music\u00a0popularized by gypsy communities,\u00a0moved into mainstream street art\u00a0during the latter half of the 19th\u00a0century at the same time Antoni\u00a0Gaudi, a young, eccentric Spanish\u00a0architect and the future pioneer\u00a0of Catalan Modernism, launched\u00a0his design career. Now in the 21st\u00a0century, the worlds of Spanish music\u00a0and architecture merge at Parc\u00a0G\u00fcell, a UNESCO World Heritage\u00a0Site that gives visitors an authentic\u00a0taste of Spanish culture.<\/p>\n

Named after Count Eusebi\u00a0G\u00fcell, a patron of Gaudi and a\u00a0Barcelona native, Parc G\u00fcell is\u00a0ambitious in scope, grandeur,\u00a0and imagination. This bejeweled\u00a0walled garden rests on the hill of\u00a0El Carmel in Barcelona\u2019s Gracia\u00a0district. Begin at the park entrance\u00a0near a sweeping white-tiled staircase\u00a0and then stroll through a fairytale\u00a0land undulating with colorful\u00a0mosaics, viaducts, and sculptures,\u00a0including a dragon fountain. Built\u00a0over a 14-year period, the park is\u00a0a favorite of artists and musicians\u00a0who frequently paint or perform\u00a0below the central terrace, which\u00a0is the heart of the park and a\u00a0heavily trafficked spot that serves\u00a0as an ideal stage. Musicians enjoy\u00a0the shade in what is commonly\u00a0known as the Hall of the Hundred\u00a0Columns (though truthfully, there\u00a0are only about 86), which boasts\u00a0opera house-quality acoustics.<\/p>\n

\"columns\"Your students are probably more\u00a0accustomed to listening to music\u00a0on their smart phones, but to\u00a0hear a musician bring traditional\u00a0folk songs to life without technological\u00a0embellishment at one of\u00a0Spain\u2019s most celebrated architectural\u00a0achievements offers a truly\u00a0memorable experience. The music\u00a0also perfectly echoes the beautiful\u00a0view, where palm trees sway and a\u00a0bright blue sky disappears into the\u00a0Mediterranean Sea.<\/p>\n

At Parc G\u00fcell, art begets art.\u00a0Despite attracting millions of\u00a0visitors every year, it remains a\u00a0landscape masterpiece that has\u00a0gracefully weathered both time\u00a0and tourism. Gaudi once said of\u00a0his work: \u201cColor in certain places\u00a0has the great value of making the\u00a0outlines and structural planes seem\u00a0more energetic.\u201d The energy at Parc\u00a0G\u00fcell is palpable and will remain\u00a0with you long after the park closes\u00a0at dusk and the guitar notes fade.<\/p>\n

Explore\u00a0our most popular tour that\u00a0includes this activity:\u00a0explorica.com\/isp<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Right from the entrance,\u00a0you\u2019re captured by the colors that\u00a0zig-zag across 42 acres of chiseled\u00a0vegetation and stone. As you sit on\u00a0the famous Serpentine Bench\u2014with its row of concave seats said\u00a0to be formed by the park laborers\u00a0taking a break in wet clay\u2014you\u00a0hear the pitch-perfect notes of a\u00a0flamenco guitar. Following the\u00a0music, you find a young man\u00a0casually dressed, hunched Read More …<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":41,"featured_media":1877,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,172],"tags":[410,345,58,83,128],"class_list":["post-6231","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-explorica-news","category-teachers","tag-cultural-immersion","tag-educational-tours","tag-educational-travel","tag-spain","tag-student-travel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6231","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/41"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6231"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6231\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6303,"href":"https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6231\/revisions\/6303"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1877"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6231"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6231"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6231"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}