In all the years I have been visiting Barcelona, and more specifically the Zoo, which is housed in the park, I have never explored the park itself.
This year I did, and I have been missing so much.
The Citadel itself was built and then destroyed, restored and destroyed again on several occasions for various reasons, not least because it was seen as a much hated symbol of central Spanish government by the Catalan people. Only the Chapel (now the Military Parish Church of Barcelona), the Governor's palace (now a Secondary School), and the Arsenal (now home to the Catalan Parliament) remain with the rest of the site now forming the park.
On the day I visited, three of the Gigantes i Capgrossos (I have blogged about these before here) were being received into the Parliament buildings, along with their associated bands and groups.
After the puppets entered the building I wandered off down a different path.
And got lost.
As the park is 70 acres, this is not hard to do!
I continued wandering round knowing that, assuming I could find one of the exits, I could find my way back to the nearest metro or train station.
The park has a bandstand, I have always seen these as a peculiarly British thing, but evidently they are not.
It has a boating lake, something else I had seen as essentially British, it was a minimum of two people in a boat so I couldn't show off my (lack of) rowing skills.
There are plenty of play areas for children and plenty of little outside cafes where you can get a cold drink.
And then there is this....
It is the Cascada, it looks huge and it is fantastic. It was first inaugurated in 1881 without sculpture or detail and was thoroughly criticised. The addition of the modifications, including the fountain, continued until 1888, the building has remained the same since.
It was erected by Josep Fontsére and to a small extent by Antoni GaudÃ, who at that time was still an unknown student of architecture. The aim was to loosely make it bear resemblance to the Trevi Fountain of Rome.
Quite randomly, down one of the paths leading from the Cascada, there is a model of a mammoth.
The park as a whole is well worth a visit, there are free wi-fi areas available too now.
I will definitely be spending more time there from now on.
It has been two years since I last visited Barcelona Zoo and a lot of changes have taken place. As I mentioned before, there is an ongoing programme of refurbishment and renovation, and having left a two year gap between visits (instead of annually) I can see a big difference.
The whole place feels lighter as soon as you enter, even though you can't really see much difference from the turnstiles you can feel it.
The rather small pen where the camels were housed is now home to mongoose, which are much more suited to the size of the pen.
The Montserrat display, with mostly goats, sheep and vultures, has had a facelift, this is still ongoing with areas being closed off, but it is still a vast improvement, the smell has certainly gone!
One of the dolphin pools is now inhabited by seals. There is a large display detailing the dolphins and whales that can be seen in the Mediterranean, I knew there were dolphins as I have seen them, but I had no idea that there were Sperm and Fin whales too.
The 'Savannah' area is being renovated too, most of it was still closed off, but you can see that the elephants, rhinos, hippos and giraffes are going to be much happier when it is all finished.
Part of the monkey/ape area is closed off, but there was one Chimpanzee that really did scare me. He looked straight at me and grinned a really weird grin. I moved, Quickly.
Apart from the lions and tiger, the big cats have been moved out to allow refurbishment of their areas.
After many years of visiting, I finally saw the Red Panda.
You still exit via the gift shop, that hasn't changed.
I will give it another two years before I visit again, the changes are more dramatic.
I spent a good few hours here and I am not sure that I visited every area, I will have to go back at some point.
The zoo is a little bit out of the way, at least from the direction I was travelling but it is very well sign posted and there is plenty of car parking once you arrive.
There were 2 ticket windows open when I arrived and no queues. The adult ticket cost £17.95, a child's £12.95 and under 3's are free. There are concession rates for Senior Citizens and carers, also the winter admission prices are a little cheaper.
There are plenty of toilets, always important when you are visiting somewhere with children, and food outlets too.
The first animals you see on entry are painted camels, they are not real - obviously - but very striking. These camels were painted by local schools.
Next, there is a petting area with the fattest guinea pig I have ever seen, there are rabbits, goats and llamas too.
If you look closely, you can see that the llama at the back is sticking his tongue out.
From here on, you have several choices of direction to take, with many different animals to see.
All the animals seem very happy, with none of the distressing actions of those in European zoos, although this marmot made a break for freedom.
Marmots are burrowing creatures and they have dug holes under the fence of their enclosure, this cheeky chappie popped up out of a hole, looked around, decided he was better off inside and went back.
One of the lemurs was so bored with all the goings on that he fell asleep on the information sign.
And it was all too much for this meerkat who was also fast asleep.
Banham Zoo is home to 2 of the approximately 150 Suffolk Punch horses left in the UK, they are registered and used for breeding.
The giraffe enclosure is huge, their building has a first floor viewing platform, this can be reached by stairs, a long wooden sloped walkway or a lift.
There are so many animals and so many routes round that it would be impossible to mention them all here.
There are feeding talks and educational talks several times a day, some of the birds of prey are flown in display. You can book to hold a meerkat or fly a bird of prey, but there are additional charges associated with this activities.
You do have to leave via the gift shop, but where don't you? If you do need to leave and return to the zoo, you can stamp your hand to gain reentry.
It is definitely worth a visit.
Barcelona Zoo is situated in the Parc de la Ciutadella, near the Estacio de Franca.
Travelling in to Barcelona by train from north of the city, the best station to use would be Arc de Triomf, walk through the arch and keep going!
At €20 for adults and €12 for under 12s (under 3s go free) it can seem pricey, but you can spend a whole day just wandering round. If you take a picnic and plenty of drinks you don't have to spend another penny, or should that be cent?
There are the usual food stands dotted around the zoo, along with vending machines for drinks and ice creams. The little train that goes around the grounds, or the electric buggies, will cost you to hire, but the zoo is mostly flat, and there are areas that you cannot take vehicles so they may not be more than for novelty value.
And of course, both exits are reached through gift shops.
Being a Brit, I have to mention the toilets, and they are great, and much cleaner than a great number of UK toilets found in similar attractions.
A word of warning, please don't expect to see similar conditions for the animals that would in a UK zoo such as Chester, because it is not going to happen. Whilst the pens and enclosures are being improved (it is a continuing project that has been going on for some time now, and I can see changes each time I go) they are still very sparse and small.
The zoo is open every day, including half day on Christmas Day, from 10am, closing at various times depending on the year.
More details can be found here.
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