In the morning, I had a deutch group and with them we wanted to visit the Sagrada Família Church and the Park Güell. Their travel agent had arranged the reservation in the church, but they also wanted to take the elevator to the tower. I don't always have the time to do that (specially if in 4h we are supposed to see also Gaudí's appartment buildings in Passeig de Gràcia), but since we were only visiting two sites we had plenty of time available.
The rules in the church have recently changed, so now we had to buy the elevator tickets as we went in and they gave us a time slot to go there (before, you just used to stand in line until it was your turn...). We had just some time to explain the Nativity façade before taking the elevator in that side. However, as I was explaining I could see something didn't look right by the elevator zone... And surely enough, when we approached the hostess there she told us that the elevator was closed for some technical reason, and at the ticket office they didn't know that!
Oh well, part of my job is solving problems so the tour goes as smoothly as possible, isn't it? So there I went, back to the ticket office, speaking with the right people and trying to be as proactive and diplomatic as possible. At first they were saying that there weren't tickets for the other elevator (the one in the Passion Façade) until much later... too late for us, as we were due to be at the Park by then! But in the end we got permission to show up there whenever we could and they'll sneak us past the line. That was perfect!
So after visiting the inside of the church, we proceeded to the elevator. We rode to almost the top, then continued one floor up to a platform from where you start seeing the city views, and then took the stairs down... Yes, they are narrow, steep and maybe a bit claustrophobic but... they are such an adventure! I took some pictures with my phone to share them with you.
The group loved this little detour on my average tour, and then we continued with the usual explanations of the Passion Façade and the Museum. Then the group split in 5 taxis and we got to the Park Güell, where appart from a detailed visit of the monumental area, at the end we still had some time to go up to the Hill of the Three Crosses to admire the city views. Part of the group, however, preferred to stay at the Main Entrance enjoying a drink at the terrace of the café instead. It was a lovely morning!
Next I took a taxi back to the city center where I had a sandwich before I met my afternoon clients, Gerald Bender and his daughter. We also had planned a Gaudí tour, this time including Casa Batlló and Casa Milà and not taking the elevator. We moved faster than the average, so we managed to cover everything and still had about a half an hour left. They were insterested in strolling around the Gràcia district which happens to be walking distance from the Park Güell where we were, so that's where we headed.
I don't often get to show my clients non-tourist areas such as local districts off-the-beaten-path, although I do offer neighbourhood tours. We walked the village-looking streets, passed lively local squares and learn about the area history. It's also a young place where many local designers have open their little trendy shops and cafés, and they were very interested in that particular side of Gràcia. I love shopping for clothes there too!
At the end of the tour, I helped them getting a cab back to the hotel and I went to catch the bus home, not without seating on one of my favorite little cafés before and have a snack to risen my energy levels after a long but fun day.
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