The sunny day was perfect for discovering a new place for us - the area in the city of Zaragoza where the Exposition of Water was held in 2008. We had a guide, of course, who kindly offered her time and presence to take us around, first as a copilot in our car and later as a walker by the river Ebro and this enclosure.
This whole place was constructed for a very important event that changed the appearance of this city in many ways and had enormous effects on it. There we were to see it and walk through this architectural treat surrounded by nature. Bridges, the river, parks, buildings, letters and mazes...
I could not avoid noticing the unusual shape of these trees. The branches, which I usually see as arms looked like legs. Probably you will think it is silly but that is how I saw these trees, as some rare creature that landed in this park.
Maybe the police know something... you see, it was forbidden to pass through some parts of the park by the river.
The pavement was good to use though. No risk that you can step into mud or else, or that the river can grab you (as actually, it was the real reason why some parts were closed). The water level of the river Ebro is quite high at the moment.
Oops, it seems that we went down to the water. Forget about this photo, or just concentrate on the bridge called Puente del Tercer Milenio.
The next one will show the same bridge, from another angle.
So, this is the same bridge while we crossed the river heading back to the city. Later, we turned into the wrong street but lady GPS, model Paloma, knew where to take a U-turn and everything was solved in less than a few minutes.
If we are still talking about bridges, there was another, impressive one - Pabellón Puente.
This bridge, which has the shape of a gladiolus was designed by the British-Iraqi architect Zaha Hadid for this international exposition held in 2008 in the city of Zaragoza. It seems that the bridge itself also hosted exhibition rooms.
This is just a little floral intermezzo in this post, but don't worry, in no time we will be back to the promised buildings and installations. It is just that I spotted the daffodils in one area designed for flowers so we went close to them. A nice contrast to the concrete forest of pavilions.
Let's see first the abandoned pavilions, the empty buildings. They are called (by the locals) peanuts, as if you were a bird you would see them in that shape from the air. I will believe my guide, she knows it!
Impossible not to spot all these mazes that were drawn on the ground. That is true that sometimes we can find ourselves in a labyrinth even though we are not aware of it, or we are aware but our attempts to get out are weak and clouded by pleasing distractions. We are humans, we should understand that and be kind to our bodies and thoughts but never give up on finding the clear path so that our souls would like to live in us.
I found myself in the centre of this maze. I started at one side, arrived at the centre (the spot where I stand here) and walked out from it respecting the lines and paths of the same. Yeah, it was an easy one, easier than the jigsaw puzzle I did some days ago.
There was a part in the centre of this big expo installation with a metal construction and a net over us. Apparently, this outside area was covered with little flags representing each country which participated in Expo 2008. Just a few survived the test of time, sun, wind rain...
Some of the peanut-shaped pavilions were reformed and enabled for public institutions. Cristal walls and colourful bars around them were added. The result is pretty nice.
A little information board before one gets lost in this maze. We were going slowly toward the Torre del Agua (Water Tower) and Aquarium of Zaragoza but first I looked back once again. There was another building I liked.
Palacio de Congresos de Zaragoza (Zaragoza Congress Palace) is another modern construction that stands out in its singularity and delight. It even has a guardian, a giant who sits in front of it. That sculpture is made of many white letters but if you try to read them it will not make any sense. This is how letters and words are at times.
Getting closer to the letters.
This is how he sits and receives thousands of passers-by and tourists (as we were in this case) day by day. His thoughts are not available to everyone, maybe just to those who can truly enter his mind.
I am here, looking toward the blue sky through this web of white letters, reading the chaos from his back and later, head. I can't make a word in that short time (apart from "gaos", which sounded like "chaos").
Other people were waiting for me... and time is precious. So as not to steal more of your time, dear reader, let's visit also the last building I wanted to bring in this post.
Torre del Agua is a tower that has the shape of a water drop. You see that it is a very tall building but I bet you didn't know that is hollow inside. I didn't know it either.
There was just an artwork in its interior, hanging from the ceiling, as once again our very informed guide told us. She is the owner of one of those pairs of legs, from the first photo. She took with us this walk - which happened one sunny day, exactly one week ago, on Wednesday at the Zaragoza Expo 2008 site.
