Parc de Collersola

This past Sunday for a change of scenery, a long over due green forest fix and to see some traditional autumn colours, we visited Parc de Collserola located in Tibidabo, the mountain that over looks Barcelona. Considering that I only noticed Angelous (the cat named after Buffy the Vampire Slayers Angelus) or Mr AJ actually has angel wing markings when he was about 8 years old, it’s no surprise it’s taken me just as long to explore the park. Technically I have explored some when I volunteered at the animal shelter (which I have to re volunteer) dog walking, but without my own transport other than a bicycle, it’s a bit tricky to get to with public transport alone.

This time it was easy thanks to Paul’s motorbike. The GPS mistook a few bends for turns and we ended up initially on the other side to the mountain that wouldn’t have been out of place in the Smokeys or Alpine Maritimes. After passing numerous restaurants that looked straight out of Asterix we found the park entrance. Sandwiches and a warm up coffee from the cafe later, we set of for the Buddha fountain.

There are two paths leading the to fountain, an easy route or a longer route which we took. Lots of steep slopes with vistas of the Temple de Sagrat Cor cathedral in the distance which can be seen from most places in the city. The longer path took us about 2 hours, but we did explore a few paths leading off the main trail. Lots of birds, lots of silence, hardly any autumn colours and no wild pigs I used to see at shelter! The Buddha fountain when we did find it wasn’t want I was expecting. I wouldn’t have been surprised if a Green leaf man popped out and started dancing. The whole place felt surreal. The whole afternoon felt surreal. Definitly not what I was expecting!

Et Viola, a casading fountain!

We took the short trail back which took about 30 minutes and heading to the cathedral or what’s known as Tibidabo. Some Vicky Christina Barcelona fans, may remember an amusement park over looking the city. It’s here you’ll find it, right next to the catherdral! It’s also one of the best places for spectacular views of the city and sea. Unfortunelty it was misty and just gone sunset when we got there, but even in the mist, it’s pretty amazing! 

Hope you had a great weekend! My legs were feeling the hills later, but they did run 12km that morning! Are there anyplace’s near you that you know you really should visit, but never get around too? Parc de Collserola is massive, so I’m hoping I can explore more of it soon, minus the fountains. I think I’ll give them a miss!