Saturday September 5th, 2015
When we first moved to Barcelona, I was impressed with all the beautiful and interesting parks in the city. As soon as I felt comfortable navigating the city on my own, I decided that I would look at Google Maps and try to visit all the notable parks with the kids. All the parks in Barcelona are very unique, so you never know what you will find.
One of the parks that the kids and I explored on our own was Parc Creueta del Coll. It was a Saturday in early November 2013. Getting there was an adventure in itself. While looking for parking around the park, I accidentally drove down a very narrow dead end street. On my right hand side were parked cars and on the left hand side, was a shear drop down the side of a hill. Of course there was no place I could turn around when I reached the dead end, so I had to navigate the narrow, winding street while driving backwards in my giant van (at least by Spain standards).
It was probably no more than 100 metres, but it was one of the scariest moments in my life!!! I made Nathan (then 11 years old) get out of the car and direct me as I slowly backed out of the street, praying that I wouldn't hit one of the parked cars or slide off the edge of the hill. At this point, my Spanish was also not that great, a concerned woman came out of her apartment and accused me of hitting her car that was parked on the side of the street. I told her in my broken Spanish that I had never been down this street before. She believed me, took pity of me and helped me back up the rest of the way out. Whew!
In the park was an enormous wading pool. It was closed because all outdoor pools in Barcelona close as soon as school starts. The kids and I still had a great time exploring the park and we found a path that led to the top of a steep hill with a great view of the city.
Two years later, we finally made it back to the park and enjoyed the wading pool. It is the best wading pool not just because of its size, but because of the beautiful surroundings as well. There were blossoms falling from the shrubs that line the pool making it feel like fancy spa. The pool was practically empty, because in early September it's too cold for most locals to swim outside. At certain times of the day, you can even borrow kayaks and paddle around.
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| View from the top of the hill |
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In the background you can see a 50 ton concrete hand suspended over a pool of water.
This sculpture is called "Elegy to Water" by Eduardo Chillida |
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| The pool in November, 2013 |
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| Climbing up to the top of the hill |
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| Reaching the cross at the top of the hill |
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| Ciara enjoying the wading pool, Sept 2015 |
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| We almost had the whole pool to ourselves |
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| playing in front of the concrete sculpture |
