Walking down the street the other day I noticed a new add campaign run by the city of Barcelona boasting about the 67 parks they have in the city. They must count every corner of grass as a park for I have walked up and down this city and never ran into 67 parks, but don't worry there is hope. One of the real parks that is in, well, near the city is called Collserola, a short fifteen minutes from Plaça Catalunya. (Ferrocarrils direction Terrassa, get off at Baixador de Vallvidrera or Peu de Funicular.)

Covering a vast amount of land this park is 16km for 6km and full of diverse routs that can take you twenty minutes or two hours. If you decide to follow one of the “puerco spino” paths you might just spend hours battling through overgrown underbrush. Situated just over the first ridge of mountains surrounding Barcelona you can get a view of some of the huge villas where the elite of Barcelona must live. One of the main attractions in the park is the Vil.la Joana that houses the museum Verdaguer, properly named after the Catalan poet Jacint Verdaguer. This is where he died in 1902 and they have kept his rooms the same as they were the day he died and conserved one of his most famous books La Atlàntida.

The park is very well organized and you can find all the information on routs, species, and plant life in the information center which is open every day from 9:00 until 15:00. To get to the information center get off at the train at Baixador de Vallvidrera and follow the signs up the hill. Next to the information center is also a restaurant where you can fill up on some carbos for your hike.

From the park you also get a new perspective on the infamous white antenna that juts out next to Tibidabo. The park is behind the antenna and very close to it so you can take in the real size of this communications monster. If you would like to get up close and personal with this monster you can, simply get off at Peu de Funicular and go up with the funicular until Vallvidrera where you will find a bus ( #211, at fifteen and forty five past the hour) that will take you right to the tower. If you decide to go up the tower you will be at 150 meters from the ground and 560 from sea level and get a great view of Tibidabo and Barcelona.