the parks around here

OMG, OMG! I had the best weekend so far, however I’m afraid I can’t share most of it with you guys because just as we arrived at the rustic house in Casavells, small town of the Baix Emporda, this photo of the door and the kitchen below was the last before the battery in my camera died.

I tried finding pictures of the towns we visited online, but they all suck; so I promise to go back there sometime soon so I can share those with you.

Who knows maybe I’ll go back to stay.

I can tell you the first part of the weekend, I went with my friends Friday night to a small city by the name of Granollers to a club Piano Blau (blau is catalan word for blue), to see a spanish pop singer who seemed to be also a pretty good stand up comedien, as in between songs she would tell these joke stories, and her singing was great too, and so was her band, anyway in case you want to hear something, here’s a link on her name: Pastora.

I also saw the longest truck I’ve ever seen.

But now, I will continue with some of the stuff I see around here daily as Wilbur and I explore the parks.

On the way I run into a Seat 600, which now a days is pretty rare, but when I was 11 years old, 95% of vehicles were 600’s, and 80% of them were white. My friend Maite told me that when her brother turned 50, the family and friends got together to find and buy him one. And then each one of his friends got one too when they turned 50. So now, they go out on “guy trips” with their little collectible cars. Boys and their toys.

pasionaria del pino

“La Pasionaria del Pino” is what this fuzzy bunch of caterpillars is called, because of these long formations they travel by. I took these pictures about a month ago, first time I came to the park, I just thought they were fascinating. Lucky for me, and Wilbur, neither of us touched them, as a few weeks later I learned they are the only real danger in these parts; they come about in January and February, and they are very toxic, they can make a person quite sick and they can kill a dog, in fact some dogs have had their tongues amputated after coming in contact with the little critters. Most people tend to purposely step on them.

Maite had also told me that she would go sometimes with her retriever Roc to 3 parcs Guell, Carmel and Guinardo, as they are connected by a bridge over a canyon; unfortunetly she currently has an ingrown toe nail that hurts, so she can’t go with me.

arbre del amor

So I start at the Guinardo, which is the one closest to me, I think Wilbur could pretty much go on his own by now. The first time a neighbor across the street from me, Maria Jose and her cocker spaniel Alba showed us the way to get there. 

Then we have to make our way to the top of the hill, and to the opposite side in order to find the bridge.

Wilbur is not keen on crossing any bridges, regardless of how sturdy they may be, he can see the distance down below the 1” gaps between the 6 x 10 beams is scary even for me, but I know not to look down. So he will wait till I made it all the way to the other side, and once he knows for certain that I’m not turning back he will come. See the little black spec to the right, in the shade, in the distance? that’s Wilbur.

As we arrive in Carmel, the park benches are filled with elderly folk basking in the springtime sun. Another interesting fact I noticed is the language change, the Guinardo is mostly catalan speaking, while Carmel, being that it is an old working class neighborhood is mostly castilean speaking, and when I get to Guell park, it is all the other languages, as it is mostly visited by tourists.

I follow some signs that show me the way to enter park Guell, you may remember this one from a few weeks back, when I met Hugo; if you do you'll remember that I told you there are only 3 homes built here, and last time we were at the other end of the park, so today we can see one of those homes up close.