K & L's Travel Blog

I love the parks in Barcelona.  Right across from our apartment is a small park, Moragas.  It winds up a hill with greenery and paths off to the side.  They are careful to create private spaces with shrubs and plants. There are benches with a children’s play yard.  Sometimes I can see adolescents up to no good.  Two or three times we have come across men peeing.  We are always highly alert for danger, but thus far only adolescents smoking cigarettes. Once a man ran up beside me and ducked into a path.  I was initially threatened only to laugh at the delighted three-year-old discovering her hiding father. 

The air if full of squawking parakeets flying around landing in their nests.  When we first came to Barcelona years ago they were scarce and a hard to see.  Now they are everywhere.  I looked up an article and it listed five species in Barcelona, two are common and three less so.  The common Monk Parakeets are everywhere.  They have huge nests in trees and lamp posts.  We read that the nests are communal. It thrills us to imagine the babies all being raised together.   

I have had more fun with a bit of software recommended by our friends Mary and Star. It is called “Merlin Bird ID.”  I highly recommend it.  It is free to download and easy to use.  When you hear the birds you simply start a recording and it will identify the birds.  So far, I have found the two most common parakeets (Monk and Rose Ringed) and one hard-to-find Mitred.  Now, I have two less commons ones to go: the Senegal and the Blue Crowned.  It is so much fun to identify the birds in the parks.  It is a total game of hunt and seek. 

The Munoz Ramonet Gardens is situated around an old palace.  Google maps describes it as a “Charming, oasis-like city garden with a fountain, statues, trees & some seating.” What I enjoyed about it were the statues.  I always want to find a statue to put in my garden but at home I never see anything I would want at the concrete shops in South Carolina.  But here I am constantly seeing statues I would love to have.  One was a nude woman by the artist Josep Dunyach I Sala in 1940.  It would be perfect beside our pond! Too bad I can’t find it at Jesse Israeli….

The Parc de Monterlos is not far from our apartment and it was a big favorite.  I think everyone got a dog in the pandemic so that they could escape to house to walk it.  They had an incredible dog park that was great fun to watch the fun and play.  The park is huge with winding paths up a mountain and views down to the water.  

The best views thus far have been from the Parc de la Primavera.  It was a steep walk up from there up to Mirabell, but a reward with more fantastic views.  It was cold but the air was clear and the sky a clear blue.  

The Jardin de Laribal is adjacent to the Fundacio Joan Miró, and it’s known for its many fountains. Given the steep slope it occupies, it is clear why the gravity-fed fountains appeal. We avoid the steep steps, but still get a good feel for the place. It’s been cold, but if you can sit in the sun it is fine.  And the parakeets abound.  Wait, I think I hear a different one…got to turn on Merlin!