So two weekends ago, Bria and I wanted to escape the smoke and smog of the city and head up to the hills for fresh air. I planned for us to go to Mount Tibidabo. Mt. Tibidabo is pretty much visible from anywhere in Barcelona. You could compare its visibility to the Hollywood sign for those who live in Los Angeles County. From far away, Mt. Tibidabo seems like a castle, but when you’re up close and personal, you’ll see that it is a large cathedral with Jesus on the top. Jesus has his arms spread out, which may remind someone of the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
In terms of getting to Tibidabo, Bria and I had the option of taking the metro all the way or hiking. We opted for the fresh air of course, which certainly paid off. It was an enjoyable 1.45 hour hike, and Bria and I got a 360 degree view of Barcelona. It was absolutely breathtaking. Once we made it to the top, we saw that around the cathedral was an amusement park and a few restaurants. We grabbed a bite to eat and rewarded ourselves for our hike with some nice Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream. After walking around more and taking in the sites, we headed back into downtown Barcelona on the bus and rested up for the next day.
The next day I had planned for us to go to Rupit, a small town in the mountains filled with castles, hanging bridges, waterfalls, hiking trails, and buildings from 1010 A.D. We got on the metro and after 45 minutes, we realized we got on the train that was right before our actual train.
After 1.5 hours of backtracking, we finally got to our transfer destination, Vic. At Vic, there was supposed to be a bus to take us to Rupit. It was Sunday though…and in Vic, Spain that means that no buses are running. Since we made the trek out to Vic, Bria and I decided to walk around for a few hours. With no map and no sense of direction, we learned what it meant to be lost. We got exactly what we had been asking for in the two days leading up to this adventure. While walking in the middle of nowhere, Bria and I saw many closed restaurants, graffiti (which was incredible), old churches and even a bombing site.
We also managed to get whistled at by some random guy in his car. That wasn’t it though. This one-legged homeless man attempted to follow us while begging for money. Good thing Bria and I are track stars! All in all, I’m happy we got lost. We got exactly what we wished for and learned that we in fact do know how to handle ourselves in sticky situations. So we may have been lost, but we found out a lot in actuality!
It’s about the journey. The destination is less important.
christiannek 