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Photo by Chris Ciolli
Serralada de Marina Natural Park
2 of 2
Photo by Chris Ciolli
Serralada de Marina Natural Park
Christopher Columbus with his authentic 15th-century haircut, at the Monastery of Sant Jeroni de la Murta in the Serralada de Marina Natural Park
Chris Ciolli continues her series on things to do in Barcelona for free, with a trip to this nearby park, ideal for urban-dwellers thirsting for some nature.
An unlikely oasis
Located on the outskirts of Barcelona, a good 40 minutes from the city centre via public transport, Badalona and Santa Coloma de Gramenet don’t get a lot of good press. At best they’re regarded as sleeper communities, at worst as unattractive concrete jungles. But whatever naysayers might criticise about the area, it is home to the 4,000-hectare Serralada de Marina Natural Park, a veritable refuge for urban outdoor-lovers like myself in search of an open-air escape and the cultured urbanites (like my husband) we drag in our wake. When the weekend sun shines, the park’s trails and picnic areas fill up with locals, but come rain or weekday—you can have the majority of this verdant expanse to yourself.
Trailing Columbus
After creeping carefully past couples pedaling up the hill on bicycle and families climbing slowly to the top, dogs on leashes and little ones in arms, we abandon the car at the Monastery of Sant Jeroni de la Murta. My husband Jesus nudges my shoulder and points at the monastery. “Here, Christopher Columbus was received by Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand, after his first voyage to the Americas.”
Spaniards, Italians and Catalans are always assuming that as an American, I will share their special affection for Columbus. Not so. I can recite the “Columbus sailed the ocean blue” rhyme by rote, but that’s as far as it goes. Because if you want my opinion, and most of the Italians, Portuguese, Spaniards and Catalans that are so eager to claim ownership of the famous explorer don’t, Columbus was an arrogant schmuck.
Aside: Schmuck is a Yiddish term used in American English, to mean an obnoxious or contemptible person who is stupid or foolish.
Columbus was lucky. He was looking for Japan in all the wrong places, and stumbled upon somewhere 'new'. And, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, Columbus never fully accepted that America was anything but part of the continent of Asia he had set out to discover in the first place.
Jesus and I stroll the dusty grounds around the outside of the monastery and gawk at the mannequin scarecrows scattered throughout the monastery’s vegetable garden (free of charge), but are told at the gates that for a glance at a presumed bust of Columbus hanging inside the cloisters’ arched walkways, we’ll have to fork over a few euros—at the time of writing, €2 for an unguided visit, €3 with a guide.
A fork in the trail…
Our free option is to hop back in the car, re-park near Turó del Pollo and drag our feet and sweaty selves up steep trails in the aggressive midday sun to scope out the remains of an Iberian settlement at Puig Castellar. Jesus raises an eyebrow, and I frown, considering: A measly €2 to see Columbus, or almost two hours on foot to see some ruins?
I turn to Jesus, “Silly Iberians, building their city on a hill for strategic reasons. What about carrying things up and down from it? What about trade with other communities? Did they have horses? It’s like that gorgeous Barcelona loft with no elevator your father was so eager for us to buy, not very practical. Surely the hunters and gatherers complained. Or were the ancient Iberians not hunters and gatherers?”
These are questions for another day, as Jesus eyes my skirt and flimsy sandals. He shakes his head no to the Iberians, smirks and whips out his wallet. He nods towards the monastery and I shrug. Today is not turning out to be a 'free' day. But in an expensive city like Barcelona, €2 is practically free.
Inside the monastery, the deep shadows and cool air of the cloisters plead their innocence and a statute of limitations—they had nothing to do with harbouring that criminal Columbus and, after all, he and his royal sponsors are centuries gone.
Chris Ciolli is a US copywriter and translator currently living in Barcelona. She has two blogs of her own: www.barcelonaforidiots.com all about the city and www.midwesternerabroad.com, where she writes about her travels.
TO GET TO THE PARK BY PUBLIC TRANSPORT:
Go to metro stop Pep Ventura (L2) or RENFE station Badalona, then bus b26 direction Can Ruti. Get off at Ctra. A Montcada-Plaza Mossen Baranera in front of la iglesia de Canyet, cross the street and go in at Canyet. Follow the directions until you reach the monastery, approximately 25 minutes on foot.
or
Go to metro Santa Coloma de Gramenet (L1), then take bus b30 direction Montgat-Turò de Mar, get off at Recinte Torribera, from there it's a 20-minute walk to the monastery.