A Picnic in the Mountains / El Parc del Garraf

On workdays, the Garraf mountains might feel like an obstacle since they make complicate commuting from Vilanova to Barcelona. However, they are always beautiful - dry hillsides with a low bush vegetation. And if you have a car, driving up into the Parc del Garraf sets a contrast to the buzzing life on and around the beaches.

Signs with the text area privada de caça (private hunting area) reveal that there must be wildlife here, but I doubt that you will see any animals, since this is a heavily populated part of Europe. During our picnic at relatively lush Jafre this weekend, we appreciated the silence and calm but admittedly heard a number of cars and motorcycles pass us by.

It has taken my family much to long to discover this place and we owe it to Sara, Gabriel and their son Adam that we finally went this time. Since our friends live in Barcelona, we entered the park from the north of Port Ginesta (belonging to Sitges, although many people think of it as Castelldefels). Coming from this direction, the drive on sparsely maintained tarmac and then even worse gravel roads feels quite long, but you have a stunning view of the mountains and the sea.

We plan to come back soon but next time we will enter from Sitges. The conditions of the road are said to be the same but at least it will be much shorter.
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L’encant del Parc del Garraf depen de molts aspectes. Ja a l’entrar (del costat Barcelonès de les montanyes) vam adonar-nos de les maravilloses vistes - al mar, a Castelldefels i Gavà i als vessants secs amb vegatació escassa. Per l’altra banda, a la nostra destinació Jafre vam descobrir un lloc tranquil amb molts arbres i un prat tan verd que per uns instants vam sentir com si fossim a Suècia.

Per què no vam anar-hi abans? No sé, però ara tornarem molt aviat. Imagineu-vos que tenim una natura tan distinta i alhora tan a prop de la casa.