Exploring Cataluña

A little over a week ago, David and I took advantage of his vacation time to take a little tour of Cataluña, the autonomous community (think state or province) in which we live.

Alright, if you noticed something a little off about the above photos, congratulations, you caught me! All of the sights above, and many more not pictured, actually reside within meters of each other. Also, all of them are replicas of actual landmarks scaled down 25 times. Our "tour" was of Cataluña en Miniatura, a tourist park nestled in the mountains just outside of Barcelona. And it was well worth the visit!

Thanks to my tour guide, David, I expanded on my knowledge of the history and geography of this unique area of Spain, which had previously been limited to just Barcelona. It's a great starting point for tourists of the region, providing a broad insight into what it has to offer, and giving them a rough idea of what places they'd really like to visit. Plus, it's an interesting and unusual way to pass a day!

It gets even better. Attached to the park is another fun activity. El Bosc Animat contains obstacle courses of varying levels that lead you, tree top to tree top, up the mountain. After a brief lesson on how to safely use are harnesses to complete each "activity", we hiked up a steep hill, climbed a rope ladder into the first station, and began an hour long maze of tight ropes, zip lines and more.

This definitely isn't for those leery of heights. The miniature park below you makes you seem much, much higher than you actually are.

The best part (made even better by the fact that we had no idea it was coming!) was the ridiculously long zip line that takes you to the end of the course. It seriously felt like I was flying! I've wanted to try one of these things since the first time I saw one on TV, and it definitely lived up to the hype! I'm still giddy with that immense sense of satisfaction you get after crossing another "thing to do before I die" off your list!

Adrenaline still pumping through our veins, David was ready to set off on another adventure when we left the park. Exhausted and with the day growing late, we opted to go home and rest up for the next phase of our vacay.

I'll never forget the experience. And if you're interested and ever come to visit Barcelona, I'd be happy to go again!