CACTUS GARDEN!

Actually, it's called the Jardins de Mossen Costa i Llobera but I like to think that CACTUS GARDEN! with all caps and the exclamation point conveys the experience a little better. My horticultural knowledge doesn't go much further than planting a seed but I know what I like visually and this place is stunning. Supposedly it is the largest collection of cacti in Europe. I believe it. Just goes to show that there is always somewhere new to discover, no matter how well you think you know a place.

My parents decided to call their future daughter "Kristin" after seeing it written on a gravestone in Switzerland. I discovered the name of my future son today while walking in the cactus garden in Barcelona. I saw it and just knew...

A little further down the path, there are these clusters of really tall cacti that must have reached up thirty feet. You walk right through them, all the while very aware of the strange shadows they cast and curving shapes they take.

And my personal favorites:

After my visit, I hopped in one of those red cable cars that you can see in the distance in the photo below and took it all the way to Barceloneta Beach and walked the rest of the way home.