This November, Tammara and I found ourselves in Spain. Our excuse was that Tammara wanted to attend an international land conservation conference in Barcelona. Did I want to come along? Como no! We had been here in 2000, when Tammara attended another environmental conference, and had daydreamed about returning ever since.
We left just days after the end of the farm season, so planning for this trip was minimal. It was one of those deals where you're reading the guide book on the flight over. We had a general idea about where we wanted to go, but made very few arrangements. This is perhaps the best way to travel - leaving your options open. November is an ideal time for unplanned travel too; it is the off-season just about everywhere, kids are in school, it's not too close to any major travel holidays, and it's too cold in most northern hemisphere destinations for the average tourist. Let's go!
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| Tammara dips her toes in the sea |
Upon arriving in Barcelona, the first priority was to stick our feet in the Mediterranean, and walk the promenade along the sea. Ahh... it was so sunny and warm, about 65 degrees, perfect. What an incredibly beautiful city; even nicer than we remembered. I don't think we made it to the beach here last time - how did we miss this? Lots of seaside cafes, restaurants,and bars to choose from.
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| Chris on the Barcelona beach |
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| Our student residencia |
The first few days in Barcelona we stayed at an international student dormitory located at the edge of the city, up in the hills. The conference was held at a science museum near by, so this offered an affordable place to stay for many of the attendees. Accommodations were basic, but worked just fine for us. It was a fair distance away from the main tourist sites of the city, but only a short walk to a Metro station. I was amazed at how efficient, clean and easy to use this metro system was. You can easily get almost anywhere in the city in less than a half hour, even out to the airport, It really makes you wonder about places like New York...America feels more and more like the third world all the time.
Thursday, November 6 - Tammara spent the next two days at the conference. The theme of the conference was, 'Land stewardship as a tool to promote social involvement with the natural enviroment in Europe". Presentations focused on different models being used throughout Europe by NGO's to protect land,
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| Walking the Rambla |
While she attended meetings, I explored the city. It felt like I walked twenty miles each day - maybe I did. There's so much great stuff to see, I never really stopped all day. First, I walked down the Rambla, which is a wide pedestrian walkway down the center of a primary city avenue. It's mostly filled with sidewalk cafes, restaurants, and tourist shops. but still a fun place to walk and get oriented to the city.
One of my first stops along the Rambla was at the main Farmer's Market in the area. Beautiful fruits and vegetables, but also all kinds of mushrooms, cheese, meat, fish, and even whole rabbits and pheasants. I picked up staples for a picnic later in the day - local cheese, fresh bread, and perfectly ripe pears.
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| Farmer's market in Barcelona |
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| Fresh mushrooms |
From the market I wandered the narrow maze of alleys and streets through the oldest part of the City, the Gothic quarter. It was hard to keep your bearings and not get turned around, but I finally stumbled upon the Barcelona Cathedral, which I had set out to find. It's an impressive structure, dating back to the 1300's. I explored inside and out, trying to figure out how on earth they built these massive things 700 years ago. I'm pretty impressed with what you can do with a plank and a pulley!
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| Barcelona Cathedral |
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| Inside the cathedral |
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| Castle on Montjuic |
I eventually found my way out of the Gothic quarter back to the Rambla, walked toward the port, and then climbed up Montjuic. Did I mention I walked a lot? Montjuic is a hill overlooking the city from the southwest. There is an old castle/fort at the top that guarded the port at one time. The fort was also used in the 1840's by the Madrid government to bomb the city after political uprisings and was later used as a prison during Franco's reign. Today it's mostly gardens and a nice place for picnics.
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| View over the city from Montjuic |
I hobbled back down the mountain to the beach in time for a sunset beer. Kept getting pestered by young Asian women who wanted to give me a foot massage. Did I really look that tired? I didn't take them up on the offer.
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| Sunset on the beach |
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| Monumental Zone Park Guell |
Friday, November 7 - The next day was another very full day of visiting Barcelona's most popular tourist sites. I started out at Park Guell, sometimes referred to as Gaudi Park. This is the iconic park designed by Barcelona's famous architect Antoni Gaudi and constructed in the early 1900's. Its original intent was to be an exclusive collection of estates, located at the edge of the city for the wealthy elite . The economy went bust after only a couple of the houses were built and the project went bankrupted. The city acquired the land in 1922 and created a public park. As the city grew, the park was enveloped and now sits like an oasis at the center of urban development.
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| Porter's lodge, Park Guell |
If Dr. Seuss were to design a park, I imagine it would look something like Park Guell. It is a maze of paths, viaducts, gardens, plazas, and surreal buildings and monuments covered with glazed tile mosaics. It's a huge park which covers an entire hillside and offers outstanding views over the city, looking out over the sea. I spent the entire morning viewing the monuments and wandering the trails. The center of the park, where all the most popular sites are located, was quite crowded with bused in tourists, but it was possible to find some quiet corners off the beaten track.
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| Tile-shard mosaic dragon |
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| Spiraling viaduct |
Tammara cut out of her meetings early and met me at the park. We found our way across town to the other most popular site in the city - La Sagrada Familia. This church was (is)Gaudi's most ambitious and spectacular project. Construction started in 1882 and it continues today. It is expected to be completed sometime around 2026. It is hard to imagine an intellect that could conceive such a building, and equally hard to imagine the engineering that went into it's construction. Picture a gigantic drippy sand castle with central towers over 550 feet tall and seventeen other towers over 325 feet. Picture an open voluminous space capable of seating over 13,000 people. Then add in brilliant stained glass mosaics, towering stone columns that stretch to the vaulted ceiling like redwood trees, cover the exterior with life-size statues depicting bible stories and top it off with a Christ on a parachute over the alter for good measure. That pretty much sums up the Sagrada Famila.
We waited in line for over an hour to get tickets to enter, but it was worth the wait. We were awestruck and dazed by this magnificent piece of artwork. My neck hurt from looking up so much. Underneath the church there is a comprehensive museum which does a through job of explaining the history of the project.
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| La Sagrada Familia |
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| Christ on a parachute? |
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| Afternoon glow through the stained glass |
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| Exterior La Sagrada Familia |
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| Exterior detail |
We finished off the day by heading back to the beach for Sangria at sunset and then a late group dinner with attendees from the land conference. The dinner was held at a restaurant called "Tamara's", so we definitely had to check that out. It was great to meet such a diverse and interesting group of people from all over Europe - Germany, France, Italy, Scotland, Iceland, England, Belgium, Spain, Holland, as well as, Mexico, Columbia, and the US. Dinner was very late, as is the norm in Spain, and a bit vegetarian challenged, but otherwise a delightful evening.
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| At the vineyard |
Saturday, November 8 - The next day consisted of field trips for the conference. The first site we visited was to a sustainable and organic vineyard located about two hours north of the city. The vineyard uses less intense farming practices, and has conserved a series of vernal pools which are critical habitat for an endangered native turtle species. The family that owns the vineyard have been making wine there for four generations, still using the traditional methods. Nothing is added to the wine - sola uvas. We had a tasting and it was wonderful. They sell the wine for only five Euros per bottle. I really can't figure out how they can make a living at this. Apparently, wine is so plentiful and cheap in Spain, this is all the average customer is willing to pay... sort of like trying to sell zucchini here in August!
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| Just a taste |
We traveled to a second property where a non-profit is working with local farmers to protect and manage their land sustainably. We had a wonderful catered lunch, all sourced locally - even the pomegranates. Had a great day with a great group of like-minded people.
November 9 - 13 With the conference over, we were free to explore Catalunya on our own. In keeping with our typical vacation itinerary of mountains and beaches, we first set off for the Pyrenees and then the Mediterranean coast at Cadeques. We traveled by bus northward into the mountains. The bus was not very crowded and Barcelona was eerily quiet. This was partly due to it being Sunday, but it was also a special election day to vote on an unofficial resolution for Catalunya to secede from Spain. We were a bit nervous that there would be demonstrations or strikes in the city, but everything seemed quite subdued. As it turns out, of the 2.3 million people who voted, over 80% voted for independence. The vote was deemed unconstitutional by the Spanish government, so who knows where this will lead next.
As we traveled higher into the mountains, the weather started to deteriorate and the clouds obscured all views of the summits. We were dropped off at a crossroads in the rain. There was a concrete bus shelter and a gas station across the street. In Barcelona we had bought a SIM card for a cell phone, so we would be able to call for a ride from here to our destination 8 km up a side valley. Of course there was no cell reception down there at the bottom of the valley. What were we possibly thinking?Fortunately, the gas station had a pay phone that worked, after we eventually figured out how to use it. From here, we called a jeep taxi to take us to our hotel in the little town of Espot.
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| Our hotel in Espot |
Espot is a charming small village that sits on the floor of a high valley. It is a very old settlement with parts of it dating as far back as the 9th century. Traditionally a farming or herding community, today it clearly relies on tourism. The town boarders on Catalunya's only national park, D'aiguestortes i Estany de Sant Maurici, and also serves as a base for a nearby alpine ski mountain. Many of the older structures in town have been renovated into modern second homes, and the edges of the village have sprouted newer homes and condos.
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| Village of Espot |
Despite the recent development, the town still feels quaint and authentic. Most of the newer construction has utilized the traditional building materials of natural stone, slate, and wood so everything seems to fit in. It has everything you need: a few hotels, campgrounds, a couple of restaurants, a bakery, bank and a small grocery store.
We were there during, what is likely, the most quiet time of the off-season. It was too early for skiing, and too cold and snowy for fair weather hikers. This gave us the advantage of basically having the whole town to ourselves.
There were only two or three other rooms occupied at our hotel during our stay, and often we were the only patrons eating at the restaurant. This felt a little weird, but we got used to it. It was a very small town, only about 80 people, including children, living there this time of year. We repeatedly ran into the same people every time we went out. Many of the other hotels were closed for the season; it's hard to imagine how busy the town must be during high-season.
The off-season also meant that we had the hiking trails completely to ourselves. In three days of all day hiking, we literally passed six other hikers on the trail. And this is in a national park with mountain scenery that easily competes with Yosemite or Glacier! Coming from the northeast US, where hiking popular trails often means passing dozens of other hikers in a single outing, this was truly a surreal experience.
Words can not begin to express the beauty of this park. It covers an area of about 20 km east to west and 9 km north to south. It occupies essentially two main valleys ranging from 1600 to 2000 meters in elevation and is surrounded by jagged peaks from 2600 to 2900 meters. The park also contains some 200 estanys (small lakes).
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| Tammara at Estany de Sant Maurici |
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| Estany Tort de Peguera |
There is an extensive system of hiker's refuges spaced about a day's hike apart. Some of them are quite large, accommodating over a hundred guests. They provide bunks (packed in like sardines) and meals. The refuges were all closed for the season during our visit, but they did offer a nice destination to hike to each day. We hiked to three different refuges, each one in a more beautiful setting than the previous one. It was possible to hike directly from the village into the park, the trails are well marked and signed, and we had a good trail map of the park, so we had no problems hiking on our own without a guide.
Snow had come early this season, so at about 2000 feet of elevation we started to hit the snow line. In the higher passes there was 6-8 inches - not enough to give us any problems. Two of our hiking days we had perfect weather: clear sunny skies, little wind, and comfortable temperatures - around freezing. On one day the clouds started rolling in during the late morning and by noon the taller summits were lost in the fog. This was disappointing, but it did add to the sense of remoteness and raw wilderness.
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| Refugi d'Amitges |
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| Estany Gran d'Amitges |
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| Refugi Josep Maria Blanc |
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| Refugi del Pla de la Font |
We hated to leave what felt like our own hidden private mountain retreat, but time and the calling of a warmer climate, motivated us to move on. Our next destination was the seaside town of Cadeques, but unfortunately, there was no way to get there directly from Espot on public transportation. So it was five hours by bus back south to Barcelona, spend a night there, catch a morning train north to Figueres, and then another bus to east Cadeques. So, for what took us two days, would have taken only about four hours by private car. We could have rented a car, but we hate driving in foreign countries, plus it always feels a bit like cheating.
November 14 - 17 Cadeques is one of the places we visited fourteen years ago when we were last in Spain, and it has long been on our list of places we would like to return to. Located just south of the French boarder, where the Pyrenees meet the sea, it is one of the most idyllic and picturesque places we have ever been. The small town started as a fishing community, but it too, like Espot, has grown and now relies mostly on the tourist trade. Even though the second homes have spread higher up the hillsides which surround the bay, the construction has blended well with the older parts of town and the natural landscape.
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| Cadeques waterfront |
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| Sea view |
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| Hotel Residencia |
We splurged and booked a room at the Hotel Residencia with a seaside view from the balcony. Apparently, this was a favorite place for the painter, Salvador Dali, to stay when he was in town. The entire hotel is now somewhat of a shrine to Dali and surrealistic art. The walls are covered with paintings and prints, eclectic sculptures and art books strewn around the lobby. It was a funky and fun place to stay.
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| Salvador Dali shrine in the lobby |
So, what to do in such a beautiful place? How 'bout a walk. We covered a lot of ground in the next three days, essentially perambulating the entire coastline from the lighthouse that marks the south point of Cadeques Bay, all the way to the northern point of Cap de Creus. Much of the surrounding area is designated as natural park land, so there were endless opportunities for hiking right from town. It is beautiful rugged land - rocky, dry, windswept and raw. Somehow earlier settlers managed to turn this landscape into vineyards and olive groves. The blight that wiped out many of the vineyards all through France and other parts of Europe in the mid-1800's, pretty much put an end to grapes here, but you can still see the narrow rock terraces where they were grown, covering entire mountainsides. Some places were so steep, the terraces were only a foot wide. Such optimism just astounds me - I can't image growing anything in this landscape.
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| Cadeques Bay |
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| Lighthouse at Punta de sa Conca |
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| Lunch spot near Cap de Creus |
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| Hiking to Cap de Creus |
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| At Punta des Bou Mari |
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| Another perfect picnic spot |
Monday, November 17 - Alas, our trip was coming to an end. We were not ready to leave. We took one more long walk along the shore and ate our picnic lunch in the sunshine. To the south we could see the lighthouse we had walked to our first day, and to the north the headland of Cap de Crus. It was a lovely spot. Our visit to Cadeques confirmed that it truly was a place worthy of re-visiting.
In the afternoon we retraced our route by bus, train, and metro back to Barcelona. We booked our final night in a small hotel located on Placa de Sant Josep Oriol, one of the prettiest spots in the Gothic part of the city. We took advantage of being in a metropolitan international city and found a Mexican restaurant near by. We had burritos and beer - not great, but a nice change from all the pasta, cheese, bread and wine we had been surviving on.
Tuesday, November 18 - Had an early morning rise after not much sleep. Travel anxiety and lots of noise in the streets. People are up until all hours here, but at 7 AM the streets are deserted. We made all our train and metro connections to the airport with no problems. Sailed through security in record time - everything is just so efficient here
Sadly, Tammara and I parted at the gate - she to return home, and I to fly on to England to visit my sister.
My flight took me directly over the area of the mountains where we had been hiking the week before, They stood out, covered in fresh snow, beckoning us back for more adventures.
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| Flying over the Pyrenees |
