Tag: Spain

Oix to Sales de Llerca

On June 8 our hike takes us from Oix to Sales de Llierca. Our accommodations in Oix is a 16th century farm house that has been converted to a small hotel. Nothing fancy in the way of accommodations but comfortable. Likewise the food is good, but nothing fancy. The view from our balcony looks out over tile roofs to the green hills beyond.

Oix is a tiny hamlet with no stores so we ask the manager to make us lunches. We’re on the trail at 9:50 am. Hiking through oak woodlands and grassy meadows, past white, blue and yellow wildflowers. We also see yellow Scotch Broom and I wonder if it’s an invasive here like it is in California.

I’m dragging a bit, perhaps too much wine with dinner. It takes me awhile to get my hiking stride. Mid-morning we stop for a snack in the shade of some small oak trees that look much like the live oaks of California, except much smaller in stature. At 12 pm we stop near an abandoned farm house and we each eat half a sandwich saving the second half for a later snack, since we’re anticipating a long day.

Later in the afternoon we cross a ridge and the town of Sales de Llerca comes into view. We’ve seen nobody on the trail since leaving Oix. As we approach the medieval bridge over the river Llierca we see a few hikers and a few people swimming in the river.

We reach our accommodations at Can Serola at 6:35 in the evening having logged 12.8 miles (20.3 km). Can Serola is on a hill about 2 miles above Sales Sales de Llierca. A beautiful old house in a beautiful setting. Here we’re served an exquisite five course dinner with olive paste on toast, creme of broccoli, green salad with goat cheese pastries (simply out of this world, like little philo dough pastries stuffed with cheese and fried), a beet dish with julienne beets, walnuts and goat cheese, and the main course of roast duck with fruit, and wine. My mundane English descriptions hardly do the meal justice. Our Macs Adventure itinerary may include meals with some locations and other locations we may be free to eat in local restaurants, depending on what facilities are near our lodgings.

Santa Pau and a Loop Hike

On June 3 we made our way from Girona to Santa Pau by bus, finding the local bus stop near our apartment in Girona. For this leg of our trip we’re carrying all our luggage. I carry a day pack and a travel pack. Once we start our walking tour our luggage will go by taxi and we’ll go on foot with just our day packs.

We transferred buses in Olot where we had few minutes for a snack; coffee, apples and coke. Once in Santa Pau we found our lodging at Hotel Sal Sastre right across the street from the castle. We spent some time walking around the medieval town.

On June 4 we began our Macs Adventures walking tour with a loop hike from town up to a high point at Santa Maria Finistres. Here there is a hermitage which has some historical significance. We had a very quite picnic lunch here. This is truly a place of solitude. From the time we left town at 10 am and when we returned at 3:45 pm we had the entire trail to ourselves. The trail was a moderately steep track up the mountainside passing through beechwood and oak forests. Our feet crunched through the leaves on the trail and there was no sign of anybody else having used the trail recently. We clambered over a couple of fallen trees and passed a number of sections in the trail that had been rooted up by wild pigs, as if a roto-tiller had gone through. I would imagine that some sections of the trail could be slippery following a rain, with slippery leaves and mud but with dry conditions we had good footing. It’s a very pretty hike through the cool shade of the forest, passing by farms and pastures closer to town. When we came out of the forest we could see our town on the hill in the distance.

Having returned to town, we had logged 10 miles. The Macs Adventure hike is a nine mile loop. We manged to add a mile with a trip to town in the morning to buy bread, cheese and salami for our picnic lunch. After 10 miles it was time for a cold beer.

La Pedrera

May 28. Our first day of touring in Barcelona starts with a tour of La Pedrera, one of the architectural wonders created by Antoni Gaudi. Casa Mila, or La Pedrera as it is commonly known was built in the early 20th century. Construction began in 1906 and the building was finished in 1912. Well worth the tour if you are visiting Barcelona. Get your tickets ahead of time though. We arrived at 9:00 am, a little flustered since we started off on the wrong direction on our walk, and then discovered that we had left the tickets in the motel room. Internet connection was sparse so we had trouble pulling up the confirmation email on Joann’s iPhone. It seems that the clerk at the counter was gracious enough to believe our story and we were able to tour. The tour is self-guided with handsets to listen to narration about the features of the building. Gaudi in known for drawing inspiration from nature and his devotion to the Church.

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The tour starts on the roof of the structure with the fanciful design of the roof vents. From there you go down the the attic where you can see the rib like structures that support the roof. The attic served as the work area for servants. The building itself was designed as an apartment building.

From the attic you go down to one of the apartments which is furnished as it might have been in the early 20th century.

Watch your Pockets

May 31, 2019. Waking up from a sound nights sleep. I’m wondering what time it is. I look at my phone and I’m flabbergasted. 10:40! I had no idea we had slept that late. For the previous two days we had tour tickets for 9:00 am both days, so we were up at 7 am to grab a bite to eat and then off on foot to find our destinations. On Tuesday it was La Pedrera at 9:00 am then on to the Picasso Museum at 12:30 and the Palau de la Musica Catalana at 3 pm. At 9 pm we went out in search of Tapas, having our first taste of acorn fed Iberian Ham. On Wednesday it was Sagrada Familia for our 9:00 am tour, followed by a spontaneous walking tour and then a bus up to Park Guell at 6:30 to see more of Gaudi’s work. We logged 10 miles on foot over the course of the day and decided we’d forego the alarm in the morning and get up when we felt like it.

We had numerous warning about pickpockets in Barcelona, both prior to the trip and and while touring. We did have an experience that bears sharing. While learning to navigate the Metro we got on the wrong train. After getting off and feeling a bit disoriented a young woman came up to us and told us we needed to take the elevator up a level to get to the right train. We were on the elevator with her and two of her friends when one of them attempted to access Joann’s purse. She thought they might have taken a notebook , but on later inspection nothing had been taken. Just a lesson to be careful. We’ve been traveling lightly. Leaving our backpacks in the room. I carry my small Sony RX100 camera in a Ripoffs brand holster on by belt with a strong Velcro flap. My pants have zippered pockets and I keep my iPhone in one of those pockets. Even so, I feel a bit bare without the camera support items like the tripod and such, and on both Tuesday and Wednesday I exhausted my camera batteries with the spares in the my backpack in the room. Passport, credit cards and such I keep in a pouch that hangs around my neck and kept inside my shirt. Probably not foolproof but so far so good.

La Pedrera, Palau de la Musica Catalana, Sagrada Familia and Park Guell will require separate blog posts so stay tuned. Pacing myself between touring, editing photos and writing is a challenge.

Gaudi’s Lizard at Park Guell

En-route to Spain

May 27, 2019 2:20 pm. We are packed and ready to begin our trip to Spain. At 3:45 our neighbor Kathryn knocks on the door to give us a ride to BART. A great way to start a trip. We try to pack lightly since we like to  use public transit when we can. We each had one piece of baggage to check and a day pack with things to have on the plane. Our flight was delayed an hour, so it was just after 9 pm when we boarded the plane. Norwegian Air flight 7076 non-stop to Barcelona.

Once on the plane I discovered that I had not packed my earbuds, so I purchased a set on the plane for $3. I thought I’d watch a movie, but the sound quality was so poor with the cheap earphones and then one of the ear pieces stopped working. I decided I’d try sleep. After a light meal of chicken and mashed potatoes I inflated my neck pillow and did my best to get comfortable. As fitful and uncomfortable as it was I felt rested when I woke up for breakfast an hour before our arrival. Ham and cheese sandwiches.

It was 5 pm we landed in Barcelona 11 hours after takeoff. We collected our bags, and found the Aerobus to take us downtown to Placa Catalunya. From there it was a short walk to Hostal Grau.

One of my top priorities was to find a hat in Barcelona to replace my tried and trusted canvas hat which while quite versatile lacks a certain panache. You’ll notice my mission was accomplished with the photo of me on the hotel balcony.

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