January 17 & 18, 2015
February 14, 2015
Witty Walk - January 17, 2015
For those of you who may not know about Witty Walks, here is a brief description and a link to Michael Witty and some of his information.
For many years Micheal Witty's family activity was taking walks in the countryside around Barcelona and Catalunya. These walks could sometimes be referred to hikes in American English. Micheal carried on this tradition and developed a following of Expat Brits and others. It is now the custom for the Witty Walkers to take a monthly walk. I made it back to Barcelona for the December walk, but unfortunately it was the first walk to ever be rained out.
The following accounts are of the walks I took in January and February of 2015.
This is how Michael described the walk;
17th
January we shall be repeating the walk on the
southern slopes of Montseny that Alan and Mercé discovered for us 19th
January 2012 or 13 (?) from a lake (meeting point) Pantá de Vallforners (five
minutes directly north by car of CANOVÉS) walking up to Can Quintana (coffees,
hot toddies and the like), thence, via the biggest chestnut tree in the
Universe, said to be home of the Hobbits two or three millenia or more in the
past, to finally Can Cuc which those
fortunate few, who braved the wet weather last time, will well remember by the
magic soup awaiting us ,as it bubbled away in an enormous iron cauldron
suspended above the red hot embers in the open fireplace. Nor will we forget
the estofado de sanglars, and the wettish walk back to the lake with the ghosts
of hobbits barely visible among the dripping trees as the clouds descended upon
us. With luck this time we shall have a fresh sunny day.
Walking time about 2 hrs 30 mins up and 1hr 45
mins down excluding time at Can Quintana, Castanyer de Cuc and Can Cuc. Meeting at 0930 for starting at 1000, we should be starting back to
Barcelona latest 1800hrs from the Panta Vallforners. Light windproof anorak, 2/3 layers of light
sweaters, gloves, warm head-ware, mountain boots or strong well padded
trainers, two pairs socks (best prevention against blisters), trecking poles (2
reduce strain on knees by 40%) all recommended from experiences by us all up to
this - the 23rd year of Witty Walks!!!!! (Those of us who did this two years ago can
be relied on to find the way there and back, but let’s hope Alan and Mercé can
make it too!!)
Isabel, a friend of Marta's and fellow walker lives in the town, just beyond where Marta lives. Jordi, their friend
and fellow walker lives near me and had invited me on an excursion after the walk. The logistics dictated that Marta and Isabel drive together and Jordi and I take his car.
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| Isabel |
Because Jordi lives in the old city where parking is impossible, expensive, or both, he has elected to keep his car parked outside of town; in Saint Quirze del Valles, next to Sabadell. about a 30 minute train ride from central Barcelona. It may seem strange to have your garage a 45 minutes (walk-train-walk) from your home, but for Jordi, it works out well.
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| Jordi |
His mother lives in the old family summer house in Verges, a small village outside of Girona. With his car parked in Saint Quirze del Valles, his car is on the way to Verges for his Sunday visit with his mother. That and he doesn't have to deal with Barcelona traffic and parking. Plus, he gets affordable inside parking. What may seem odd at first, adds up to making sense out of trying to have a car in downtown Barcelona or any major metropolitan city.
Every time I think I want a car here, I have to remind myself of the incredible headache of trying to live in the city with a car. Or living outside of the city where you can accommodate a car, but then you have the headache of owning a car. If it wasn't for road trips, I would have no problem going cold turkey and giving up my American addiction to the automobile. And so the dilemma rages on. Go by train and be limited as to time and location. Go by bus when necessary. Go by plane, and miss the scenery. Put together a combo of those three and do the best you can, or take the car on a road trip and go just about anyplace you want on your timetable. Fortunately I've reached a good compromise with Marta and her car, so I can let this dilemma stew a bit longer.
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| Jordi's Little Red Rocket |
On this road trip I was riding with Jordi in his little red sports car. Two dudes out on a lark. If you can call going for a hike one day and then going to a car & tractor show the next day, a lark. We drove up to Canoves with only one wrong way turn around, which really wasn't bad considering the directions we had to go by and the lack of pre-planning we had done. Normally the Witty Walkers would meet up at a bar or cafe for a coffee prior to starting a walk, but this walk started at the base parking lot, with the promise of a cafe about an hour up the mountain.
It was overcast and cold that morning, so hiking up a rather steep road was tiring, but it also kept you warm. The saving grace was that although if felt like it could snow or rain at any minute, it didn't, so our contempt for the hike was limited to the cold and the loss of vista due to the overcast sky. The cafe was a welcome site and it had
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| Mid walk cafe |
become place for everyone to sit down and have a nice hot drink or six. Marta and I enjoyed a little picnic outside until the dancing goat disrupted our dining area and hastened our joining the others inside.
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| Boogy Billy |
Somewhere in its life, one of the goats that are part of the mountainside farm and cafe, had learned the trick of prancing on its hind legs in search of food from the visitors. Apparently it had been rewarded enough, that it had transformed that trick into a routine. Our dining area became his new stage, so in we went.
We were all warm now and ready to move on to the restaurant for lunch and a chance to see one of the oldest Chestnut trees in Spain. The rest of the walk was up hill, but not nearly as steep as the first part, so we walked a bit faster to keep warm. Being short in stride and long on gander, I would often be looking around while being passed up by everyone. This made for bursts of catch-up and warmth on my part.
A number of walkers had packed a picnic lunch that we enjoyed at the base of the old chestnut tree. The tree has
been registered as one of the oldest in Spain and it was once home to a hermit who made his home in the hollowed out trunk. A true Hobbit hermit. Our group sat atop a stone wall, enjoying the sunshine that had broken through just in time for lunch. It was the usual group, but this year, like last year, there was a newcomer. Last year I was the newcomer. This year the honor was bestowed on Graham. Although he had been on walks before, his ascent from mere walker to a member the FFF's (Four Foolish Friends) clique, had come about with Josephine's email announcement that she was now a Girlfriend and that Graham was her Boyfriend.
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| The Old Chestnut Tree |
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| The FFF''s |
There we were, the couple, Josephine & Graham, Jordi, myself, Isabel and Marta. The new total members of the FFF's, enjoying our picnic and toasting Marta's birthday from the week before. Josephine had brought and Graham had carried a bottle of wine along to commemorate Marta's transition from 54 to 55. With our lunch over and our childish delights of exploring the Hobbit home of the old tree satisfied, we went to join the others in the group who had opted to have lunch at the restaurant. It seems that "the lunch" had become just as important to the walk as the walk itself. When we got to the restaurant the group was far from ready to go. We enjoyed a seat out on
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| The Restaurant |
motion once again.
Simon, an Expat from the UK, had joined our troop as we said our farewell to Micheal and headed down the road that would lead us back to the car park, which is where you park your car. The road down the mountain was the one used by the restaurant, so it was a very easy walk. The road followed a pretty little stream. In what could only be described as an enchanted forest, since it's very essence was enchanting. The valley we were in was narrow and tall, and inside the forest our daylight was fading. We popped out of the forest near the small reservoir which was surrounded by brush rather than trees. With the last of our daylight returned to us, we continued on to the cars, that were parked at the bottom of the reservoir's dam.
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| The Enchanted Forest |
Not having any swings or slides at the car park, for the cars to play on, they had to be content with spending the day playing sit-n-wait. A game cars play quite well. There was the usual commotion of people loading up, saying farewells and getting in a bit more conversation. For me this was an opportunity to take a picture of a dog that had been on the walk. The dog looked remarkably like Laura's Portuguese Water Dog, but it didn't have a tail. Turns out that there is also a Spanish Water Dog. Apparently in an example of national pride, Spanish Water Dogs are distinctly different from those Portuguese dogs because their tails are bobbed. A couple pictures for Laura and I was saying goodbye to Marta and Isabel as I got into Jordi's car for part 2 of my lark.
Part 2
Jordi and I were headed to Sant Antoni, a village not far away where a fair was taking place, that was centered around a classic car and tractor show. We rolled into town with no fanfare and place to park. After a couple of loops through town it was obvious we would never get any fanfare, but we did find a place to park.
We walked up to the area where the street fair was. Vendors selling this and that had been given one of the city
Jordi stopped at a vendor and offered me just such a choice. Since it was a meat product I deduced it was some part of a pig. My previous experience with pig ear in my soup, had made me a bit leery until I saw that it had been thoroughly deep fried. At least it wouldn't have the same consistency as snot, which is the closest description I have for boiled pig ear. I munched on this glob of deep fried pig parts as we walked the length of the street fair. A quick search for a restaurant that would provide dinner led us to the other one of two in town. Dinner, drinks, desert and we were off to bed.
When Jordi proposed this adventure he told me he wanted to sleep in the car in order to save money. Possessing the correct stature and temperament for sleeping in cars, I agreed to his plan. I'm not a tall man, but I've never felt small, so I've never suffered from Short Man Complex. My uncle Eddy had suffered from a severe case of it. Or maybe he was just naturally a jerk. Come to think of it, he didn't suffer from either condition, everyone else did.
I knew the car was small so I figured it was going to be a squeeze, but doable. I was about to fold down the back seat and make my bed, when Jordi informed me that we would be sleeping in the front seats. I've slept in cars that way before and it's never restful. Its what you do when the choice is that, or falling asleep at the wheel. With the morning came my confirmation that Jordi's front seats were just as uncomfortable as any I've ever slept on. Next time I'm going to see if trying to stretch out in the back just might work. Who knows, maybe Jordi will be able to move his car up from a 1 star to a 2.5 or 3 star car.
Also with the dawn came a trek back to the restaurant for breakfast and a bucket of steaming hot coffee. I just wanted to drink it, but Jordi wanted to soak in it. I have a nice down filled sleeping bag, but Jordi's cotton Kmart quality bag didn't keep him warm through the night. I don't think he's done too much January car camping.
Besides the old cars and tractors there were motorcycles and a huge flea market. This was defiantly not the right
I have a fascination with three wheeled vehicles. My motorcycle has three wheels, but it's not one of those Grandpa trikes. It's a standard motorcycle with a sidecar. An odd ball. My bicycle is a tricycle. Not a Grandma Schwinn, but rather a recumbent trike that has a 29cc Honda engine built in. Another odd ball. If I could find the right three wheeled truck or car here, I'd buy it in a heartbeat. I've run across a couple of classic scooters with sidecars here in Spain and on this outing I
We wandered through the cars, motorcycles, and flea market. This flea market finely yielded some used tools. One guy wouldn't take my offer, but an other vendor sold me some files and rasps for what I wanted to pay. It wasn't do to my mastery of the haggle as much it was due to it being closing time and why pack up what you can sell.
Jordi had come to see the tractors as he had many times in the past, with his father, but on this outing that would not be possible. The event closed before we could get to them. Oh well, he had seen a good many tractors when his father was still alive. The event closed because it was lunch time on Sunday, so off we went to lunch at the now very familiar restaurant. Lunch over and we were heading off to Saint Quirze del Valles, to put his car away for another week. A 30 minute train ride, 15 minute walk and I was back home after my little lark with Jordi.
Witty Walk - February 14, 2015
This is how the walk was described;
Set aside now the 14th February 2015 for a new, never been done before,Witty Walk from Girona Museum of Archaeology to the Castell de Sant Miquel. Distance: 10 kms. Duration: we took 3,5 hours including rest stop of 30 mins. at the castle;let’s call it 4 hours to compensate for the WW factor. Grade: Medium with a total climb/descent of 325 metres, enough to stretch the calf and heart muscles! Description: starts in the city old quarter, by the Archaeology museum and the church of Sant Pere de Galligans, follows along the river, past the monastery of Sant Daniel and along the valley of the same name on a wide track, passing underneath the N11 bridge and eventually up to the Castle. First part is flattish/easy uphill, last half hour is harder uphill, but nothing to daunt any Witty Walker! 360º views at top are spectacular, depending on the weather. A varied scenic walk: river bed/profuse valley vegetation/farm fields/monastery/abandoned mill/several Masías, one with bread oven intact/ and, all the while, more songbirds than we have ever heard whilst living in Catalunya.
La Taverna del Abat http://www.latavernadelabat.com(beautifully appointed, and situated in the house of the late Abbot) will open for coffees and breakfast sandwiches at09.15 and has reserved the main restaurant space for us at lunch time, final price including coffees 18€. Menu choices are attached. Please confirm your choices by Tuesday 10thFebruary.
On that Saturday morning I met Marta at the Sants Train Station, the main station for Barcelona. She and I had gone there a few days before on a walk and checked on the schedule and bought tickets. We got on the train and
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| Josephine & Graham |
were soon joined by Josephine and Graham. Since the regional trains can travel in either direction, it's possible to have seats so you can see the countryside as you approach it or as you've passed it. I sat at the window looking at the countryside as we passed it. Josephine on the other side, took great delight in being able to see what we were going to pass. 45 minutes of countryside coming and going and we arrived at the new Girona train station.
We had been joined on the train by a couple of walkers that Josephine knew. Now we were standing outside the station comparing directions to the rendezvous restaurant. This process involved no less than four navigators. Watching four people take charge and want to navigate is really fun to watch, so I did. I had my phone in my pocket, so I knew I could get there. My phone's GPS has only been stumped a couple of times and even then I was able to sort out a work-around. I couldn't be lost, so I could just walk along looking at the city while being entertained by this show of personalities.
We stumbled into the restaurant which was once the home of the Abbot for the church of Sant Pere de Galligans. Everyone was in need of their hot morning beverage. I've become a tea drinker now, so I was getting tea, while the coffee machine was working overtime and the coffee drinkers were queued up. My flat came with one of those mini steam type coffee makers from Italy. They are far more bother than the enjoyment I can garner from a tiny cup of coffee. My flat came with an electric water pot and a well stocked tea shop around the corner. Once I procured my French bathtub tea cups and some very nice tea, I was an official tea drinker. I'll leave teetotaling to others
It was about the time I was sitting down with my tea, that the ever late Jordi showed up. He had driven, because he would leave at the end of the day and drive out to Verges to visit his mother. I'm sure a missed turn and the non existent parking all contributed to his being later than usual. Now our little group was complete. We were Five F's for this walk.
We were technically in Girona, but in reality we were in the outskirts of Sarriá de Ter, a small village that was swallowed up by Girona. It was evident from the feel of the area that it was one of the outlying villages that made up portions of the wall that once made Girona a walled city. We left the restaurant and the village behind us as we started out for the top and the Castell (castle) de Sant Miquel, that once served to oversee the Ter River Valley
and the Terri River Valley. The confluence of these two rivers and their respective valleys is at Girona and create the larger Valley of Girona.
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| Castell de Sant Miquel |
It was a pleasant spring day. Cool but not cold, but unfortunately it was overcast, so the views from the top would be a bit limited. The walk followed a road until it was time for a shortcut. We clambered up the trail and in due time we found ourselves in the open in what at first glance appeared to be a park. At the end of the park and at the top of the mountain was the castle we had come to see.
It's remains indicated that it was a small fortification designed more as an mountain top outpost where the occupants could oversee the movements of people and armies in the two valleys below. It's tower was also in the line of sight with other outposts on mountain tops on the other sides of the valleys. This had made for a good system of observation and communication.
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| Marta~Josephine~Graham~Jordi The vista from the top |
We loitered around the top for a bit before heading down the mountain and to the lunch that awaited us at the rendezvous restaurant. The walk down followed the same trail, but now the sun had cut through the overcast sky and had transformed the day into a very nice outing. We wove our way through the old village and the remains of the ancient wall to the restaurant where we had started our walk. The lunches had become a part of the walks, and this one proved to be a nice one. The 5 F's had all agreed that on this walk we would join the gang at the restaurant rather than pack a picnic lunch. With us, the gang numbered 50 and we almost completely took over the restaurant.
It was a delightful 3 course lunch complete with wine and laughs. Jordi has
Humor does not translate well. All people laugh and they all laugh the same, but what they find funny, is as different as the language they speak and the culture they come from. Although English has become the language of the world, it can not translate humor. It can only translate words. Since I am neither British, or Spanish, my humor is something I only share with those who know me well and often, they aren't sure if they want to know me at all.
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| Michael, the King of Hearts Sharing one with Marta |
It was Valentines Day, so this being Spain, it was Dia de San Valentín. Since he was Italian, his day is not limited to chocolates and Hallmark, in the States. He has his day in Spain too and at the lunch Micheal played his card as the King of Hearts and acknowledged all the lady's with a little heart sticker. After lunch we sat and talked as they cleaned up around us. It was then that my idle hands fashioned an airplane from the paper place mat. Remember I said impertinence. It wasn't long before my plane was flying up and down the dining hall in a game of catch the plane. All the while, Lisa, one of the British Expats who elected to stay a bit longer, was playing the piano.
Time to go. We 5 elected to head up to the cathedral that graced this end of town and eventually walk along the top
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| Noventa y uno, noventa y doce |
Despite having the largest unsupported roof in Europe and being magnificent, it really was more old stones, surrounded by old stones. The not so shuttle reminders of the excesses that make up any organization in a position of absolute power were pretty hard to overlook. In the plaza we bid farewell to Jordi. With his departure our gang of 5 was now down to Josephine, Marta, Graham and myself.
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| The Medieval wall of Girona |
It was starting to get dark, so our walk would be in the short winter twilight and dark. Fortunately the walk is well illuminated and quite pleasant that time of day. The top of the wall puts you well above the city, giving you a nice birds eye view. With the clear sky we were also treated to the early night plants that were in their full glory. The end of the wall put us in town and soon we were back to the train station. Here our little band of intrepid walkers split again. Josephine and Graham opted for a later train since they had to buy their tickets at the station. Marta and I had a reserved ticket, so it was hasta luego for them and Barcelona bound for us. Our return to the Sants station brought us full circle to the end of another Fabulously Fun Filled walk by the FFF's.
The Picture Gallery
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A view from the January walk
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A face outside of the Chestnut No Medieval wall should be without
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