Catalunya 2002

Uncalled-for snuggling! DSCN2614.JPG	Nothing to see here. Move along. DSCN2615.JPG
More shots of the hills around Port de la Selva on the Cap de Creus. DSCN2616.JPG	DSCN2617.JPG
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JL does some experimental art photos.
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A full day of photos-not-taken. Roses and the huge ancient ruins there. (No pics on either camera.) Cadaques, via nice exciting mountain road. (Too terrifying to photograph.) And a nice hotel, the Hotel Llane Petit. Three stars, at Carrer Dr. Bartomeus 37. Wow, pretty place. 12 Sep 2002 Thursday (pics on JL's camera.) Intro SCUBA Dive at Cadaques. Nice to be out on the water in the morning. Even if the Zodiac is being rocked by 2.5 m swells on the way to the dive. :) No one got seasick, and that's what matters. Dive site is in the Cap de Creus park, at a location called Ses Illetes. I saw and handled (bad idea?) a yellow sponge colony, a sea cucumber, some starfish, and a spiny sea urchin. Divemaster Margot is a good marine biologist but I would have liked to learn some SCUBA skills too, like buddy breathing or how to use my floatation vest myself. The Parisian SCUBA club we dove with were nice folks. Of course, JL knows how to butter the French up. L'escala, a nice town, with a rather decent tiny library. Internet access but "No Xats!" We stayed at the Rallye Hotel at Passeig Maritim 1. One star. This was the only place where my passport was kept overnight at the desk. I got to practice my French and it was here that I began my campaign to convince JL that I knew how to say "Breakfast" in Català; she was quite convinced that I was actually saying "eleven". :) Thunderstorm on the bay of Roses, wine on the balcony. Hey, speaking of balconies, even though we parked on the seafront road, we can see our car from the balcony!
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13 Sep 2002 Friday We drive in from L'Escala to Girona. Riu Onyar and the old housing built right on it.
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Lunch at Bar el Got on the Rambla de la Llibertat in Girona, near the Riu Onyar. Mmmm, church. This is the Església de Sant Feliu. It was built outside the city walls, so it's fortified. Mmmmm, fortified.
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Museu D'Art. Nice historical perspective on art in Catalunya. Rooms are set up according to historical and thematic lines. The building architecture was cool too, probably because "El Museu d'Art està ubicat al Palau Episcopal, al Barri Vell de Girona. "
Black pottery Both the ceramics and the display-craft appealed to me. DSCN2638.JPG	Terrissa negra L'origen de la terrissa negra es pot buscar en la Prehistòria, quan moltes vegades s'aconseguia d'una forma onvoluntària en forns improviszats o primitius. En època medieval i moderna era molt abundant i la seva fabricació ha continuat fins avui dia en alguns centres productors. S'obté amb una cocció reduïda, privant d'aire la càmara de cocció. Reuneix unes propietats de textura i fortalesa que han fet que fos apreciada durant segles. Un dels grans centres productors és Quart (el Gironès), amb una antiquíssima i ininterrompude tradició que accenca almenys d'època medieval, amb una gran producció, molt variada i alhora especialitzada en la fabricació de grans cossis. En alguns moments també en va fabricar la ciutat de Girona. DSCN2639.JPG
Jaume Pons i Martí (1855-1931) El cafè Vila de la plaça del Vi de Girona 1877 Oli/tela Num. reg. 130.766 DSCN2640.JPG	Later we walked a few blocks to where the café in the painting used to be, at the plaça del vi, but there's no likely looking café there now, so we just strolled for a bit and then went down to the river to get some lunch.
Not a well-known artist, but JL liked the painting. DSCN2642.JPG	DSCN2643.JPG
Catedral de Santa Maria
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Now, it occurs to me as I look now at JL approaching the entrace to the Catedral de Santa Maria that this is not actually the front door. Tell me you've ever seen a cathedral that doesn't make you feel insignificant with 500 stairs approaching the main doors? I conclude, therefore, that we were at the back door.
DSCN2646.JPG	The front. Photo by J. M. Oliveras If you have an ownership, licensing, or copyright concern, please contact me.
It was gorgeous inside, and dark. It looks bright in the photo because it's a long exposure. DSCN2647.JPG
DSCN2648.JPG	I admit to being unsure what the big box is. Not much of a church person, so the conventions are unfamiliar. DSCN2649.JPG
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DSCN2652.JPG	A good interior shot. DSCN2653.JPG
Be amazed by the 3 dimensional maze of stairs, stonework, nooks, and chutes that is Old Girona. Stop at the wonderful Ulyssus Llibreria de Viatges (travel bookstore) (w/ broken web site!) at Carrer Ballesteries 29, and grab the next map we needed, which was the Mapa i Guia Excursionista Montseny Parc Natural (E-25). You can get it (when their web site works) from Editorial Alpina. Scale: 1:25 000. (No ISBN) Drive up into Parc Natural Montseny's area, and stay a pleasant evening at the Hotel Monserrat. (From which we could see our car.) Dinner at the Hotel Can Barrina, a beautiful 3 star hotel that was sadly quite full. This would be a gorgeous place to stay, we decided, if you were laid up for a while recovering from something. Or just rich. Dinner was solid; JL had lamb, I think, and I had a nice rare steak. 14 Sep 2002 Saturday Montseny, a wicked breakfast at Restaurant Fonda Montseny.
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Hotel Monserrat, our balcony looking down on our car and the Vallès Oriental. DSCN2657.JPG	A view down the Vallès Oriental from Montseny towards Sant Esteve de Palautordera. DSCN2658.JPG
JL knows how to frame the shot just so. DSCN2659.JPG	DSCN2660.JPG
Mobile phone signal is everywhere. DSCN2661.JPG	DSCN2662.JPG
Climb el turo de l'Home. Lungs. Hurt. Must. Stop. Round trip 5.6 km, summit at 1700 m.
JL navigates us to the top and looks good doing it! DSCN2663.JPG	DSCN2664.JPG
DSCN2665.JPG	Calorie break so I don't die. DSCN2666.JPG
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One of my favourite shots of the trip. DSCN2671.JPG	Hang glider #1. DSCN2672.JPG
Hang glider #2. DSCN2673.JPG	Hang glider #3. DSCN2674.JPG
Composite of hang-glider photos.
We are quite clearly at the top of the Pirineus Orientals. Lat 41.77799 ° N, Long 2.43375 ° E, altitude 1650 m, at 15:14 CEST, 14 Sep 2002. DSCN2675.JPG	DSCN2676.JPG
les Agudes, the sister peak of de l'Home. We should have walked the ridge to les Agudes, but I was climbing awfully slowly (see lungs) and there was just not enough time. Sorrrrry JL! DSCN2677.JPG	Julia i les Agudes DSCN2678.JPG
Clouds, shadow, and trees. DSCN2679.JPG	I like mountain flowers. DSCN2680.JPG
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We got lost once on the way down, but JL found us pretty quick and since the GPS and the map both agreed that we needed to go west, we did. FOUND! DSCN2685.JPG	DSCN2686.JPG
JL descends hills faster than anyone I know. I have many pictures of her waiting for me with varying levels of apparent patience. :) DSCN2687.JPG	Yaaaah! We made it back! Now for some driving and hotel-hunting. DSCN2688.JPG
Drive back to the shore. Castelldefels is close to the airport but much cheaper than Barcelona. Not a bad drive from Montseny, really, and who can complain when you get to enjoy a place-name like Sant Boi de Llobregat? Dinner at a winebar called La Bodegueta in Castelldefels, at Pso. Marina 180. Hotel Carlets near the beach (at 11 Avenida de los Baños) for less than €70! And of course, we just happened to park across the street, where we can see our car... Get up at 04:15. That's not fun. Drive to the airport. Lose minds several times. Return rental. Fly to AMS on B737. Say good-bye and put JL on a wee Fokker 100 bound for LHR. Fly home to YYZ. This has been Tai's trip to Catalunya, 2002! Thanks for reading!

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