This is Barcelona 03/05/2017
When I came back from holidays, everybody asked me: "and so, what did you do?". People expected a short, concise reply, I know. I just said "It was? outstanding!". I mean how can you sum up your holidays in just one short sentence? You can't! They say we should try and keep one image of our holidays in our mind. It's impossible. Which image do I choose? Dawn at Pedraforca? Or the hidden corners of Estana? The noise of the helium inflating the balloon, or the silence of the snowflakes falling on Montgarri? I really just don't know.
We had already been to Barcelona once, and so we were looking for something different. One day, looking at the map, we saw that you could see the outline of the mountains very close. And so, without really thinking about it much, I found myself embarking on a trip to a parallel universe. You see, just 2 hours from Barcelona I found mountains and that combination of calmness and happiness.
I remember mountain biking along paths in Berguedà and trekking through the Cadí Moixeró Natural Park. I recall the gentle crunch of my snow shoes on the snow along the paths in the Aigüestortes and Estany de Sant Maurici National Park, and the sunset against the backdrop of the Val d'Aran mountains. I remember that moment of happiness taking off my ski boots to sit down in a small restaurant to enjoy meats and cheese and a good wine, forgetting about any diets. I also remember the cockerel's early morning call and looking out of the window and thinking there was still time to go and discover the Romanesque style churches in the Pyrenees, even though my feet were tired, I had cramps and a sunburned nose.
The white of the snow reminded me of white magnesium, and my cold nose was a contrast to the heat of the rock on the walls of Coll de Nargó as it received the sun's first rays, where we spent a morning of rock climbing. It was also a stark contrast to what we had experienced just two days early in Barcelona: the modernism of Sant Pau Centre Modernista and the austere Romanesque style of Santa Maria de Ripoll; the salt and the sand of the Barceloneta beach and all the little waterfalls at Font del Bisbe in Pobla de Lillet. They said to us "This is Barcelona? and showed us a post card of the Pedraforca. And we didn't believe it, until we saw it for ourselves and now we can say that yes, from Barcelona to the Pyrenees.
Now I'm back sitting in the bar and my friends keep asking me which one image stays in my mind from the holidays. Listen, I'm sorry, I just don't know. Watch this video and make up your own minds. Go to Barcelona, take a break in the Pyrenees, and discover if for yourselves.
Organise your break in the Catalonian Pyrenees from Barcelona.