Cycling trip

Reading about a tandem tour along the Danube in which the cyclists sleep on the boat and ride during the day sounded great, especially the idea of sleeping in the same room each night. It sounded ideal since we were already in Europe, but the price was geared toward people who wanted a grand tour, not a little trip.

D. poked around and found a company that arranged personalized trips, provided the maps, and also transported the luggage from place to place. After some discussion we chose one that started in the Pyrenees and ended at the coast. I imagined myself sitting on the back of the tandem coasting for a few days. This was not accurate, but it was still awesome!

Marker at the Ripoll train station, our starting point.

The first three days were mostly on converted railroad trails. I may complain a lot about the efficiency of the country, but I was completely impressed that this existed, was well marked, and was well maintained.

I loved seeing the variety of old train stations along the way and the decisions towns had made about how to use them. We saw restaurants, tourist offices, teen centers, and a bike rental store.

Marker on the Amer station. It may be at a lower elevation that
where we started, but we had a long climb before the descent.

A few other sights along the trail, or carrilet.

El Fluvià in Olot

 

One of many, many, many fields of poppies.

We had drizzle as we started and sunshine the rest of the trip.

Hard to imagine the work that went into creating this path through the rocks.

There were flush toilets and this fountain in Quart.

Across the street were these bicycle-part sculptures.

We slept the first night in Olot, although not in this beautiful HI hostel (side view).

Our second night was spent in the heart of Girona.  It was nice to
have time to visit a museum and amazing to see so many cyclists.

Not the usual

I don't post on facebook often and usually it is nothing much, a few random thoughts that aren't enough for a blog post. I broke that rule recently so I will post them here, too, for the few wise people who have resisted the siren call.

David and I took a cycling vacation, heading from the Pyrenees to the coast.

I have a lot of pictures, but the first batch is the tandem in scenic spots. I didn't plan this batch, but it seemed like a good place to start.

Lunch at Sant Joan de les Abadesses on the first day

Hotel in Girona the second day.

Quart, one of many old train stations on the trail.

Very scenic little library in Platja d'Aro.

Across from the beautiful fishing village of Cala S'Alguer.

La Fosca

Heading to Tossa de Mar.

Tossa de Mar with the old castle in the background.
I used Danish to ask someone to take the picture!

At the hotel in S'Agaro.

The other picture I posted that generated a lot of comments was just as exciting! I walked back to the room after breakfast and felt something in my hair. I shook it out and saw this!

My first thought was one of amazement since I have never seen
a scorpion before, but my second thought was to get a picture!

It crawled into the pillowcase so we took it outside and shook it
out and tried to get a couple more pictures before it ran off.

My older sister sent some information about dangerous animals in Spain and it said this:

The commonest scorpion in Spain is the Mediterranean scorpion (Buthus occitanus, escorpión amarillo or just alacrán) and though its North African cousin is more dangerous, it will still give you an extremely nasty sting. You might want to think about wearing boots and thick socks if you plan to hike in dry rocky areas (most of wild Spain) as they are by no means rare. The female will make a meal out of the male if food is short on the ground. The European black scorpion is also present in Spain, preferring more northerly and wetter areas. It's sting is short-lived. Scorpions have a bent for resting in your shoes, so be careful.

Now you know everything that was on facebook and I will try not to scoop my own blog!

More giants

For the last festival different towns came with their symbolic fire-breathing animals and everyone joined the parade. Today there were twenty groups gathered with about seventy giants participating in another festival. 

Nice to see that some giants travel in style!

One of the two gathering places was only a few blocks away.

The people in white are the band members who play the dance music.

The parade toward the monastery began and the giants danced along the route.

I am guessing these big heads represent people, but I don't know.

Each group had a chance to make a grand entrance and 

then they gathered by the monastery before performing.

The video is a great summary of the event.

Clase de español

I was elected class secretary, I think because I know people's names and I take notes in English, a common language for almost everyone.  My main function is to send a note to the group if the teacher tells me that the class is cancelled. I also post a picture of what what we worked on and share my notes. 

We are starting to learn past tense and there is significantly more to memorize than future tense.

some of my notes

We read and discussed a very simple biography of Pedro Almodóvar. I had never heard of this Spanish filmmaker, but everyone else seems to have and he is still in the news this past week.

I am already concerned about maintaining the language skills I have gained. I am hoping to be able to find a language partner to chat with casually. There are language tables on campus but because of hearing issues I am unable to carry on a conversation in the cafeteria. Maybe we can have a language table at home! There are plenty of radio stations and newspapers so maybe I will find the motivation to create a personalized class.

Eria

Variations on a theme.