Author: Kate Wilson

Mare de Deu del Mont

~ Kate Wilson ~ 1 Comment

The square opposite our house is named after the Catalan poet Jacint Verdaguer (1845-1902)
One of his poems is about the mountain in SW France (Catalunya Nord) called Canigo´. We went there about a year ago and climbed, almost, to the top.
Last weekend we went back to Sant Nicolau and Helen took us up Mare de Deu del Mont to see the sanctuary on the top and the room where Verdaguer wrote this poem. From there on a clear day you can see the Pyrannees in the distance.

Here he sits, strangely with his back to the Pyranees.

Oh Mare de Déu del Mont,
¿Com tan alta en sou pujada,
en un trono de penyals
dalt al cim d’una muntanya?
¿És per sentir els Angelets,
o per rebre el bes de l’alba

El bes de l’alba – the kiss of dawn!

I’m hot!

~ Kate Wilson ~ Leave a comment

Today the temperature in Granollers hit 33 C. Or was it 31C  or 29C?
It’s hard to know as all the weather summaries differ and you can walk past three pharmacies which have clocks hanging outside, alternating time and temperature and they all say something different.

All I know is

  • you need to walk along the shady side of the street
  • waiting to cross the road at traffic lights everyone crowds under the shadow of the building.
  • Bonnie and I went out to walk at 8am and by 8.45 she was panting and I was sweating and we decided to stop for a coffee instead.
  • last night we had to wait till after 8pm to feel comfortable walking far.
  • inside the house it is cool but within half an hour of sitting at the computer sweat is dripping off my brow
  • it is the time for sleeping with only a sheet….and even that can be oppressive in the middle of the night
  • clothes must be loose – things that normally float around me are sticking to my swollen body
  • it is bliss when you turn a corner and there is a little breeze
  • at midnight there are small groups of people sitting in the nearby plaças, talking while their children play and their dogs sniff around the edges. Normal bedtimes do not apply.

I am not complaining. I love the summer and I like that feeling like I am walking through warm water when I go outside. I love the sweatiness of it, the feeling of my body cleaning itself from inside out. When I go somewhere on the bike I create a little fan of air and that is a wonderful feeling.
Also I am not really hungry which makes a big change to my eating patterns which normally tend towards greedy.
We will be leaving soon to set off north for the UK so I am soaking it all in and hoping to carry some sunshine over there as I know too well how hard it is when summer comes and it is cold wet and windy.  We will do out best – I promise!

In Spanish you must say Tengo calor. In Catalan Tinc calor. Never never say Estoy caliente which means something totally different!  Unless that is what you want to say, of course.  In english you could say the same words and mean both things, depending on the tone of voice. Try it – I’m hot!

Building works

~ Kate Wilson ~ 1 Comment

I’ve been in Granollers for almost two and a half years now.  During that time it seems there have always been building works going on. First it was the streets, creating the pedestrian zone that now has most of the shops. Millions of new paving bricks were laid. Some of them now make a pleasant jiga-jum sound when I cycle over them. I try to always go over those ones – simple pleasures!

 Then they were working in the square outside the library.
They usually put up a picture so you can imagine the end result. 

Now that is all finished and on Thursdays the square is filled with market stalls including the bit I try to avoid – the chickens and ducks in their small cages.


At the moment there is another hole in the road. I don’t know what they are building but at least it shows that in spite of the ‘crisis’ there is still money to spend on construction. I’ll let you know what emerges from this deep pit