Recently I took Duna for a walk – locally – not too far from the house. We walked alongside this river, the Congost, which runs through Granollers. This is how it looks close up.
This is the same view when you stand further backIt made me think about how I look at things and how I can miss beauty if I don’t adjust my vision.
On the other side of the river is this soap factoryGranollers is an industrial town so there are lots of factories along this stretch of river and many have been responsible for polluting the water and the land. What probably was once an idyllic stretch of water is now lined with ugly buildings with little thought for their visual impact. It couldn’t be more different from a walk along the coast path at Lamorna.
But Duna and I had a beautiful walk.
Looking up there was a blue sky and signs of Spring on the bare branchesAnd the most wonderful thing was the art gallery along the walls – urban creativity and energyDuna ran free and poked and pottered,sometimes stopping to sniff the airI watched ducks on the riverIt’s hard to photograph them when a Springer Spaniel keeps arriving to ‘spring’ them….
We were alone which is an unusual blessing in this land where people love to be outside and to gather in big sociable groupsWe ignored the rubbish – for such a deserted place it wasn’t too badand when it was time to go we left by these colourful stepsOutside the towns the countryside is beautiful, there are hills and fields and wild flowers and little quiet lanes. Towns in general seem to be blighted by development but here by the river there was a different kind of beauty and many of these rather desolate places provide homes and food for a lot of wild life. There is now in place an Environmental Action Plan to support the ecosystem of the Congost and to offer some protection to the wild life. Green spaces have been created and the plan is to further integrate the river and its banks into the lives of the local population making it more a place to be used and enjoyed than forgotten and abused.
Along the river bank runs a long cycle path which you can take all the way to Barcelona.
I hope to do this one day and will tell you what it was like. Duna loves to run beside the bikes so it will be a great excursion for her!