Nice places

Virtual Vermut

~ Kate Wilson ~ 8 Comments

So at last we can sit down for a virtual vermut. It’s sunny and hot and I want to enjoy it to the full as I am off to Cornwall again on Wednesday and someone told me it’s cold there!
Sorry about Friday – I don’t know what happened with the blog site but it was impossible to get online. But my friend Bodhi Chicklet was ready with a bottle of bubbly on the right day so I hope you went over there instead!
So much of life seems dependent on technology now and it can really wind me up – only a few years ago these things didn’t exist and I don’t like feeling so vulnerable to the whim of the airwaves. Perhaps they are the new God – we don’t understand them but we try to please them and hope they won’t suddenly knock us to the ground.
I have the feeling that I keep up, but only just. I can’t get my phone to send pictures by email – something which would evoke derisive laughter from the Resident Adolescent, if I dared to ask him for help! And now yet again my  whiteboard drawings are stuck on the phone and I can’t send them here. Not even by Bluetooth……which I am quite proud of knowing about. It still fills me with awe that I can press a couple of buttons and music or a photo will just invisibly move from one machine to another.
If this is how I am at age 54 then how will it be in ten years time?
54 – yes, it was my birthday at the weekend and we went to the Costa Brava.  Sometimes I feel like an innocent abroad, a wide-eyed child who still jumps up and down with delight

I still get a thrill from words like Costa Brava, Mediterranean, Barcelona…..I have to pinch myself that I am here. Must be all those years living in rainy cold climates huffing with asthma and being buffetted by sharp winds. By the way, do you see those small beginnings of muscles on my arms? That’s the gym starting to work……more on that later.

So, when I see a vegetable market I HAVE to look round the stalls

And after shopping, I HAVE to have a coffee on the terrace of a cafe.
The sight of a pastisseria makes me HAVE to eat a cake

and when I find a beach with  sparkling blue green Mediterranean waves, I HAVE to swim

The taste of Orxata makes me swoon although I could have it every day if I wanted

Duna came too and enjoyed the sea, drinking it by the bucket after a long hot walk with the inevitable consequences later that night

Talking of markets and my excitement when I see one – I took these photos in Granollers last Thursday. I love this one of the men’s arms stretching across a sea of fruit and vegetables

These aubergines looked like a painting

Talking of arms…….I don’t know what to do about Golds Gym. I had a really good session last week and also a more tense one. Depending on who is in charge there is music on Flashfm or a combination of videos and music on CD.  If there are videos you get the opportunity to study at close range some of the fantasies of the men in the room. I don’t think you really want to know about this in detail. Perhaps another day I’ll tell you more. But sometimes I am so glad that I am probably the only person in the room who understands the words of the songs!
After one of these not-so-nice sessions I girded my loins to return on Thursday – only the promise that ‘running will make the weight drop off you’ makes me go on days like these. When I arrived the place was almost empty. No videos, no pumping muscles, no stern unsmiling faces to greet me at the door. I did my running – more than 20 minutes straight through. When you get on a roll it feels like you could go on for ever. Like you get into a groove and it carries you along.
No sign yet of ‘the weight dropping off’ me though.
Then, for the first time ever, another woman, who wasn’t Tiffany, walked in. Ok she didn’t look at me or smile and she was young beautiful and slim and dark. But somehow I felt the presence of more oestrogen in the room and it made me relax. I ran another 15 minutes before leaving with more of a strut than my usual scuttle to the door.
When you arrive in the gym this picture greets you

– after that it is all sweat and iron, noise and boys.
Hope to see you next week. We might have to make it a virtual gin and tonic? Not sure where to get vermut in Penzance.

If

~ Kate Wilson ~ 1 Comment

If I had charged my mobile phone yesterday before going out on a small excursion then I could have taken lots of photos to show you…

  • the  11th C castle de Burriac that sits high on top of a hill looking down on the populations of Cabrera, Mataro, Argentona, Villasar and Cabrils.
  • the wild flowers and herbs that edge the path you have to climb…and climb….and climb to get there
  • the groups of castellers from Granollers and Mataro who were climbing high on each others shoulders to create a human castle, topped by a small girl who clambered up and onto the balcony of the town hall in Vilassar de Dalt. Can you imagine this happening in the UK where most children are considered too fragile to be allowed to do risky things?

As we walked through the narrow streets of this inland village, set on a hill and linked in spirit with its sister on the coast Vilassar de Mar, I cursed myself for failing to check my phone battery the night before. I couldn’t take pictures of…

  • the statue of Sant Jordi gently stroking the dragon with his spear, an April 23rd rose tucked under his arm
  • the inticately designed facades of many houses
  • a water fountain and statue on the corner of the street dedicated to Saint Anthony. I stopped to anoint us all – two humans and a dog – and give thanks to this saint who is always so helpful in finding lost things.

The streets became quiet and we searched for somewhere to have a drink. Everyone was going down some steps into a bar which had a NO DOGS sign on the door but outside there were tables for smokers and dog owners. Suddenly there was a loud cheer. They were watching Madrid play in  the Spanish League and Zaragoza had just scored their third and winning goal. The swifts were out in force. Little boys played with bouncy balls. People seemed relaxed and low key, it was so different from the evening shopping frenzy that takes over Granollers.
My mobile battery was not just low – it was mort. It had trilled a little song and then gone silent and dark. So I couldn’t see my contact numbers nor ring the friend who I had hoped to see in Vilassar de Dalt.
We said goodbye to the little village. Looking in the windows of estate agents as we walked back to the car only confirmed my idea that houses in such a pretty place would be expensive.  The swifts were still swooping and diving over our heads, some men were preparing the petards(bangers)  for the correfoc(fire run) and the rest of the town was watching Barça lose it’s game in the Spanish League.   Later they could go to see a performance of Carmina Burana in the theatre in the centre of town or take their chances in the correfoc as it raced through the streets to the sound of drums and fireworks.
I have never actually seen one but that will have to wait for another Festa Major when I have my camera and am not accompanied by a small dog.
We were only a few kilometres away from Granollers but it felt like we were on holiday. Somewhere completely different and very charming.

Unto the Hills I Lift Mine Eyes

~ Kate Wilson ~ 5 Comments

When you go up to the Torre on the hill above Granollers you can really see how the town lies in a valley surrounded by mountains. It is a wonderful view and all the high flats, the industrial buildings, the ugly corners become insignificant as your eye is drawn to the outlines of the hills and the expanse of sky.

The torre is old – officially 14th century but some believe it is much older perhaps dating back to the Romans. It is derelict and the council have erected a pathetic little fence around it to ‘stop’ you going in. At some point they have made an attempt to strengthen the walls with some modern bricks. But they have never accepted their responsibility to preserve and protect this ancient monument. Perhaps that is for the best as so often preservation turns into domination and control

The part of the vaulted ceiling that remains is beautiful.  A work of art. The Torre was probably part of a network of towers used for communication from one settlement to the next. Some researchers believe that light signals were used to pass messages across the countryside.
You can see why it was built here as you have an all round view

 

 

 

 

In one direction lies Granollers and the spreading urban world. Turn around and you can see little vegetable plots and olive trees. Turn further and there is another expanse of green field behind which is another industrial estate. But for now it is hidden, invisible and doesn’t exist.
Only the swifts and the poppies and the sky and the hills

And the sunset

The Cathedral by the Sea

~ Kate Wilson ~ 6 Comments

Today I visited Santa Maria del Mar – Saint Mary of the Sea – the incredible 14th century church which is at the centre of the novel Cathedral by the Sea by Ildefonse Falcones.
The title in Catalan is L’Esglesia Del Mar

I am reading this great fat heavy weight of a book in Catalan at the moment – slowly, like the progress of the medieval men who had to carry each stone on their backs from Montjuic to the Born.
The church, which at that time was by the edge of the sea, was designed by the architect Berenguer de Montagut and the foundation stone was laid on 25th March 1329 – the last stone put in place in 1383.

I sat on one of the benches and looked up at the beautiful ceilings. High up, flying between window ledges, there was a bird, too far away to see what it was. I wondered if this was its home or was it trapped?

Thermal Baths

~ Kate Wilson ~ 1 Comment

I first heard about mineral bathes when I read Shirley MacLaine’s book Don’t Fall off the Mountain where she describes amazing experiences in the Peruvian Andes. Later I went travelling there and after walking the Inca Way to Machu Picchu our group was taken to a beautiful place called Aguas Calientes which I still dream about. It was a small outdoor pool with very basic changing facilities and a little bar selling beer. We went at night and bathed our walk weary bodies in the hot mineral waters while gazing up at the stars and mountain peaks all around us. It has become one of the places I travel to in my mind when I want to feel at peace.

Since then I have always felt drawn to places with natural hot springs. I felt very excited when I discovered that Catalunya has many towns and villages with balnearis – some are more basic and some are pure luxury. I wrote before about the Safareig in Caldes de Montbui and also about our visit to the Bains St Thomas in Catalunya Nord.

The idea of going to laze around in hot bathes on a regular basis could seem a bit self indulgent so I decided the best idea is to write about them, thus bringing in the justification of ‘work’ to my cunning plan to visit them all!

This week we went to La Garriga to see what happens in the Gran Hotel Balneario Blancafort.  It is a huge complex – a very up market hotel with the thermal mineral spa inside, gardens dotted with sculptures, a large indoor carpark and apartments for holiday rental. We rolled up in a tiny Peugot, carrying backpacks and looking not at all like the sort of people who would actually stay here. But everything from the first moment at reception was perfect and welcoming. You can have a two hour stay in the spa for 38euros and after showing us around they left us to relax in peace and do things in our own time. There are several large swimming pools, some with different temperatures, some with water jets for muscle massage. Saunas and hot humid rooms, showers with special sprays pointing at different parts of your body. A semicircular walkway where round pebbles massage your feet while hot jets of sulphur water pummel your legs. Places to relax – if you only had time!  And hot herbal drinks always available so you don’t dehydrate.

You can’t take photos inside the bathes so to see how it looks you need to take a look at the web site. The decoration was beautiful – whites, blues and greens, carefully placed plants and stones and interesting paintings and sculptures all around. There was no sense of rush or being monitored – if you needed help someone was there but for most of the time you were left to relax and enjoy.
Bliss!