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Issue #266 Cardona Castle, Barcelona, October 21, 2024
Medieval hilltop village
To nobody's surprise (perhaps I was the only one to notice, though), the shaggy Mane mushrooms on the lawn outside the Parador D'Arties exhibited a further state of inky degradation the morning we left for Barcelona.
The Pyrenees off in the distance
It was sunny once again, and we cruised through valleys and canyons, immersing ourselves in the topography of the area, which ever so gradually changed as lower valleys were reached.
The roads here were narrow, made even more challenging by the road crews performing asphalt repair on some of the steepest sections. The limestone cliffs persisted, their chalky protrusions punctuating the hillside in a way reminiscent of southwestern canyons in the United States.
The hilltop medieval towns that we passed provided visual delight in the Mediterranean greenery, the latter a combination of olive trees and shrubs, instead of the orange and yellow pine and beech trees we had seen at higher altitudes.
La Pobla de Segur
We stopped at La Pobla de Segur for a bathroom break. At first it looked like we were about to have an uncertain search for an available bathroom, but the tourist shop we stopped at had very clean facilities, and the young lady inside spoke good English. Mom is so appreciative of all the folks who can communicate with us and share their knowledge. She always tells them so (and she always tells them that she is traveling with her son).
Cardona Castle
Before reaching Barcelona, we made a quick stop at Cardona Castle, a huge structure that was one of the last holdouts against the French and Spanish kings. The castle is being turned into a hotel, as it is owned by the Spanish government, and some construction work was being done on it, so we could not go inside. We had approximately 20 minutes to run around and see the exterior of the place: a super-quick visit, yes, but it also gave us a view of the town and the salt mine, for which the town is also famous.
Cardona Castle
Cardona Castle
This was an exciting day, in another way: not only was Orion was to meet us in the evening, at our hotel, but Ursula and Alex Zehnder, Swiss friends from many years ago, were coming too, taking the train from Switzerland to see us!
Cardona Castle
Orion had planned this diversion well. His friends had all departed the night before, and he was now lodging at a youth hostel, exploring a little on his own before finding us.
It was doubly exciting for us to also have a visit from Alex and Ursula Zehnder. They had spent the day traveling from Zurich to Barcelona by train, just to link up with us, after not seeing us for so many years. They are in their 80s now; both white-haired, but still some of the most intrepid older folks we know (every summer they take their sailboat, Silmaril, on ambitious coastal explorations, which we follow via their blog).
Tour bus and castle
Restaurant Cal Borrasca
We ate a delicious meal at ‘Cal Borrasca’ not too far from the castle. Unfortunately, the walls were hard and reflective, it was quite noisy and very difficult to hear everybody speak, not only for mom, but also for me. Following our repast, IIeana once again snuck out and went exploring, but she got lost, and we all had to wait around a bit for her return before heading down the road to Barcelona.
Manresa
We drove past Manresa, the famous mountain of Monserrat, a stunning sight. Finally, through ever-more bustling streets, we arrived at the hotel, and Orion came to see us once we had arrived and I had established a wireless connection. I wasn’t sure how I would feel, but I definitely was flooded with emotion after seeing him and hugging him. He’s been on such a journey in the past few months. He had been navigating the subway system with ease after several days there, exploring on his own and also going to Mallorca with two female friends.
Two streams of travelers come together!
We hung out down in the lobby, and he showed us all his photos, excitedly sharing the adventure he’s most recently been on. It was so great to meet up with him in this Spanish city. That’s Orion at age 18, full of life and enthusiasm and mobility, when just a few years ago, it seems, he couldn’t drive, and I was taking him to piano lessons..
At an outdoor restaurant with Orion, Alex and Ursula
Not long after, Alex and Ursula showed up! What an incredible confluence of close family and friends to come join us on this leg of our road scholar adventure!
The entrance to our hotel in Barcelona
Everyone was hungry, especially Alex and Ursula, who had been on the train all day from Zürich, so we walked down to a nearby block and sat outside at a street café; not really having researched the right place to go, I just guessed what direction to walk, remembering that Fran had pointed out a well-loved Tapas restaurant that we passed by; that turned out to be incredibly crowded, so we just sat down at the first street restaurant that we came to.
Medieval hilltop village
To nobody's surprise (perhaps I was the only one to notice, though), the shaggy Mane mushrooms on the lawn outside the Parador D'Arties exhibited a further state of inky degradation the morning we left for Barcelona.
The Pyrenees off in the distance
It was sunny once again, and we cruised through valleys and canyons, immersing ourselves in the topography of the area, which ever so gradually changed as lower valleys were reached.
The roads here were narrow, made even more challenging by the road crews performing asphalt repair on some of the steepest sections. The limestone cliffs persisted, their chalky protrusions punctuating the hillside in a way reminiscent of southwestern canyons in the United States.
The hilltop medieval towns that we passed provided visual delight in the Mediterranean greenery, the latter a combination of olive trees and shrubs, instead of the orange and yellow pine and beech trees we had seen at higher altitudes.
La Pobla de Segur
We stopped at La Pobla de Segur for a bathroom break. At first it looked like we were about to have an uncertain search for an available bathroom, but the tourist shop we stopped at had very clean facilities, and the young lady inside spoke good English. Mom is so appreciative of all the folks who can communicate with us and share their knowledge. She always tells them so (and she always tells them that she is traveling with her son).
Cardona Castle
Before reaching Barcelona, we made a quick stop at Cardona Castle, a huge structure that was one of the last holdouts against the French and Spanish kings. The castle is being turned into a hotel, as it is owned by the Spanish government, and some construction work was being done on it, so we could not go inside. We had approximately 20 minutes to run around and see the exterior of the place: a super-quick visit, yes, but it also gave us a view of the town and the salt mine, for which the town is also famous.
Cardona Castle
Cardona Castle
This was an exciting day, in another way: not only was Orion was to meet us in the evening, at our hotel, but Ursula and Alex Zehnder, Swiss friends from many years ago, were coming too, taking the train from Switzerland to see us!
Cardona Castle
Orion had planned this diversion well. His friends had all departed the night before, and he was now lodging at a youth hostel, exploring a little on his own before finding us.
It was doubly exciting for us to also have a visit from Alex and Ursula Zehnder. They had spent the day traveling from Zurich to Barcelona by train, just to link up with us, after not seeing us for so many years. They are in their 80s now; both white-haired, but still some of the most intrepid older folks we know (every summer they take their sailboat, Silmaril, on ambitious coastal explorations, which we follow via their blog).
Tour bus and castle
Restaurant Cal Borrasca
We ate a delicious meal at ‘Cal Borrasca’ not too far from the castle. Unfortunately, the walls were hard and reflective, it was quite noisy and very difficult to hear everybody speak, not only for mom, but also for me. Following our repast, IIeana once again snuck out and went exploring, but she got lost, and we all had to wait around a bit for her return before heading down the road to Barcelona.
Manresa
We drove past Manresa, the famous mountain of Monserrat, a stunning sight. Finally, through ever-more bustling streets, we arrived at the hotel, and Orion came to see us once we had arrived and I had established a wireless connection. I wasn’t sure how I would feel, but I definitely was flooded with emotion after seeing him and hugging him. He’s been on such a journey in the past few months. He had been navigating the subway system with ease after several days there, exploring on his own and also going to Mallorca with two female friends.
Two streams of travelers come together!
We hung out down in the lobby, and he showed us all his photos, excitedly sharing the adventure he’s most recently been on. It was so great to meet up with him in this Spanish city. That’s Orion at age 18, full of life and enthusiasm and mobility, when just a few years ago, it seems, he couldn’t drive, and I was taking him to piano lessons..
At an outdoor restaurant with Orion, Alex and Ursula
Not long after, Alex and Ursula showed up! What an incredible confluence of close family and friends to come join us on this leg of our road scholar adventure!
The entrance to our hotel in Barcelona
Everyone was hungry, especially Alex and Ursula, who had been on the train all day from Zürich, so we walked down to a nearby block and sat outside at a street café; not really having researched the right place to go, I just guessed what direction to walk, remembering that Fran had pointed out a well-loved Tapas restaurant that we passed by; that turned out to be incredibly crowded, so we just sat down at the first street restaurant that we came to.
solo/group kukai
drawing/writing/photography
jonathan machen
drawing/writing/photography
jonathan machen