Day 1

I flew to Barcelona to visit Ari. Today we visited Montserrat. It’s an interesting rocky hilly area near Barcelona. The rock formations are very funky with many towers and cliffs. We visited the monastery which was also very nice. Afterwards we caught the last of the sun on the rocks and then saw the sunset. The fading light turned the rocks an even redder red.

1) We drove to Montserrat to have a look around. It’s huge mountain range with walking tracks and climbing. I hadn’t brought my climbing gear with me so we just went for a walk. The wind was cold and it was not warm out of the sun. In the sun it was different.

2) We visited the Santa Maria de Montserrat Abbey.

3) In the evening we drove to the other side of the park and went for a walk. We had a nice view of the rock formations in the evening light.

4) Sunset from Montserrat.

Day 2

Ari and I drove back to Montserrat again today. After some confusion we managed to find the start of the Klettersteig that Ari and Johannes had done a couple of years ago. The route headed up a dry canyon which was quite interesting. It doesn’t look like there has been water running down there for a long long time. The Klettersteig was quite demanding on our arms. The rock had many interesting shapes and the route was fun. The crux came at the end and we both struggled up. I borrowed one of Ari’s gloves as my hands slipped on the metal rope, possibly due to the guacamole that I had mishandled during our lunch break shortly before.From the top we walked back down a small rocky path that looked like it would be great for mountain biking. We then drove back to Ari’s flat buying the entire supermarket on the way.

1) We came back again to Montserrat to do a ferrata route. We had some technical difficulties finding the start of the route but it wasn’t too long before our chief navigator Ariadna had us on the right trail.

2) The route was funky with this chimney to climb up.

3) From the end of the route we walked back down to the car stopping for a break on the way.

Day 3 – Klettersteig by the sea

Ari and I drove North from Barcelona for a bit over an hour and did a klettersteig next to the sea. It weaved around over rocks and along cliffs. The sun was low and golden and the light emphasised the red rocks.We drove back South along the coast afterwards and stopped at Tossa de Mar to take photos of the sunset. This turned into a longer walk back around the headland to the city old town. We looked for a pizzeria but all the tourists had left for the year and therefore all the restaurants were closed. We found something open just outside the old town and ate there. Then we drove back to Barcelona for the evening.

1) Another day, another ferrata. This one was by the sea. We drove an hour or so to the north of Barcelona to find this one.

2) There were interesting features like this swing bridge.

3) The light seemed so golden some how.

4) A seagull minding his own business.

5) Blue sea.

6) The route went around the coast, at times very close to the sea and at other times high above it.

1) In the evening we visited Tossa de Mar. We went for a walk to the sea and watched the sunset. We had to hunt around for a bit until we found this spot.. We went for a walk to the sea and watched the sunset. We had to hunt around for a bit until we found this spot.

2) The night was clear and good for taking photos of the amazing moon on the water.

3) We had a nice walk around the old town peering down little narrow streets. It was completely dead as it was very much not the tourist season. We wanted to find a pizzeria for dinner but it proved difficult.

Day 4 – Park Güell

We went and visited Park Güell, another Gaudi creation. Then we went walking in the hills.

1) We visited Park Güell. This is another Gaudi creation. Unfortunately it was overrun with tourists but the architecture was interesting.

2) We went for a walk in the hills.

3) View of Barcelona from the hills.

Day 5 – Sagrada Familia and Barcelona

Ari and I went for a walk through Barcelona, ate at a delicious vegetarian restaurant and visited the Sagrada Familia. The cathedral was designed by Gaudi, the Catalan architect and is still being constructed.

Above: We visited the Sagrada Familia. It’s another Gaudi work. It was unfinished in his lifetime and is still being built with donations. It’s an amazing creation.

Day 6 – Running

I went running in the hills around Barcelona. It kind of reminded me of running in the port hills in Christchurch. I also did some of the German “home office”. We went to an Ethiopian restaurant in the evening and had some interesting and delicious but quite meaty food.

Above: We went out to an Ethiopian restaurant for dinner.