Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Phil´s trip to the Pyrenees

Hey all, I have 9 days left in Spain! I went up to Panticosa last week and met up with Carlitos and Diana for a music festival. We went to the first night of Pirineo Sur which was a concert with 17 Hippies and another group. We did some light climbing around there and bouldered in the Midi Valley in France, then we headed to Tourmoulet to see the Tour de France. We camped out on the pass with a bunch of other people. A bunch of waiting around until finally the sponsor cars pass throwing out freebies and then finally the helicopters come into sight flying over the bikers and we could see them come up the hill and finally pass by us.

Next we hung out near Bielsa, back on the Spanish side. There are some good sport climbing spots there and we were joined by Hosmar and made climbing friends with Pau and Victor. We ended up working our way back over to Panticosa for another day of festival (this time the Wailers and Jasta) passing by the Valley of Ordesa. In the town of the festival (Sallent de Gallego) I had posted my car for sale on an announcement board. I showed it to a Romanian guy who lives near there and the next day he bought it. He lives in an abandoned town where to repopulate the town they have given land/ruins to a number of people to build houses and it is a quaint little town with stone houses with slate roofs.

I took the bus down from Sabiñanigo, sending half by luggage to Madrid with Carlitos and Diana. I climbed in Rodellar a couple of days and passed through Alcañiz for a final goodbye, now I´m in Teruel heading for Cuenca? Alicante? Valdepeñas?...

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Phil´s journeys, June and into July

Ok, June flew by. I was hangin around Alcañiz, then I got bored one weekend and went down to Vinaroz and met up with Ruben and Dina, some church/climbing friends. After spending Sunday with them, I headed over to Montanejos, a mythical climbing spot in Spain to check it out. Being alone, mid-week I didn´t climb much, the last day I got in a couple climbs with some climbers I know from Zaragoza who happened to stop by on their way back from a job.

Next was the big, much anticipated trip to France. Maky and I drove up to Gap, France to climb at Ceuse. It was a 9 hour drive, we stayed for ten days, in the dirt parking lot at Ceuse. The climbing spot is that good. It´s a nice parking area though, trees and a cold fountain and a friendly fox. She likes to drop in without warning and she got our loaf of bread one night when Maky turned his back... The climbing spot is known as one of the best sport climbing locations in the world with one of the worst approaches. You have an hour hike up the mountain each day to climb the cliffs at the top. Also the spot is very well bolted (protected), but as you get higher the protection tends to get rather spread out making huge falls almost inevitable, lots of fun!

Back in Spain I had a day to do wash and it was over to Barcelona to meet Rachel at the airport. Rachel had selected Barcelona and Rome for her first trip to Europe and I agreed to tag along. I enjoyed exploring Barcelona more in depth, we were especially impressed with the Sagrada Familia. Also on the list of highlights, were the Palau de musica Catalana, Parc Guell, menu del dias, cafe con leche, and the beach. In the middle of the Barcelona trip, we side-tripped to Montserrat, the serrated mountain which is another mythical climbing spot in Spain and also has a famous monestary. Cataluña´s most holy mountain is what it is...

Leaving Barcelona after 5 nights, we missed our flight to Rome by less than five minutes (you must get there at least 40 minuted before takeoff) so the flight to Rome ended up being later than expected and a bit more expensive... But we had a cheap hostel to make up for it. Rome was noticeably older and dirtier than Barcelona (at least our neighborhood), but the sights were also older and just as impressive. The first day we saw the Trevi fountain, the Spanish steps and enjoyed Italian coffee. The next day it was the vatican: St. Peters and the museums (which include the Sistine Chapel). The following day the Colloseum, the Domitilla catacombs, Palatino hill, getting soaked in a Thunderstorm and the Roman Forum. The last day was little more relaxing exploring some other neighborhoods in Rome and cooking an amazing pasta in the hostel.

Now I´m back in Alcañiz, trying to get rid of my van, and live cheap... I´m heading up to the Pyrenees looking for cooler weather, climbing and someone to buy my van. Sorry but I don´t think this post is going to include pictures.