To the five people who check this blog, sorry I don't update a lot. Interesting things do happen to me, I'm just lazy. What I need to do is have regular, small updates about all the random stuff that interests me and larger, sporadic updates about major events. Maybe I'll stick to that. Probs not.
Two weeks ago (wow, already two weeks ago!) we went to the Pyrenees. We stayed in a hostel in a small village called Monentartro (mas o menos), close to the city of Sort. Driving in the mountains is an experience I don't want to repeat anytime soon. I'm already afraid of heights and the constant twists, turns and bumps made everyone carsick. There are a couple picture on Facebook where I have my hat pulled over my eyes. This was because I was close to losing it during one ride. My wonderful friends Laura and Becky made fun of me. And took pictures.
On our first in the mountains, we went on a bike ride. Our wonderful hosts at the hostel, Imma y Cesar, also doubled as guides. Imma took us biking and showed us the sites of farmhouses once used to harbor Spaniards escaping over the Pyrenees during the Civil War. There were lots of mountain animals, enormous cows and horses (bred for eating) and sheep. The best part was riding full speed back down the mountain. From there we went to a museum that showed the kinds of houses and ways of life in the Pyrenees during the 30s and 40s. Very rustic, even for those people with money. On the second day Cesar took us on a hike. We were meant to climb near the top of the mountains, but the weather was not permitting and we were poorly dressed for the whole weekend (none of us had thought to bring sturdy winter clothes). We backtracked down the mountain and hiked in a nice climate. Cesar took us to another little hostel, seemingly off the beaten path, where we had awesome soup. Seemed like chicken broth, garbanzo beans and every meat imaginable. Next we went on a tour of old bunkers built as a defense during WWII to try to keep out all the refugees streaming into Spain and possible divert an attack from Hitler. On our last day we went rafting on a river outside of Sort. We took up two boats and our raft got the crazy guide who flipped us over several times and convinced us to commander the other boat. We wore hardcore wetsuits that protected us from the water, which was very cold. Our last meal was at a great restaurant in the mountains which served us things like octopus and veal carpaccio.
Like I said, I'll try to be better about updating. I'm having a great time and my Spanish is starting to improve (because I actually try to talk now). I eat way too much because all the food here is wonderful and it's going to be hard to leave when the time comes. Barcelona is amazing.
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