end of trip

I didn't manage to post the last days of my trip so I'll write a summary from home.  

Ashlyn and I explored Lleida on food.  We enjoyed the views of town from the cathedral stop the hill.

We found a gastronomía event and tasted sidra, Vermouth, and some cheeses. 

We took a panoramic train ride into the mountains and went on a sort of failed hike along the river.  It all worked out though we didn't take it easy.  

I took the fast train back to Barcelona, had a great meal with the group, snapped photos of Gaudí's casa Baltan and made my way to the airport.   

Smooth sailing over the Alps to Frankfurt and relatively easy flight to SFO.  

Europe travel success!

Bike day 4 done, yesterday Dali's house, today off to Lleida

There are some days I might have missed.

We said out goodbyes in Octon, loaded the van, and left for Cadaques with a brief stop in Collioure.  

Collioure is know for Matisse and Derwin establishing the fauvism movement.  They used bright colors in paintings that didn't match the scenery encouraging creativity and starting an art movement.

Since it was the last day in France, I made sure to find a patisserie (edible art).

i got the mango passion fruit mousse that had a bit of chocolate too.

In Cadaques we took a tour of Dali's home.  What  a beautiful place with a funky style and beautiful garden.  Highlights include learning about his quirky preferences.

- crickets in his room because he liked the sound 

- a mirror in the hallway to see the sun rise from bed

-an easel if steel with a pass through to a lower flor to work in the upper studio or the room downstairs.

The town of Cadaques was lovely.  The evening visit included a foot dip in the sea, dinner with amazing views, and fun conversation with a couple seated next to us.

After clearing out the air BNB in Cadaques we successfully extracted the van from the garage sized precisely for that model year (or we were just lucky).

The group kindly dropped me at the train station before going to the Dalí museum/theatre.

I'm on my way to meet Ashlyn in Lleida for a weekend via Barcelona.  In my prep to quickly connect with the next train, I've studied the train station.  Thanks to a kind soul who wrote up each details on this website to help me find my way.

https://www.seat61.com/stations/barcelona-sants.htm

bike trip day 3: Le Caylar to St. Guilhem de désert

Mileage 26 and elevation 1,100 feet

Today was smooth sailing! We had a lovely breakfast in Le Caylar.  Thanks to mini croissant, I was able to try a plain one and a pain au chocolat.

The road was smooth and there was a lot of downhill on this ride.  We added 3 more to the group riding the road today which was good fun.  

Lots of descent with impressive views! What a blast.

With a stopover in a cute town, we had a drink with a scrumptious appetizer: smoked trout with jelly and goat cheese.

From there we carried on to the final destination.  Wow, Saint Guilhem de Désert is such a cute town.

Each day of this trip get better and better.

A quick dip in the river, then some shopping and a walk up the hill. 

 

The evening finished off with another fabulous three course meal.

I'm glad the biking burns enough calories to eat all this wonderful food.

Tomorrow is the last day of the bike trip. Too bad.

bike trip day 1 and 2

Day one: Octon to Roncels

This was a suffer fest simply put. 

5,000 feet in 25 miles with some of our in rocky terrain. 

The place we stayed was beautiful and finally with lots of artsy wooden carved and also clay figurines. 

day 2:  Roncels to Le Caylar 20 miles 2,260 feet gain-Carol, Stephanie, and I decided to take the road instead of the trail recommended by the guide.  This ended up cutting the elevation gain by half and avoiding the rocky trails. 

It was enjoyable. What a nice day!

we're have been having nice meals everywhere we go! 

Estavayer le Lac

We did a lovely walk around town.  

Highlights include steep steps up the tall tower where they once held prisoners, street art, and lovely gardens.  This town is known as the city of roses.

Oeschinensee lake hike plus time in Thun

Today is day 6 of my trip.

Because the bike group had plans to go back to Neidielhorn, I opted to check out a recommended hike.

It was spectacular!

Oeschinensee lake!

I missed the train by a few minutes which gave me an opportunity to buy food and explore the town of Thun.  I found a cool DIY walking tour and enjoyed my time there.

https://wanderineurope.com/thun-walking-tour-do-it-yourself-with-route-and-map/

The train to kandersteg was easy and it was a 10 minute walk to the gondola next.  Once at the top of the gondola (had to book time slots in advance) I ventured to the lake.  The hike started  with a steep and strenuous trail.  It was just a small taste of what was to come.  

The trail brings you along the lake, then up and up and up.  Half of the lake is surrounded by tall limestone walls.  It was overcast and tough to see what else might hiding behind the clouds.

As I continued to steep switchbacks, the clouds started to part.  To my surprise, there were glaciers up high on the rock above.  What an impressive view.  

I reached the top where they have a mountain hut and skipped the option to have coffee or beer (cash only).

The trail then winds around the lake up high.  It has many exposed sections offering the opportunity to be appreciative for the many others on the trail.  

Some hikers seemingly a bit more nervous about the exposure than others.

Though the trail was wet, thankfully it's wasn't slippery.  I only had a few points where I crouched lower to keep my bodyweight close to the ground.  Nah, I didnt want to crawl....not at all.

It's hard to do justice to the trail wrapping around the mountain to the start of the hike.  Think tahoe flume trail meets a few portions of angels landing in Zion?

I read all the recommendations in a blog.  Since they advised to do the slide after the hike, I did just that!

Fun metal Tobagon to end the day!! I'm not trying out for the luge Olympic team yet.  

What a wonderful day!!

Switzerland to do links for reference. Park along the train route for easier access options.

https://wanderineurope.com/tag/switzerland/

Link to hike 

https://swissfamilyfun.com/de/oeschinensee-panoramaweg/

Lidernenhutte to Eggbergg, 5 miles

The hut experience went well because there were only 12-15 people there.  I have a feeling it would not be comfortable to sleep in a room with so many people on a night the hut is full.

There were 5 of us in the room: no problem.  But, there was space for 12.

We hiked uphill to a lovely lake reflexing the crags above. 

 From there we gain elevation and found some fantastic views of peaks in the distance of the Glarnar Uri Alps and the central swiss Alps.

From there we began our descent towards the gondola to take us down.

It's amazing the high elevation development here in Switzerland.  Some of these houses in altitude have cables rigged to get hard goods up the mountain.

From the gondola to the bus, to the train, and then to the main twin station in Basel.

It was a beautiful trip and fun to explore the mountains of Switzerland.

Stoos to Lidernenhutte (swiss mountain hut)

With an early start in Basel, Mirjam and I had a nice adventure ending the day at a swiss mountain hut. 

Starting with a tram, then a transfer to a train, then a bus, to a steep funicular.  

Actually this might be the steepest funicular in the world.

We started our hike at the top of the funicular and ventured past Swiss mountain homes and many a grazing cow.

Highlights include beautiful views in all directions, rest breaks with chocolate, and options to buy homemade cheese along the way. 

When we arrived at the hut, we welcomed a local hay beer and hut issued crocks. They want you to ditch your stinky hiking shoes at the door.

The best part of the meal was a yummy soup with cabbage, apple, and well balanced spices.

Everything is in German here. Were shared a dinner table with 4 Germans and one gal from France. Some of the Germans spoke English well, others just a bit. 

Cartagena

Arrived in Cartagena this morning. 

Hot and humid. 

Visited the castle

Tunnels 

Wonderful food 

Columbia river gorge trip day 1

From some drop off point near troutdale we mainly climbed into elevation all the way to snow flurries in government camp on mount hood. 

It was slow going with lots of rest stops to snack on things.

Oregon bike trip continued: dufur-the dalles-hood river- cascade locks

This bike trip has been full of long slow clbs and amazing descents. 

We clbed 6 miles out of tigh valley on our way to The Dalles. 

The downhill was amazing with views of snow covered Mount Hood to our left and Mount Adams straight ahead. 

Lunch in The Dalles was awesome. 

A Thai curry chicken sandwich with peanut sauce and crunchy fried wonton paper inside. 

We continued on toward hood river pushing through a strong headwind, pushing our bikes up the hill in hood river and onto dinner. 

Our only warm showers host this trip were in hood river. 

They have a restaurant and bakery in town where we enjoyed 3 meals during our time there. 

Meg and Clint, such gracious hosts!!

"Walking"down the stairs in Hood River to get to the center of town. 

When your knee is sore, take the rail down.