Friday 6th of May Navarcles to Santa Maria de Merles

One of the things I don't like about this stretch of walking is that I don't really know where I going. It's about a year ago since I researched the route and it was very difficult, without buying a Spanish Topoguide, to work out in detail where the GR4 goes. Unlike the GR7 I couldn't find a GPS trail on the web so came up my own trail from various sources and don't have any confidence in it.

If the walk was going to go wrong it was most likely to go wrong today. It was going to be long, but I wasn't sure how long although at least 40 kilometres, and the destination Santa Maria de Merles, is a very tiny place. It was on the route but it was my route and of course I didn't know if my route was right. I was going there because it was the only place I could find with accommodation.

I was out of the hotel by 7 and went across the road for a coffee and a chocolate croissant. Is it just Spain or have all chocolate croissants changed. Instead of the anaemic bit of chocolate running through the middle, which I was used to, it's now a solid lump and each end of a proper shaped croissant has also been dipped in chocolate so you get it on the outside as well. Really good, a meal in itself.

Was able to find the GR 4 just north of Navarcles, really well signed. After about thirty minutes I concluded that the route I had on my GPS had nothing to do with the real GR 4 and decided to follow the signs. Essentially the first hour walk took you through a mixed landscape as you went along the industrial valley but eventually, after going past Cabrianes, you get into the country side proper.

For the rest of the day the scenery was essentially the same but really nice. Walking through hilly countryside, wooded, but interspersed with fields of barley and occasionally wheat. Everything was incredibly green, nice weather, sunny, fairly clear but not too hot. Not a day of really big views but the sort of walk you can often get in England at this time of year.

North of Cabrianes

The other feature of the walk were the really beautiful farmsteads and the little churches generally associated with them. Although the countryside was still being farmed (unlike much of the countryside I went through in upland Valencia) a lot of the farmsteads and churches were abandoned and falling into disrepair.

Abandoned Farmstead

Abandoned Church

At about 5, I had a big ridge to climb, but once I got over that I was within 3/4 kilometres, as the crow flies from Santa Maria de Merles. Got over the top and kept following the signs, I was heading west not north which was the direction I anticipated. This went on for nearly an hour and I was heading down into a huge gorge and now much further away from Santa Maria de Merles than I had been at 5. I had convinced myself that Santa Maria wasn't on the GR 4 when I started heading east again and by 7 I had got to the village. In total had walked 51 kilometres with 1500 metres of climb. The last bit of the walk, through the gorge was excellent, nice time of day, actually saw a cuckoo rather than just hearing it, just a shame I had started to think I was going to be sleeping rough again.

Woodland Approaching Santa Maria de Merles

River Merles

I'm the only person staying in a huge converted farmhouse. No one else here at all. Very remote, the owner gave me a lift here, picked me up to take me to dinner, bought me back, and is picking me up for breakfast in the morning. Much better than sleeping in the woods.

Thursday 5th May Montserrat to Navarcles

Good job I had the extra day in Monserrat as I was able to spend most of yesterday afternoon rejigging the route around the available accommodation. Basically I'm having to walk 6 days in 5 with two big days, today and tomorrow, to fit around what's available. Today was 38 kilometres with 700 metres of climb and I think tomorrow might be even longer. Worse thing is my feet have become painful again, I think it's walking without sticks.

I'm now on the GR4 all the way to the border although for some of today I was also on the GR3. I think the GR3 is a St James Way variant going from Figueres, via Montserrat to Santiago, another pilgrims way. If I don't get lost I've got about another 150 kilometres of walking to do in Spain.

Today's walk was good, a nice first couple of hours walking around the Montserrat mountain, and really unpleasant bit in the middle when you crossed the busy valley at Sant Vicent de Castellet, and then a better afternoon as the route takes you on a huge detour to get inside the Parc Natural de Sant Lorenc (etc etc - the name of the park is a long as the detour). Actually I've been in two Natural Parks today because Montserrat is one as well.

The highlight of the first bit was the mist burning off from around the mountain, some wonderful views. I've also got a real soft spot for fields of barley which have just come out in ear and there was an abundance of those this morning.

Looking back to the Montserrat Mountains

Fields of Barley

The middle bit wasn't nice, this is a really busy part of Spain, and every time you come down from the mountains your walking through a housing or industrial estate. Today it was mainly industrial. The signs were pretty good, you can see the GR sign on the lamppost below, although it seems like someone with a giant tin of pink paint has been trying cover up as many as possible.

The joys of long distance walking

I wouldn't say that the Natural Park was the most spectacular I've seen but maybe its designation has something to do with its proximity to Barcelona. There were information boards everywhere describing everything and today a huge party of school children were making the best of it. That's a 13th century church below, another one without any windows.

Approach to Navarcles

Abandoned church

The last bit of the walk, into Navarcles was along a long gorge with a river running along the bottom, very pleasant. Four Spanish walkers, male about my age, or slightly older, carrying big bags, were coming the other way and were all wearing those Lycra leggings. Makes you think.

Staying in the Hostal Montane in Navarcles. Must admit I really like these sort of places and seemed to stay in lots of them in Andalucia. It doesn't have a website and barely registers when you do an Internet search. Because it's so hard to find you tend to think it must be a dump. It is however absolutely fine, has a bar where they do food, and a restaurant, and is, like all Spanish places, spotless. It's also very cheap, which is good because I've been struggling to keep in budget recently.

Wednesday 4th of May Montserrat

A rest day but couldn't resist walking Miranda de Sant Joan, one of the highest points in the Montserrat range and which turned out to be a really nice walk. About 600 metres of climb and a three hour round trip.

These really are unusual mountains. The rock, certainly at top, is a conglomerate of large pebbles which have been cemented together. Like pebbles on the beach at Brighton, but bigger, these have clearly been in water and themselves are a mix of all sorts of different rock. From a bit of a distance the rock looks like weathered cement.

Montserrat rock structure

It must be the unusual composition of the rock that has led to some very distinct profiles. Really steep and a big attraction to climbers. One particular prominence caught my eye and if you look carefully at the picture below you see the climbers approaching the summit.

Could feel a bit of a dick climbing this one

Got a picture of myself at the top, as you can see I've wasted away so much that I need to be holding onto something to prevent myself keeling over. In the background are the Pyrenees but very difficult to make out. Also at the top I saw a deer  catching the sun.

The top looking north to the Pyrenees

Deer catching the sun

I said yesterday that there is a funicular to bring people up to the monastery. Actually there is a train, a cable car and a road as well as the funicular to get people to the top. In the day time it is absolutely packed and the main reason everyone is coming is to see the Black Madonna and kiss the wooden ball she is holding. It's easy to be sniffy about this sort of thing but personally I'm into pilgrimages but would choose a different focus for veneration. Everest Base Camp is a sort of pilgrimage. I would also insist that there has to be a bit of effort. Coming up a mountain on a train or a coach doesn't count as far as I'm concerned.

Black Madonna

Tuesday 3rd of May Capellades to Montserrat

Slight cheat this morning. Instead of walking 6 kilometres from Capellades to Peira to rejoin the GR 172 (and the E4) I saw a train and jumped on it. Worse than that I couldn't figure out how to buy a ticket and got a free journey. On the basis that E4 cheats never prosper I then proceeded to repeatedly loose the route and ended up walking the 6 kilometres gained by the train anyway.

The whole point of E4 excursion into Catalonia is, I think, to take you to the Montserrat mountain and its monastery. Having a rest day here tomorrow so will find out more about the place but the monastery and the black madonna located here is focus for pilgrimage and a symbol of Catalonia. Whenever the Barcelona football team win something they bring the cup here to say thank you.

The Montserrat mountains themselves are special. Not only are they very prominent, but they also form some very unusual shapes. The organic shapes, in particular, and the colour made me at any rate think of Gaudi, the famous Barcelona architect.

Mountains of Montserrat from Peira

Getting there proved a little bit harder than anticipated. I guess all the stuff which has worn away to form the mountain has been dumped in the plain below and rivers have sliced through this causing a series of deep ravines which have to be crossed. The trail through these ravines is perfect for men on motorbikes. A lot of effort has been made to try and stop them but it looks like a loosing battle.

Three GR routes home in on the monastery (the GR 172, the GR 6 and the GR 5) and actually it is a really good walk. Brilliant views both up the mountain and across the plain. You start on the west of the range, go around it's southern flank and then head up on the south-eastern side. Once you get around the corner your looking across towards the Barcelona metropolis which is huge.

Ermita de la de Deu de la Salut

Amazing shapes of the Montserrat Mountains

Montserrat Monestry

The monastery complex seems to be a theme park for the Catholic Church with a funicular to bring pilgrims up the mountains.

Resting up tomorrow so I can keep in step with people who will joining me for stints over the next few weeks. My feet are definitely suffering a bit at the moment so a day off is probably a good thing. I'm hoping to find somewhere to watch the Barcelona game, a lot a Barcelona shirts about today, although I doubt it will be as noisy up here as it was last week.

Monday 2nd of May Santes Creus to Capellades

I think I got myself a bit de-hydrated in the mad search for my sticks yesterday, certainly rang out of water well before the end. Anyway re-hydrating on two bottles of beer perhaps was less than ideal. Couldn't sleep and had really bad pains in my feet only cured by a massive dose of ibuprofen. Was really fed up and not at all looking forward to the walk this morning.

Got a taxi to Santes Creus the home of a Cistercian monastery which people make a lot of fuss about around here. Being a Monday it was shut otherwise I would have gone into it and done a detailed survey. Set of on my walk, about 40 kilometres, at about 8.45. Weather cool and cloudy with the threat of rain.

Santa Crues

The first couple of hours were through the last bit of the wide valley I was in yesterday. Lots of vines which now have little grapes on them. Good progress since the last time I saw them three weeks ago near El Robellar.

It was then a 600 metre climb out of the valley, up high for the first time in a week. The path was now a mix of open upland country and pine forest.

The first target was the Esglesia de St Jaume, a church without any windows. Will try and establish if this a standard feature.

Esglesia de St Jaume

The other thing I noticed is how close I now am to the GR7, the walk I came up through Spain on until I left it at El Boixar. It was only 14 kilometres away today.







It was then down through fields of barley towards Capellades well at least the place I thought was Capellades when I put my schedule together.

Fields of barley

Still don't quite understand the mistake but when I got into this very new and dispersed settlement there was just no sign of a hotel. I asked a very nice Spaniard who seemed to say that I was in the wrong Capellades and the place I needed was some distance away. He gave me the approximate direction but didn't seem to think I should try and walk it. A car came around the corner, he knocked on the window and within seconds, and after profuse thanks and handshaking, I was in the back seat on a 10 kilometre journey to the real Capellades. Fortunately it's in the right direction for tomorrow's walk, to Montserrat.

Sunday 1st of May Tarragona to Valls

Three good reasons to be fed up: lost my walking sticks; obsessively tried to find them and now I've got seriously aching feet; and, finally Spurs got ripped of at Chelsea by dodgy officials.

Valls is not actually on the GR 172 which what the E4 is following at the moment. The ideal place to have stopped would have been Santes Creus but the only accommodation near there was full this bank holiday week. Valls is 5 kilometres down a road from Nulles which is where I left the GR172.

Getting out of Tarragona was really easy, no trouble finding the route which is very well signed. The trail wasn't at all bad just unremarkable. Initially it was a road and then increasingly turning into a forest trail, but with lots of fly tipping until you escaped the influence of Tarragona.

Subway under the motorway

Dogs were a bit of a feature. I had started to assume that the really large numbers of barking dogs was a feature of the rustic south, it was much less prevalent in Valencia than Andalucia, and would perhaps die down even more as I got into cosmopolitan Catalonia. Not a bit of it, today went through a dog alley activating, at one point, at least 10 mad frenzied dogs.

Angry dog

Perhaps the prettiest town along the route was El Cattlar, which a nice castle and a church, was hoping for coffee but all the bars were shut.

El Cattlar

After that the trail took you through a low lying pine forest very popular with mountain bikers and being a Sunday they were out in full force.

Pine forest on the way to Rebua

Then into wine country and around Renua, Nulles and Vilabella vines were wall to wall. Haven't had much cultivated countryside since Andalucia and the difference in the settlement pattern is very striking, here the villages are smaller, still very dense, but only 3 or 4 kilometres apart, a bit like England in that respect.

Renua

Then onto Valls and in time for a 4.30 finish. Have walked the 5 kilometres road from Nulles and making my way around the Valls south circular to the hotel I suddenly realise I had no sticks. Really cross with myself and of course had no one else to blame. Can't remember having them, can't remember not having them, very frustrating. Decide to retrace my steps reasoning that there are only three places where I have taken my bag of all day, the first one at Renua where I remember seeing the sticks. End up walking all the way back to Renua and of course didn't find them. A round trip of 20 kilometres making 45 for day and not back at the hotel until 8, obsessive behaviour or what.

Will have to figure out how to get some sticks, maybe there will be a shop up in the Pyrenees, really don't like walking without them. Anyway have booked at taxi in the morning to takes me straight to Santes Crues. Having visited Nulles three times I really don't need to see it again.

Saturday 30th April Tarragona

My proper rest day since the start of the walk and Tarragona is a really nice place to stop. Definitely worth coming if your at all interested in Roman history but also if you like cosmopolitan Spain. I guess in Catalan terms Tarragona is very much the little brother of Barcelona but very nice almost because of that.

It is wonderfully positioned against the coast. The main thoroughfare, the Rambla Nova, runs through the centre of the city abruptly finishing at a cliff with great views of the Mediterranean. Around this cliff-top sits the old Roman city with some the ancient city walls still there. There is a collesium, which is outside the walls and what is described as the circus inside the walls. The circus, where they had the chariot racing is largely underneath the city, but you can still see the terracing at one end and the tunnels underground allowing access for the competitors. Looked very much like the dressing rooms at Wembley stadium, absolutely amazing.

res

To the dressing rooms

As well as resting up, spent much of the afternoon sorting out the itinerary for next week. It's not easy, there are long stretches along the route where the choice is very limited and because of the bank holiday week things are a busier than they were and a couple of places are booked up. Have got things sorted for the next three days at least.

Quite pleased with the picture. Think I have found Lionel Messi's Roman antecedent, Julio-Claudi, can't believe the Catalans haven't spotted it.

Lionel Messi