Barcelona

Our first stop on our latest trip into Barcelona was to see it’s most famous landmark – La Sagrada Familia. I visited Gaudi’s unfinished temple to the Holy Family a few years ago, but Darren hadn’t been so I insisted that we go. In any case it’s worth returning to see the additions that have been made. It’s fantastic to see such a work in progress – we’ve seen a few cathedrals and churches so far on our trip (unavoidable in Western Europe) but they are all old buildings. We opted for an audio guide which was a wise idea as there is so much detail already in the church and obviously a lot to learn about the project’s past and present. I like the fact that as different people work on different parts they use Gaudi as inspiration but bring their own style to the piece. Darren seemed torn as to whether they should have continued with the building or left it as a tribute, but Gaudi himself spent the last years of his life drawing up detailed plans and making models (many of which were destroyed during the Spanish Civil War) and I don’t think he would have wanted it to remain unfinished. The thing that struck both of us most of all was not just the scale of the completed sections, but how big the thing will be when it is eventually finished! I wonder if we’ll ever get to see the finished article in our lifetime…

We then hotfooted it to our new local pub to catch the end of the Everton v Liverpool match (and a scandal it was too!) We then checked into our hostel just down the road – it wasn’t very secure so we kept our small bag with us for the rest of the evening. Back in the pub we found some decent seats at the bar and stayed there to watch the footie results come in, the Aston Villa v Man Utd match and the rugby. There were again a lot of opposing supporters (are there no Saffy bars in Barca?), but the atmosphere was definitely not as friendly this time around. It was a tense and exciting match though – the South Africans deserved to win the tournament and our boys can be proud. As we’d planned an early start the next morning we grabbed a pizza and returned to our dormitory.

Often when we arrive at a new WWOOF we like to take a peek at our hosts bookcase for any English books. The only English book here is a 10 year old edition of Lonely Planet’s guide to Spain, so I’ve been studying it and one of the first places that stood out was Montserrat. The Serrated Mountain is home to a monastery dating back nearly a thousand years and the Black Virgin, a wooden sculpture of Mary that brings pilgrims from far and wide. It gets it’s name from it’s unusual shape, and on a clear day you can apparently see as far as Mallorca. Unfortunately this view was not for us on Sunday, but it was well worth the trip in any case.

It took us quite a while to get there due to line closures and difficulties working out which ticket to get and how to get it out of the machine (European train stations seem to be a bit temperamental when it comes to British credit cards). We arrived around lunchtime and grabbed a bite to eat before taking a very steep funicular up to Saint Joan. From there you can walk to the top of the mountain at Saint Jeroni, but being short on time we decided just to stroll back to the monastery via the vestry and viewpoint at St Miquel. I’m glad we didn’t choose to walk up as it was very steep!

Back in the village (as well as the monastery there are a few gift shops, restaurants and hotels), we thought we’d better take a look at the monastery, although it wasn’t what had originally inspired us to visit. We were very pleasantly surprised as the church was very beautiful. The courtyard looked quite new and polished – a lot of it has been rebuilt over the last 150 years. We decided not to queue for a close up of the Black Virgin, and instead watched people filing past from the pews. Inside was equally ornate with a lot of small multi-coloured chandeliers. They were preparing for a ceremony so we couldn’t view the front of the church close up as it was cordoned off. On our way out was a peculiar little room filled with gifts sent in thanks to the Black Virgin.

Our combined train ticket included entrance to a multimedia exhibition about the lives of the monks which we had a quick look around but didn’t really have the time or patience to view everything. We had a final look around the gift shop, and left for our train. The journey home was another event. We had to wait for the connection back into Barcelona, and arrived at Barcelona Sants just a little late for a train to catch the last bus from La Garriga. So we took the next train to Granollers to catch the last bus from there. After waiting nearly an hour we eventually deciphered the timetable to work out that the last bus had actually been three hours earlier! It took us another 30 minutes to get a cab, thus negating the financial reason for staying in Barcelona in the first place. Live and learn as they say…

Swing Low Sweet Chariot

Last Saturday became quite a series of quests. First was to see if there by any slim chance was somewhere we could watch the football and rugby in nearby Granollers. Darren found out about an Irish bar but we didn't really know where it was. It was tricky to find because it is an upstairs bar with very little downstairs signage. We eventually found a sign which told us that it wasn't open until 6pm (so no football) and would be showing the Spanish football match that night (so no rugby).

As it is only a few Euros to Barcelona we figured we'd take the train and see if we could find anywhere in there - quest number two. We got off the train at Passeig de Gracia which is usefully on Las Ramblas where we felt our best bet at finding either an English pub or an internet cafe would be. After a bit of walking up and down we found our place - the Jules Verne just south of Plaça Catalunya (which was useful as that was where our last train would leave from). We settled down with our pints and watched the football match, then ventured off to find some food. After a little walking "off the beaten track" and not finding anywhere, we resorted back to the tourist trap of Las Ramblas where we had some very average food (future mission - find good tapas in Barcelona).

After our meal we had an hour before the rugby started so we had another wander and came across the fantastic Mercat de la Boqueria just off Las Ramblas. A riot of colour from the fruit and veg and sweet stalls, and a riot of smell from the fish stalls. It all looked amazing though - imagine that being your local supermarket?!

Back to the pub 30 minutes before kick off and it was packed. I was surprised how quiet the rendition of God Save The Queen was until the French national anthem started - the English pub was full of French people! Everyone was friendly with their rivalry though and it was a really good atmosphere throughout the match with many reprised renditions of the La Marseillaise and of Swing Low Sweet Chariot. Of course it was all the better when we won - I think we may be back there this Saturday! I wonder if there will be many South Africans there though...

So to the return journey. Our host's boyfriend had said that he may be able to pick us up from Granollers but in the event he couldn't. There will be a taxi or two around though, surely? Nope! So we ventured back towards the town chatting with three other English travellers who had the same idea as us. We spotted one cab who kindly called another and waited so that none of us got stranded. We're worked out that we can actually stay in a cheap hostel in Barcelona next weekend for less money than the cab, so I think we'll visit Montserrat on Sunday. Hangovers permitting of course...

The Rain In Spain

It took us a long time to travel not very far, but we have finally made it to another country. True to form, our arrival heralded rain - yet another spectacular thunderstorm in the mountains. We've had a few days of cloud and rain and (shock horror!) cold, but today brightened up considerably and it was wonderfully sunny this afternoon.

We are about 25km north of Barcelona in a village called l'Ametlla del Valles. We are sleeping in a caravan (that's fun during a thunderstorm) in the garden and there is a smallish vegetable plot with a few fruit trees. Our host Lluisa owns an organic restaurant in the village called La Fonda and the garden exists primarily to help supply the restaurant.

Our first day was just the usual weeding, but our second day Lluisa took us up to her family's property called Fontdellops (which means 'fountain of the wolf'). The nearest neighbours to here are about 6km away, and it was a long drive up a rough road up a mountain. No-one is currently living at the house, but it is the epitome of being away from it all. It was incredibly peaceful and very beautiful. We spent the day collecting mainly walnuts and chestnuts, but also apples, grapes, various herbs and a few mushrooms (but not as many as we hoped). The place lived up to it's name when we saw a very tame small wolf (or grey fox, we couldn't decide which). It was clearly quite ill as it had lost a lot of fur from it's back, but it came quite close to us on it's quest for apples. All in all it was a wonderful day's work!

The best thing about this place is the food. On the days the restaurant is open (Thursday - Sunday) we can eat with the staff and the food is fantastic. And after the weekend we get to eat the leftovers! Eating with the staff (just 4 of them) is really good because we get to hear some Spanish (or Catalan) conversation. This isn't the best place to learn Spanish though - the Catalans are far to proud of their own language!

Misty Mountain Hop

Well we had a fantastic weekend in Villefranche de Conflent. It is a walled village in the middle of the Pyrenees - there's only really two streets so you feel quite at home very quickly! After our first walk around we thought we'd see if my French hotel reservation had been successful, only to find that our auberge was shut until 4pm. We decided to take Le Petit Train Jaune further into the mountains to Font Romeu which was wonderful. You can sit in an open air carriage which is especially exhilarating when you go over a couple of rather high bridges! Our plan was to spend 90 minutes in Font Romeu before getting the train back, but when we arrived it turned out that Font Romeu station is actually nowhere near Font Romeu. A 5km hike was out of the question so we meandered around a couple of the nearer villages. There wasn't much around, but we did get to see the world's biggest solar furnace at Odeillo from above. It was VERY impressive!

We sat inside on our return train, and checked into our hotel on our return. Yes it was reserved! We changed and headed out for some food. It turned out that only two restaurants were open in Villefranche de Conflent and I think we were lucky to get in either of them by being very English and eating a bit earlier than the locals. It was the best meal of the trip so far. Fantastic food, beautifully cooked, good local wine and very reasonable too.

The next day we first went to some nearby underground caves, Les Grandes Canalettes. They were pretty good, although we got stuck behind a Spanish tour group and there was a musical section with a "light show" which did nothing to enhance the formations. After a crepe for lunch, we ventured to Fort Liberia. This is halfway up the mountain that Villefranche de Conflent lies on, and was built to further protect the town. It's quite a hard walk uphill to get to though and our first stop at the top was for an ice-cream. We then followed the mapped guided tour around and took in the views. It was certainly a good place to build a fort as you can see down three valleys and you could probably see an enemy from miles away. Alas it wasn't such a clear day for us.

We had a final look around the village and bought a few presents before we were due to catch the train home. It was a marvellous weekend, and all the better because we more or less got by completely in French. I'm definitely understanding a lot more now, although I still think Darren understands more than I do. And we leave France in three days time!

We're definitely ready to move on now. We're trying to plan for the next few months, and it's getting a bit fraught. I've e-mailed a few WWOOFs and not had any reply which is very frustrating. So we don't know where our last stay of the year will be yet...

Wind Of Change

It's been incredibly windy down here the last couple of days! It's not easy working in that kind of weather, or cycling along a rather busy dual carriageway. We came into Elne to use the internet at a lovely bar with a couple of computers but it's closed for the next two weeks. We managed to get a free hour in the library on a very slow connection but today we found the "proper" cyber cafe. So Darren can now provide you with lots of pictures. No beer though. Or coffee...

We made it to the beach on Sunday! It was a bit of a gloomy morning - good for cycling but not for sunbathing. Still, we went to Argeles village where there was a market (some of which looked more like a jumble sale!), then to the port for lunch. Darren decided to confront his disdain for the idea of Moules Frites and we both had a portion. It's a fine idea - more filling than you'd expect and very messy!

We then cycled back to the beach and the sun came out so we did get an hour of sun-worshipping in after all. Only an hour though because it was kick-off in Manchester. We sat in the pub with some good ol' Cockney Utd supporters and pints of beer (haven't had a pint for a while!) Then we cycled back before it got dark. Hopefully we'll get an afternoon nice enough to nip down to the beach again before we leave.

I booked a hotel room in French! Well I think I did. We'll find out for definite when we get to Villefranche du Conflent tomorrow. In health news, my hayfever has been very bad here, so I don't think this is an area of the world where we'll be setting up home. Maybe it's because I haven't been eating the local honey...

Bicycle Race

I'm aching all over. Not because of the work, my body's getting used to that. Our latest farm has a couple of bikes, and as the nearest town is only a couple of kilometres away, we're making some good use of them. Now, bear in mind that the last time I was on a bike would have been at least half of my life ago, it didn't have gears, the handlebars were higher than the seat and once I got above the age where I could cycle on the pavement I got freaked out and decided that cycling was not for me. Still, I got my courage up and ventured onto the road. For our first trip into Elne we took the long way which avoids the busy duel carriageway over the river Tech. This was about 10km, which is why I am now in so much pain. Still I'm enjoying the freedom that it gives us - the main thing is that we're a bit less reliant on our hosts.

Elne is quite a nice little town although we haven't looked much further than this internet café yet! There is a big 11th century church which I think we'll visit one afternoon. On Sunday we're going to the beach in Argelès sur Mer - Ursula our host took us for a look around on Wednesday night and it's quite touristy so if I'm lucky I might get to see the Man Utd / Chelsea match! We're also hoping to go to Villefranche du Conflent in the mountains if I can find a hotel...

La Ferme Musicale is our current location. So far we've done quite a lot of jobs. There's always weeding of course (and these have been some huge weeds) and Darren's been using a strimmer everyday. We've collected a few squashes, raspberries and tomatoes, trimmed pine and orange trees and I've had to poison some moles (not sure that's something I like doing, but sometimes you just have to do as you're told). In a change from our last place, we're in an upstairs room in the house but our bathroom is outside. The floor to our attic conversion room is very creaky and our hosts are sleeping below - Victor being a musician doesn't like to be disturbed too early so we have to creep about as quietly as possible! Victor and Ursula have two daughters, Delphine (14) and Joanna (10). It's good for us to listen to their French conversation but they speak very quickly sometimes! Darren definitely has a better idea of what is being said than I do.

Steve Hogarth was excellent in Marseilles. My favourite tracks that he performed were Cage and Three Minute Boy, but that may have been because we all got to sing along! We spent Sunday doing a few tourist things, the most impressive being the Palais du Longchamp. Not knowing really what it was or what to expect - the scale was breathtaking. It's a fountain which makes the Trevi look like a bidet. It's simply huge, and the best thing is that you can climb it! We approached it from the gardens at the top and the view of the city from there isn't bad either.

Our journey to Elne was fairly uneventful. We had a couple of hours in Nimes, so we hauled our packs on our backs and had a wander. There's a big Roman arena which still stages events including bull-fighting - if we had more time we'd have gone in but we contented ourselves with a walk around it.

About an hour after we arrived at the farm - in what is becoming a common theme - the heaven's opened. And I mean REALLY opened. It blew a gale, there were many thunderstorms around and it was as if someone was pouring a huge vat of water onto the roof. It didn't last long and we could soon see the skies clearing over the mountains.

I've changed a couple of things on the blog. On the right hand side there are two links, one for the photo page (not sure how many photo updates Darren can do here, a bit of trouble with these computers) and another which says Current Location. This will take you to a Google map link zoomed in on our current location. It can take a while to load, so be patient! Also I've unlocked the comments function so you should be able to leave a comment if you wish.

Let It Bee

I forgot about another final piece of excitement during our stay. Mandy and Brendan decided to empty their beehive, but the honey had crystallised in the combs and wouldn't spin out. So their friends (with many decades of bee-keeping experience) came up with the bright idea of leaving the honey in the metal spinner outside the house (like a big tin bin) to try to melt it. Unfortunately no-one told the bees who thought their home had been moved and bee-sieged (sorry) the house. Hundreds of them gathered around the spinner, and when night fell they surrounded the house instead! Eventually Mandy and Brendan managed to move the spinner back to the hive, but the bees wouldn't bee-have themselves so they had to be smoked away. When the eventually worked out where the proper hive was it was too late - they took their honey back with them so the whole operation had been in vain.

We just made it to Marseille! We only had 10 minutes to change trains at Toulouse, so I had a sinking feeling at Limoges station when the board sad that our first train was running 5 minutes late. On top of the early morning start and the tilting train I felt really quite sick on the first leg. We prepared ourselves to jump straight off the train in Toulouse - we had 6 minutes to find out the right platform, get to it and board our train. Fortunately we made it just before the train and the panic was over!

Last night we had a very dodgy meal and then saw out the evening in a bar with a live blues band. We mostly stayed outside to enjoy as background, but as they came to an end we went in to join in with the shouts as they played Mannish Boy, to generally clap along and be rowdy drunken Brits (well we haven't had a night on the town for a few months!) They closed with Hey Joe which is my favourite Hendrix song and was fantastic. Boy did I have a hangover this morning. Tonight is definitely going to be a sober one...

Here Comes The Sun

We’re coming to the end of our stint in central France. The weather has improved and we’re basking in sunshine now – a marked contrast to our arrival in the driving rain. We’ve had more fun and games with France Telecom who cut off the phone AGAIN in the same way as before. When the engineer came out to fix it he told our hosts that there should never have been a line in the first place, and that the line engineer would have to look at it. Fortunately (because otherwise we wouldn’t know where we’re staying tomorrow night) the line engineer put the line back on today, but how long it lasts, no-one knows…

I’m going to miss this place. It’s been the most incredible insight to (a) starting up a new farm and (b) starting up a farm in France. Wherever we choose to settle, it will definitely be worth doing a WWOOF in the area with an English host first! Brendan and Mandy have been excellent hosts, and I've got quite attached to the girls (it's what happens when you stay away from your nieces for too long!)

So it’s 9 hours on trains down to Marseille for the weekend where we’re going to see Steve Hogarth on one of his solo gigs – we missed all the UK shows last year so we thought we’d make an effort. Then on Monday we travel from Marseille to Elne, just south of Perpignan right on the Spanish border. As well as growing and selling fruit and veg, they hold music workshops and make musical instruments out of cucurbitaceous plants. It all sounds very intriguing…

We’re also trying to plan until the end of the year. Hopefully Barcelona will be the November stop, with somewhere in the south of Spain to follow. Then it’s up to Paris to see both Fish and Marillion, then home for Christmas!