The Caixa Forum has some important exhibitions every year and it is always a pleasure to wander around the old converted textile factory with its impressive brick and metal work. At the moment there is a collection built up by the Aga Khan over several decades of Muslim art over a thousand year period when they dominated most of the Mediterranean basin and the Middle East.

The three museums in Sitges are all close together and worth visiting, displaying some impressive collections of art, glassware, ironwork and antique dolls in buildings that are also architectural treasures.

Off the beaten path for most visitors to Barcelona is an area with
lots of interesting architecture set on a hillside with good views- we
are talking about a cemetery.
The Montjuïc hill which dominates the southern side of the city was
first used and named after the Jews that used it as a burial ground
and about a third of it still is, although now a christian site.
When Catalonia and Barcelona started to flourish economically at the
end of the 19th century the cemetery was one of the main beneficiaries
with all sorts of exotic and new forms and materials used to create
the final resting places for the main families.
Wandering up the steep hillside under the tall cypress trees looking
at some of the best elements of Expressionist or what the Catalans
called Modernist art forms is really quite fun. This is characterized
by themes of natural romantic phenomena such as caves and rock
formations and utilises the creative potential of artisan
craftsmanship which you see all around you in the different shapes and
materials used in the crypts and graves.
All the best architects and craftsmen of their day were involved here
and several parts were designed by the ubiquitous Antoni Gaudí as well
as Lluis Domenech i Montaner, the two biggest stars of their day.

The 23rd of April is not an official holiday here in Catalonia but it sure seems like it! Many balconies and buildings are draped in Catalan flags and many shop windows try to incorporate one of the two main symbols of the day.
The tradition is for men to give women a rose (or two!) and in return they are given a book. The centre of Girona around the Rambla is full of stalls selling books and flowers and I have never seen the streets so busy, possibly because it has been a splendid, warm (hot even) day, with a clear blue sky after what seems like weeks of rain.
This is one of the few times that people seem to raise money for "good" causes; children raise money for their school play or boy scouts for a summer camp.
So beware as you walk the streets, either buy a rose or use a book to defend yourself !
 

So, to continue the preparation for my Catalan meal with 90 year old couple Sion and Lluis from La Pera which is about 20kms from Girona.
So far we have the onions baking in the fireplace, the sausages are being grilled on the fire and now it is time to toast the bread in the flames. Once this is done we are ready to get the onions out (1.5 hrs in the fire) and peel the burnt outside layers off until we have the soft and moist interiors perfectly cooked. Olive oil an salt are added and we take the broad beans off the cooker too and take everything to the table.
So we start with cutting a whole garlic clove in two and rubbing it on the toasted bread followed by specially grown juicy tomatoes which also get spread on the bread along with olive oil and a little salt and then you can add some of the dry sausage or cheese on top. This is called "pa amb tomàquet" and forms the base (or starter) for many Catalan dishes and is perfectly acceptable as a meal in itself.
The wine I brought as my contribution is served from the bottle although Sion prefers her own from the barrell they keep in the cellar and she drinks from a "porró" which is easier to see and understand in a photo (see photos attached). The cauliflower salad is also on the table being one that Sion had made a few weeks ago with red wine vinegar and consequently looks red and tastes great.
Sausages with a garlic sauce "alioli" and the broad beans follows and by this time we are feeling not only replete but very merry and after dessert of walnuts, hazelnuts and fresh fruit we need a walk around the village to let it all settle.
This meal was not quick at some 3 hours but will certainly be one of the more memorable for the quality of the ingredients and company!  Thank you Sion and Lluis.

Sabadell is a town of 200,000 people just to the north of Barcelona and less than an hours drive from Girona. It has  been an important industrial centre ever since the late 19th century specialising in textiles, metalwork and other building materials like bricks, tiles and glass. To show off their new wealth architects were commissioned to build both residential and industrial projects which reflected the Catalan penchant for Modernism.
There are some truly spectacular buildings dotted around the centre of town, and many small details like window shapes or coloured tiles and wrought iron balconies which if you keep your head up you will discover easily. The local banks have done great restoration and preservation work for some of the larger factories which have been transformed into modern offices or exhibition spaces.
From water towers to park benches and lamp posts this urban architecture is still used and hopefully appreciated on a daily basis.

Sundays are for exercise and this was certainly the idea when about 1,500 of us converged on the village of Vilobí (12 kms from Girona) for the "marxa popular" which has become an institution locally. These events are organised by local walking groups where as well as marking the route clearly they provide water/oranges/hot chocolate along the way and at the finish give everyone a present and a snack.These are serious events and some people choose to run but most walk and in this case there were a 10km or a longer 15km route to choose from.
The start was at 8am and since we are in january there was a frost on the ground but after an hour the sun had re established itself and by midday everyone was in shirtsleeves; the joy of a Spanish winter, cold nights followed by clear warm days. The route could not have been nicer, passing by some impressive old farmhouses (masias) some with sundials painted on their front walls and a variety of chickens and animals, not all domesticated by the sound and smell of them!
We went through two villages with impressive chapels, Salitja and Sant Dalmai, and in between the path followed a stream with weeping willows that reminded me of walks I have taken in Britain. As is typical here everyone was so busy talking that nobody paid any attention to what they were passing but all stopped at the first refuelling stop to take on hot chocolate (150kgs were made and consumed). This only had the effect of speeding up peoples tongues even more, especially since the temperature was rising quickly too.
The long route went along the top edge of the crater of an extinct volcano called La Crosa which is worth a walk in itself. After a couple hours of what can really only be described as talking while moving gently in a vaguely circular route we ended up back at the school playground where we received our present (a wooly hat with the 3 churches we passed stiched on) and the serious business of eating began.
First comes the sausage (botifarra) sandwich which is cooked over coals which were part of a bonfire which I had noticed some of the inner group of walkers huddling around in the cold dawn and had a dual purpose, clearly. On tables spread all around the playground were plates of salad, potato chips, water and the Catalan porro. This is a glass vessel for drinking wine without touching your mouth to the opening which provides hilarious results when novices attempt to catch the spouting wine in their open mouths, usually the last place that it ends up...
Just when you were thinking that this snack could possibly be lunch it's time for dessert and black coffee with a shot of either brandy or anis (a liqueur) just to make sure you float back to your car or start the whole painless route again!

Getting off the paved roads in the mountains above Camprodon and Ripoll is not generally recommended in winter with snow on the ground but if you have the right vehicle (a Land Rover in this case) and good maps it can be the perfect way to discover some hidden gems. As well as seeming to step back into a time when people lived in close proximity to their animals and the way of life revolves around these very animals, weather, seasons and church which is what is so different and appealing about this area.
The churches that are found in some of these remote places are some of the best preserved, at least from the outside, in the whole Pyrenees. It was really in the 12th Century that the existing churches were built at a time when there was peace and prosperity in these parts on top of older more basic structures that date back to the 10th Century and earlier.
Near the tiny village of Ogassa (pop 46 alt 1,200m) we find two particularly fine examples in Sant Marti Surroca and Sant Marti d'Ogassa. The first gets its name from the massive outcrop above it as it means under the rock in Catalan. These mountains later became famous for their mines, especially coal and lead in the 18th and 19th Centuries.Now the mountain scenery is the main attraction and in summer it is a great place to escape the crowds and heat of the coast.