gironaJ

La Gola is where the river Ter flows into the Mediterranean Sea, having started in the Pyrenees mountains around the ski resort of Vallter 2000 some 220 kms away.

             

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La_Gola_del_Ter.zip (9351 KB)

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Bescano lies along the River Ter 7kms from Girona and the nicest way to get there is via the bike track or "carrilet" which is an easy and scenic ride or walk. If you keep on the bike path you will come to a large factory called the Grober and if you take the next turn to the right you see a beautiful ruin of what was once an impressive house complete with a chapel and gazebo. Passing through an arch on the other side of the house you come to a canal with a restored flour mill next to it, behind which starts a track along the side of the canal.
The point of this trip is not only the beauty and tranquility of the surroundings but to point out how one small village was transformed by the Industrial Revolution which arrived here in the late 19th and early 20th Century. The canal was built to take water from the Ter to a  hydroelectric station where the twin turbines produced electricity for the textile mill (now the Grober factory) as well as the village. This was the modern day equivalent of building an industrial park with high speed internet connection and good links to major roads and markets.
Water was needed for all types of mills with electricity as well to power the machinery so this model was repeated along many of the rivers which flow from the Pyrenees. The ruins of big and once grand houses are also proof that a great deal of wealth was created during this period with some businesses surviving to the present day and the buildings preserved as architectural and industrial models.

         

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Bescano-Industrial_History_wal.zip (2677 KB)

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Penedes is only just over an hour away from Girona but it feels more like France with impressive wineries (Bodegas) dotted around and vines everywhere. They are better organised than in our local Empordà wine area where wine routes and visits are strictly for those that are well informed and have a good guide (which I am so you will see winery visits here over time.)
Vilafranca is the capital of the Penedes and has an interesting old town and a wine museum as well as a tourist information office which  can provide all the maps and recommendations you will need.
We headed for the biggest Spanish brand for wine, Torres, which is only a few kilometres outside Vilafranca surrounded by vineyards and with a well organised tour which leaves every hour. The Bodega itself is massive but more interesting is walking around the grounds following one of many marked paths past an old mansion which emulate the great French chateaux and is still lived in by the family.
The main problem with the Penedes is that climate change may make its wine producing capacity decline, something that Torres has been anticipating by planting new vineyards in the Pyrenees foothills a few hours north.
For passing a few pleasant hours wandering around vines, stopping to eat in a good restaurant and trying some of the local wines, this area is perfect, SALUD!

       

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Penedes-_a_wine_walk.zip (2092 KB)

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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.

         

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Ogassa-hidden_Romanesque_gems.zip (2805 KB)

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Camprodon is about an hour's drive from Girona up into the Pyrenees and only some 20 kms from the French border. It is also close to Vallter 2000 the nearest ski resort so at weekends in winter lots of skiers are wandering around shopping and looking for places to eat.
We are here to shop for local specialities too- on offer there are some mouth watering displays and quaint old shops which seem to be from several centuries back and still going strong.
One of the so called advances of our age is that we can get everything anytime and we take for granted being able to consume food items which are linked to an area or region at any time without really putting them in context. Camprodon is a market town in a mountainous region where the local foods reflect what they produce, and they have made sure to promote and preserve their local products which is fantastic.
So what are they? Well, you can find all types of pork sausages, a variety of cheeses made from goat, cow and sheep milk, pastries made with walnuts, hazelnuts, almonds and honey from the high mountains. The animals are left to roam free eating what is available in the different seasons and consequently are leaner and more flavourful than the bland intensively farmed alternatives we are so used to.
Shopping becomes a pleasurable, exciting event as each shop you enter has their own way of making sausages or pastries that have passed down through the generations and which they insist you try and will explain in detail if you show the slightest interest and language is not an insurmountable barrier.
Once you have loaded up these foods lend themselves to picnics along some of the walking paths or next to the clear streams marked all around the area so head for the hills!

           

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Camprodon-_foodie_town.zip (1687 KB)

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