Sometimes you don’t know what you are looking at or standing on until after the fact. I knew that I had signed up to go on a hike through La Gorrotxa, but knew little about the this area of Catalunya. It was bound to be a beautiful walk through the woods, but doing it with 31 people trundling through the wilderness is a good way to not see any wildlife or have any quiet time. I couldn’t have been more wrong.

It wasn’t just a beautiful walk through an immense beechwood forest. It wasn’t just two old volcanoes and a hiking path. I didn’t realize until I got home and on the internet, and saw the area from a different view. I had been a tiny speck on a huge landscape of volcanoes, seen buildings from the 12th century, and stepped on stones part of old Roman roads. The beautiful forest that we walked through grew on top of a lava flow, marking its path through the landscape with beechwoods.

Ok, for those of you interested in a few details about the above pictures and a little history read on. If not skip this paragraph. This region of Catalunya is nestled between the Pyrenees and the coast. The volcanoes were amazing up close.
Santa Margarida is the largest volcano in the region and a very long time ago blew its top. Inside the crater is a small hermitage from the 12th centrury, bold place for religious worship. Croscat is the tallest volcano and was mined for materials until recently. Our luck that the gash in the side of it gave a great view of the insides of a volcano. There are many more volcanoes in the region, approximately thirty, and a rich history that dates back to 200 B.C.

I was also wrong about hiking with 31 people. I learned a lot and made some new friends. Even when I got lost, I had three companions, we had a nice talk and a good laugh afterwards. I ended up having my first ever ‘hitchhiking in Europe’ experience. It was lucky that we had gotten lost at the end of the hike, because we knew where everyone was supposed to be - Restaurant Hostal dels Ossos. The place sounds foreboding - Inn of bones - but don’t let that fool you, the food was amazing. Traditional Catalan cuisine of roasted duck and pears, sausages, roasted pork and lamb with white beans. A feast for any weary traveler. I felt really happy as I sat there with such a mix of cultures, laughing and exchanging a few insights. Even being ribbed that there was no way my husband was in Thailand solely for work, helped me feel a little better (thank you Miguel). I made it. I survived living in Spain solo for a month, hiked up a volcano and came down the other side changed.

This entry was posted on Friday, December 7th, 2007 at 3:48 pm by Corrie and is filed under Spain, Travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.