Still kinda out of date

My plans for the Easter weekend got fairly destroyed, a combination of issues, but fortunately some friends invited us to go down to a place they have further south in Catalunya, and it was lovely, we even managed to get in a bit of walking.

Note:  Next year, I will not be working Mondays if I can possibly help it.  I have barely walked at all this year, and it is getting me down.

We went up a hill and found a castle.  It was a good hill and big hill and a lovely bit of climbing.

We came back down the hill, there were cliffs on the way that we walked past.

Further down the hill there was a tank where water from a spring gathered, we cooled our feet, and found tadpoles,

and fish
 

They also do a lot of dry stone work here.

On a later side trip, you can see that youngest came, and that she has big feet.

What we climbed earlier that day:

on this little trip though we managed to find some caves!

and a butterfly,

and a snake I didn't get a picture of, they claim he was an adder, and it could be, but I'd be surprised.

More caves:  we were very good and only poked our noses in, thought they looked really interesting.

Sun going down over new grape vine shoots and distant mountains.

out of date

went walking about two weeks ago, but it has been hectic.....

so here's a few photos from back then!!!

It is one of the few places in Catalunya that is kinda wet. Though we were also deliberately following the rivers for part of this route.

The rivers are also diverted into these canals for irrigation, we got to walk along them for a while too.  Seriously cool.

Saw some hot air balloons

Waded across a river, (very cold)

Saw a wee shallow cave

Visited an old castle

Saw an old church.  I love this face.

walked down a river bed, this is supposed to be moss, but I suspect that the guy upstream has siphoned off all the water, so the moss is dying.  Doink.

Swam!  No photos!  The water was SEriOUSLY cold!!!

And we saw some cows.

Lovely day, made even lovelier cause youngest came!

shopping

Went into BCN today for a number of reasons, among them, Youngest wanted shorts....we kinda didn't do to well.

we did find some amazingly ugly clothing though...check this stuff out!

Wanna go running in that space suit?!?!?!?!?

Finished!

The sun was too strong when I took the picture so it's hard to see the balance of colour well.....but it's lovely. And big. 

I'll put up another picture that has a better balance of colour. 

Have a look at the man's hands at the top, it's BIG!

Small signs of improvement?

The economy here is Spain is bad, very very bad. 

Lately though, there have been a few small signs of improvement.  A few.  But still.....

The place around the corner that sells prepared food has started selling truita de patata again, this is like an omlete, but bigger and full of potatoes.  It is also something that EVERYONE can make at home, so if folks are going out to buy one?  They have some disposable income.  It has been several years since they were selling these.  Still, it's only occasionally, but still.

The architects I know are getting a tiny bit of tentative movement.  A small renovation here, a minor adjustment there....but things have been completely dead for several years, so even these small jobs are a big deal.

Finally, I am starting to see furniture out by the garbage bins.  When we first got here, there was a lot...the garbage has depots on most blocks, rather than it being picked up at the end of the street, and if you have furniture you don't want anymore, you put it out by the bins.  Used to be quite a lot, indeed a lot of our furniture when we first got here came from the bins.  Then there was NOTHING...not a thing.  Now, there is a tiny bit.  Really exceptionally crappy stuff, but a tiny bit nonetheless.

Here's hoping!