Excursions

Industrial history has always interested me and when it is concentrated in a remote and wild area as is the Priorato region, tucked behind mountains and until recently cut off from the outside world by a good access road, the story is worth telling for all communities dependent on one major industry for employment and wealth creation.

La Sagrada Familia is one of Barcelonas iconic buildings and well worth a visit, in fact I have probably visited dozens of times and the nice thing is that because of the on-going building works it always looks different!

Montserrat is only some 50kms from Barcelona and yet feels like a different world. Forget the Ramblas and Mediterranean casual seaside lethargy, this is a combination of the Grand Canyon crossed with Saint Marks Square and it is amazing!

Empuries is only some 30 minutes drive from Girona and is right next to l'Escala on the coast in a beautiful setting of sand dunes and pine trees.

In the area between Santa Pau and Olot is the Garrotxa Volcanic Natural Park and well worth a visit it is too, especially if you are looking for a contrast from the beach or city. How many places do you know where you can you walk into a volcano and see what the resulting geology looks like? There are plenty of easy, well marked paths through the park but one of my favourites is to the Croscat volcano (extinct I hasten to add) where mining activity over many years has basically revealed the interior in cross-section.