Today I have cheated and taken the bus. I've jumped 2 days. It is a weekend and L'Estany and Calders are only reported to have 'Casas Rurales' and where they are doesn't seem too certain. So I'm in the Youth Hostel here. I'm not sure how many other people there are, very few I think. It was difficult to find the way from the bus station, which is not in the most salubrious part of town. All in all the town is not very prepossessing, but it has a few good spots.
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| Albergue |
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| Carrer de Balca |
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| The way out tomorrow |
the Cathedral
Day 9 Manresa to Montserrat 23.5
Today had its ups and downs in all senses of the words. I left from the Cathedral and walked down to the Ponte Vella (the old bridge) passed a little hermitage, and found, what I assumed to be the route out but there were no signs at all.
My instructions said that in 2.3 kms I would arrive at a crossroads with the C 55, where I would find an underpass which would lead me to a tarmacked path, which would cross the river and the railway. At about 2 kms I went under the railway, then there was a bridge over the river and then I reached the C55 (this is a busy main road), there was no underpass and no path on the other side. There was a sign saying Barcelona and Castellgai 2kms to the right. My info said I would go through Castellgai but in 8.5 kms so I took my life in my hands, crossed the road and turned right. Considering it was 7am on a Sunday morning there was really an awful lot of traffic, much of it bearing skis.
I was supposed to walk 2.5kms to somewhere called Can Font then return to the road and walk 2 kms to Castellgai, heaven knows how I was supposed to do all this. It did cross my mind that I should have gone to the Tourist Office for info but I had loads of info. When I got to Castellgai there were arrows and signs, no problem, it was very well signed. There was also a bar so I stopped for a coffee.
There was also a sign saying 3 hours to Montserrat, this was good as it meant I would arrive before 13.00 when the Pastoral centre shuts for lunch. I walked on, following the signs, no problem, after about an hour I came to another sign saying 3 and a half hours to Montserrat!
I could see a range of mountains in the distance that I horribly suspected might be where I was aiming. I hoped not, they looked like a rock climbing exercise. I have to confess that although I am sure I have seen photos of Montserrat I had not taken in what the background looked like. These hills looked like the kind of rocks the Greeks would have stuck a monastery on top of!!
getting closer!
The signing was good at this point until I saw a yellow arrow pointing me off the path I was on. It was a horrible path up a steep hill, I walked for about 15 minutes and saw no more arrows, then, looking down I could see what was described in my guide as a hermitage, it was on a completely different hill so I had to come back down. Some ********bastard had put a yellow arrow in totally the wrong place. Now I would be late arriving in Montserrat. When I returned to my original path I found proper signs just a little bit further on. There were camino signs up to the little hermitage of Sant Jaume de Castellbell and then they just stopped.
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| Hermitage of Sant Jaume |
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| An original sign!
Fortunately there were lots of other kinds of signs.
 an alternative place to sleep!
The next time I saw signs for the Camino I was on the road to Montserrat, the signs kept appearing, pointing back onto the road but I never saw that the path ever went off the road. By this time I was getting very close to the mountain, it was obvious that was where I was going, but I could also see the road sneaking around the mountain.
 
Looking back down.
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I got to Montserrat car park at 12.55 but by the time I got to the Pastoral Centre it was 13.20.
I went to the Basilica and sat down and then went for an expensive and not very nice lunch. I'm afraid I found the whole place to be a bit of a circus, it was probably a mistake to come on a Sunday. After lunch I sat on the steps outside the Pastoral centre until it opened at 16.00. so I got a bed and I had enough food to have a picnic in the evening.
The albergue is the white building on the left.
Day 10 Montserrat to Igualada 25.7
I got up half expecting to see 6 cm of snow as we had been having April showers of snow the previous evening, however there was beautiful blue sky but very cold. The walk started in the Monastery grounds and then went onto the road and stayed on the road for the next 10 kms, but a very quiet road.
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| the hermitage of Santa Cecilia |
It was bitterly cold, I thought my hands would drop off, then they warmed up but there was a bitterly cold wind, I had to stop to put my jacket on. It was the first time I needed to wear a jacket. The Monastery at Montserrat is at 720 metres, it seemed much higher, my village is at 890 m but doesn't seem so high because there is no big drop. Here the views are impressive. At 11 kms (Can Massana) the path went off the road and virtually straight up, it was almost a hands and knees job, the only reason I never went on my knees was because I thought I would never get up again!
The path went up to 760 m to an old watch tower and then it descended more gently.
I hoped to stop for a coffee in San Pau de la Guardia (12kms) but I never saw a cafe. I had to follow a horrible road round the edge of the village, it was long and boring and full of dogs barking. The info I had said I would pass a bar but I didn't I was very peeved and had a headache, I don't know if that was the dogs barking, the caffeine withdrawal or the really strong winds.
From there the path was mostly through pine forests and was very pretty but somehow I had lost the plot. I don't think I actually hit the wall but I was very close, then the walk through Igualada was interminable. It started with 1 km through an industrial estate and then 2 km through the town. I was exhausted and very hungry but I didn't want to stop for food until I had finished, I kept thinking it can't be long!
It was hard work trying to find the albergue as it is not signed, I found the road on a map at a bus stop which helped a lot, then a lady pointed me in the right direction, I found the albergue but the key is elsewhere, fortunately there is a police station next door. The key was at an old peoples place round the corner. I returned to the albergue and showered and then another pilgrim arrived, a cyclist but the first I had seen.
I had been given info on the town but I was too tired to investigate. The albergue is the gate house of a 1905 abattoir and opposite is a building designed by a disciple of Gaudi.
Day 11 Igualada to La Panadella 25 kms
For the first time I started the day wearing a jacket. I had breakfast in the bar up the road and started
walking. I started walking in sunshine but the wind was bitter. It took me half an hour to get to the Hermitage of Sant Jaume Ses Oliveres, which was about 1.6 kms, this was depressing, I hate it when I seem to be walking backwards. Then, astonishingly, I arrived at St Cenis, 6kms, just half an hour later. Who's kidding who? These distance signs can be crazy, but it raised my spirits. |
| I love the parking! |
From there onward the path was a cycle path up the side of a road and next to the motorway, walking in a bitterly cold headwind and it was a 400 metre rise, just a long, steady trudge. The young cyclist caught up with me at one point, I think he must have stopped for a rest earlier, he stopped to greet me, which was nice. Despite the wind I managed to arrive at la Panadella at 13.15. I was exhausted and just grateful to be able to arrive and to stop. The Hotel Bayonna is an old roadside Hotel from the time when journeys took longer i.e. before the motorway, and when truck drivers had to sleep in hotels, now they sleep in their lorries, but they still need to eat and this Hotel mostly serves as a restaurant. I had lunch and then just rested.
Day 12 - 26th March: El Coll de la Panadella to Tarrega 27kms
The route was mostly off road, my guide says it is one of the prettiest stretches of the camino, it is pleasant countryside but nothing startling.
From there it was on to Tarrega.
There were some different signs today, but it remains well signed.
The wind has dropped but it is still chilly walking, I needed to keep my jacket on.
Tarrega is the dividing point, the moment of truth. The Catalan tourist board produces leaflets declaring Montserrat to be the starting point of the camino in Catalonia and that it goes through Lleida to Zaragoza. As I am going the other way it remains to be seen how well it will be signed. It started well, as I entered the Placa del Carme in Tarrega there was a sign for San Juan de la Peña straight away, and the arrows are clearly visible.
I want to go to the Aragones and try and finish the camino I started 2 years ago in Toulouse.
Day 13 Tarrega to Linyola 22.2 kms
I got up at 06.00 as I was awake. This is unnecessarily early at the moment as the days are not so hot but, as the clocks go forward on Saturday I am sticking to habit.
It has been a very pleasant walk today, over the motorway for the last time and away from the great conurbation of Lleida that I could see in the distance. The country side is different, first strange little hills then it became totally flat.
Fruit trees and cereals alternate, I presume it is wheat but in one field it looked like rice as the whole field was flooded. They are spraying the trees with something but I can't imagine what.
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| I can't remember where this was but there were hundreds of birds |
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| Linyola |
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| My route so far |
Belaguer was uphill.
After that the countryside was undulating with fields of olive and almond trees. I saw a pilgrim, I got quite excited but discovered that he is going the other way, to Montserrat, but we stopped for a chat.
After Castello de Farfanya the walk was along the edge of the Serra Llarga.
Algerri has a proper albergue with a kitchen and somewhere to dry clothes!
Tomorrow I go into Aragon. I have found Catalunya to be expensive, a coffee is €1.40 or €1.50 and a 'menu del dia' is over €10. The camino has been very well signed since Montserrat. Altogether I have covered 366kms of which I have walked 323kms
Keep it up. Buon Camino.
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