Prades

Last weekend we spent 3 days around Prades, a medival village in the mountains near Tarragona. The old town is nice and the region offers good trekking posibilities. Close to the village lies the hermitage of L'Abellera in the middle of a rocky wall. Another nice place is Mussara, an abandoned village near a cliff on a mountain. On the way to Prades we visited the Santes Creus monastery with a beautiful cloister and on the way back we stopped in Poblet, another monastery next to Montblanc.

Santes Creus monastery

The abandoned village of Mussara

Church and town gate of Prades

Hermitage of L'Abellera

Poblet monastery

Nuria

Last weekend we went to Nuria in the Pyrenees at an altitude of 2000 meters. To get there we took a rack railway for 40 minutes to get up to the lake where we slept in the hotel. We were lucky with the weather, although it was windy and a bit cold we could escape the rain till Sunday afternoon when we went back. We went walking down a mountain to the lake and on the other day we had fun with an orienteering hike.

Nuria surrounded by mountains up 3000

 meters

Nuria with its small lake at 2000 meters

Ager

For 4 days we went to Eastern Catalonia and stayed in Ager, a nice medival village with a castle on the top. From there we went on a 5 hour hike on one day to the Congost Mont Rebei, the canyon and landscape is very beautiful, but it was a hard hike with Irina in a backpack and on a hot and sunny day without much shade. On another day we drove to some villages around Ager and enjoyed the foothills of the Pyrenees. I also had the chance to go paragliding in a doubleseater, on a perfect day we flew from the Montsec moutnain down to Ager. On the way back home we visited Balaguer and Tarrega, two towns with some nice old buildings.

Congost Mont Rebei

Walking through the canyon

Lake and behind the Congost Mont Rebei

Santa Linya near Ager

Barrier lake of Sant Llorence de Montgai

View from the paraglider towards the Montsec moutain

Church and castle of Ager

Balaguer

Tarrega

Black Forest

During our holidays in September we stayed in Basel, Switzerland, and from there we went for a few days to the Black Forest in Germany. On the first day we drove to Baden-Baden, a nice town in the northern part of the Black forest. The night we spent in a hotel on the Hohenbaden castle. Actually it's a ruin, quite big and situated high above Baden-Baden on a rocky outcrop. There we had a small flat with a bed and living room, it was nice, but a bit too cold inside the stony walls.
The next day we drove along the Hochschwarzwald road to Freudenstadt with its very big square in the center of the town. From there we went on to Haigerloch where we spent the night in the castle. On the way back to Basel we visited the impressive Hohenzollern castle on the top of a mountain.

Hohenbaden castle above Baden-Baden

Church in Baden-Baden

Hohenbaden castle

Central square in Freudenstadt

Haigerloch

Hohenzollern castle



Hohenzollern castle





Hohenzollern castle



Waterfall in Menzenschwand

Solothurn

At the end of July we stayed for a short weekend in Switzerland. Enjoying the nice and hot weather we went to Solothurn, a medival town with many nice buildings.

Old town of Solothurn and the river Aare



A town gate and behind the cathedral

Rupit canyoning

On the weekend in July we stayed in Les Preses near Olot. On the first day we went walking and got wet after a thunderstrom passed by. On the other day we went to Rupit, between Olot and Vic and on of the nicest villages in Catalonia, where we went on a canyoning excursion. Roping down some waterfalls and swimming through very cold water pools was an exhausting but amazing experience.

Salt de Sallent waterfall near Rupit



Roping down a waterfall



Rupit

Siurana, Escornalbou and Castellet

On the Pentecost weekend we rented a car and stayed for 2 nights in Montbrio del Camp (near Reus). From there we visited the monastery and castle of Escornalbou which has a fantastic view towards the coast (if the weather would be good). On the next day we went to Siurana, a small, lovely village on top of a cliff. The landscape is very nice, the barrier lake of Siurana is just below and there would be some nice walks around it. Unfortunately it was quite windy and because of it also a bit cold.
On the last day on the way back to Barcelona we stopped in Castellet, a newly renovated village on a peninsula above the Foix barrier lake. The castle on the top looks very impressive and the whole surrounding area is part of a natural park with many hiking possibilites. 


View from the top of the mountain towards
the coast, below Escornalbou monastery




Small street in Siurana



Church above the cliff in Siurana



Siurana village



Castle in Castellet



Castellet



Lisbon

In March we went for an extended weekend to Lisbon and we enjoyed the nice buildings and streets. The weather was variable; rain, clouds and sun changed often and very quickly, only a strong wind harassed, especially Irina couldn't stay outside for a long time.

The paving stones of Lisbon's pedestrian streets are very nice to see, but to pass through with a buggy can be really exhausting. However we managed it to see the most important things for example the Belem tower, Jeronimos monastery, Castle Sao Jorge, Cathedral, Alfama quater, Bairro Alto, etc. We visited some nice view points, had good food (especially desserts) and slept in a comfortable hotel in the center.



Lisbon's Baixa and the castle hill.



Rossio square



Famous tram number 28



A tram elevator.





Viewpoint above the Alfama quarter





Largo do Chafariz Square



Castle Sao Jorge



Peacocks in a row



Sé (cathedral)



Church of the Jeronimos monastery



Jeronimos monastery (Mosteiro dos Jeronimos)





Cloister of the monastery



Torre Belem



Monument of the discoveries