RR: Lambda_drive's trip to spain.

[Lambda_drive]

My trip started in LAX. At first I thought that I'd be stuck there for a couple of hours waiting in the security line and going through the rigorious security check. It wasn't too bad actally. I didn't ave to wait long at all, and the security check went as smoothly as possible. I just checked my luggage in, waited in line for a minute, then I took my shoes off and put it on a tray with my carry on bag through the x-ray machine and I was done with the security check. It can't get any smoother than that. After a 30 minute wait I was able to board the plane. The air plane I rode on was an airbus 320 and the airline was Lufthansa, which is a very good German airline. The seats were pretty comfy and they had LCD screens that let you view movies or television shows in a number of different languages. It also had the ability to display the airplane data, such as position, speed, elevation, etc.




The plane trip from LAX to Munich took about 14 hours. It wasn't too bad, except that there were two 15 year olds behind me and they wouldn't shut-up during the whole trip and even the flight attendants were starting to get tired of their antics. I wasn't able to sleep at all during that whole flight. Here are some pictures I took while the plane started to descend.




The plane ride from Munich to Barcelona was a lot more peaceful. One thing that I noticed about The Munich airport was that everyone there was so calm and relaxed. It's a different story at LAX, Everyone there seems so tense and they're always in a hurry. Here are some sunset pictures I took through the window.








The first thing I noticed about spain is that the roads here are super smooth. The roads in california are horrible compared to these roads. The town that I'm staying in is called Torroella de Montgrí. (LINK) The spanish version has a few pictures. (LINK) Here are some pics I took from the Balcony.





This is the Montgri castle, If you wan't to have a closer look you can hike up on top of the hill, but you won't be abe to go inside since it isn't open to the public. The only reason why it's still standing is because it´s a symbol of that area. Toerella de montgri is a pretty nice town. What I like about it is that it's nice and peaceful and isn't full of a lot of traffic. It lies right next to the beach on one side and on the other is a little range of hills. The local television here isn't too bad either. In america they mostly air a lot of Nascar and baseball, but here they air mostly soccor, Motogp, and rally. Here are some pics of Toerella de montgri, and a few from Girona.











Torroella de Montgrí is Full of bikes, but they aren't what you'd call "nice" bikes. Most of them are pretty old and beat up. I havn't really seen that many nice bikes here, except for the bike shop. The bike shop here is full of mostly spanish brands like Merida Orbea.






I'll be adding more pictures into the album.

http://www.socaltrailriders.org/gall...51&ppuser=2677

[bajamtnbkr]

Nice pictures, your second link I believe to be in Catalan and not spanish, please keep posting, I find it very interesting, thanks.

[JOx2]

show them how we roll here, str style. Have fun out there and hope you find trails out there to explore and share it with us.

[volcomsteban]

I'm still kinda new to the site and dont know much. What are you in spain for? just vacation? sidenote. my sister has been there like 3 times. she loves it. i want to go but i dont have my passport yet

[tehelmo]

Nice report so far. It must've been crazy when Spain won Euro 2008 last week.

[northshore]

Thanks for posting!

[Devoid169]

Harold!
Good to hear from you, buddy. Now I've got an excuse to get out an visit Madrid! And maybe a couch to bunk on.....eh?? Looks like pretty cool town, nice and clean I bet. Good luck there and hope you come back for a visit sometime in the near future. The loop will never be the same without your huge-a$$ light blinding us all.!!
Later - Donny

[Lambda_drive]

Originally Posted by bajamtnbkr

Nice pictures, your second link I believe to be in Catalan and not spanish, please keep posting, I find it very interesting, thanks.

Thanks for pointing that out. I don't know spanish or catalan so they both look the same to me.

Originally Posted by JOx2

show them how we roll here, str style. Have fun out there and hope you find trails out there to explore and share it with us.

Once I get a bike here I'll be posting a lot of trails.

Originally Posted by volcomsteban

I'm still kinda new to the site and dont know much. What are you in spain for? just vacation? sidenote. my sister has been there like 3 times. she loves it. i want to go but i dont have my passport yet

My mom decided to move to spain, so I had no choice but to come here.

Originally Posted by tehelmo

Nice report so far. It must've been crazy when Spain won Euro 2008 last week.

Yeah it was really crazy. It looked a bit like the lakers riot, but with out all the fires or violence.

Originally Posted by Devoid169

Harold!
Good luck there and hope you come back for a visit sometime in the near future. The loop will never be the same without your huge-a$$ light blinding us all.!!
Later - Donny

I kind of miss the loop I brought my halogen light to spain, but I need to find another 7lb battery here in spain.

[Bruce]

Originally Posted by Lambda_drive

Thanks for pointing that out. I don't know spanish or catalan so they both look the same to me.

Why i was trying to teach you some :P hope the little words i thought you at least help.

[Lambda_drive]

Part 2



I was actually wrong about the Montgri castle being closed to the public. My Uncle was the one who told me that, I guess he didn't didn't feel like hiking up a huge mountain. I asked my aunt and she took me on a cloudy day so it wouldn't be too hot, and because of that some of the photos might be a bit hazy, later on they started to clear though. The first half of the climb consists mostly of loose sand and gravel.



Along the way you see symbols painted on boulders showing you the path up to the castle. This is needed since there are many different paths going in all directions, you could get pretty lost if you take a wrong turn.



The second half transisents into huge boulders. Once you get to the second part of the climb it gets really tiring because the second half is very steep and you have to constantly watch your footing since most of the boulders are really slippery. Near the top is a strange object, I'm not sure what it is but it makes a make great resting spot since you can sit on the ledges. I also spotted a few mountain bikers. I had to use my full 12X zoom to capture them.







Once you get inside the castle, it's a bit disapointing because it's really bare inside. A guide sign explains why. The castle was never fully completed, only the outer walls.












Incacse you can't read the text in the photo.

The history of the fortress
The Montgri castle was built between 1294 and 1301. Its reason to be was the existing conflict between the counts of Empuries - who ruled over most of the area around our town - and the counts of barcelona, the most powerful of catalonia at that time, who also had great power all over the mediterranean.

In order to control the moves of the counts of Empuries, the count of barcelona commanded Bernat de Llabia, governor of the royal town of Torroella de Montgri, to supervise the building o a fortress on top of the Montgri mountain. Work started in 1294 and the fortress was never comleted, as is obvious today. After those days the fortress has lost its strategic value but has instead become a symbol of the region.

Architecture details
The structure of the fortress responds to a very specific plan. Its style is the one of the Middle Eastern fortresses that became popular in Europe after the Crusades. They feature a regular plant with cylinder towers attached within the walls.
The only parts erected were the perimiter walls, forming a square of 31 m each side, and the tour round towers at its corners. The walls are 31 m high with battlements along the top. The interior of the enclosure was laid out around a square, stone-paved central courtyard. Underneath this, there remains a large cistern for collecting rain water. around the courtyard, four wingd of auxiliary buildings were planned out but never built. However, the interior surfaces of the wall retain certain elements (toothing stones and springings for arches and vaults) whic enable us o visualise the structure that these buildings were to have.
Outside the castle, the former quarries can be seen, as well as the reamins of a wall in the south face and a large cistern on the northern slope of the mountains.

The sights from atop the castle are fantastic. You can see for miles in all directions.














The one good thing about a cloudy days is that the sunsets look nice.







I took a couple flower pics on the descent.






All in all it wasn't a bad hike, the castle was a bit of a disapointment but the views made up for that.


Here are some miscellaneous pics I took the other day.





The rest of my pictures are in my Album. LINK

[duke777]

Beautiful pictures Harold! Looks like you are having a grand o'l time!

[bajamtnbkr]

Thanks for the great shots!

[surlygal]

Harold - What a beautiful place! You are so lucky - So many of us will never see such aged and historic things.

Please keep sharing your pictures with us! I love looking at every single one of them!

[Lambda_drive]

Thanks a lot. It's great to hear to you guys like the photos. There's another mountain I'd like to climb that overlooks the beach, I'll be sure to post those photos here as well.

[SheDevil]

Beautiful shots...and a great adventure....have fun!!!!

[bikelmo]

Thanks for the great photos and the info on what's up there. They're fantastic. How long are you going to be there?