Auberge de l'Arac Aleu

... having a beer and watching a man try to dig his van out of the snow. To my knowledge his van is to this moment where it was when I left the bar.

I just wanted to take this opportunity to post some pictures of Canillo when it's snowy and the sun comes out. Don't have too many, but figured it was worth a post.

... at 7:30am. However upon arriving at l'Hospitalet all my fears were put to rest.

It's misleading that they call l'Hospitalet a train station, it would be more correct if they called it a gravel lot with vending machines. As I filed into the line to get off the train, eager to find the bus, I grew frustrated that the line wasn't moving faster. When my turn finally came to get off the train I noticed that the line continued straight from the train to ...

... village et quand on est arrivé, il avait le marché du matin. On a acheter du vin à environ 1 euro le litre (vin de pays) et du bon fromage bleu pour le déjeuner.

On avait pas le droit de prendre des photos dans la grotte pour pas faire de la pollution lumineuse (il y avait déja des ptites pousses de plante pres des lanternes...ils veulent pas en rajouté non plus). Aussi il faut pas déranger les chauve souris...pauve cocottes...

Found out today that the 90 day tourist visa that I thought we were granted for each country is actually for the combined Senchgen countries. Since we'll be at least 60 days in France alone, it means we won't be doing the France, Italy, Greece and then Turkey route we had planned on in the length of time we'd ...

... 3 weeks of work time, not 3 weeks time!’. But who knows what that could mean.

Those Chickens are up to Something Mrs. Tweedy

Chickens are hilarious! They’re always running around like there’s a great catastrophe and the different sounds they make are quite hilarious.

Every night before dark it’s important to shut up the chickens to protect them from predators. When we arrived, the chickens were ...

... on toast it resembled scrambled eggs in both texture and taste. Won’t become my favourite dish, but it was interesting to try out. I can certainly appreciate the effort to use every part of an animal in respect for it giving it’s life, but I did feel a little like Hannibal Lectre. There’s just something in knowing you’re eating brain that doesn’t appeal over all the other organs on an animal.

... person above is literally in your hands.

All in all it was a fabulous day! Did 4 climbs in total ranging through the 5a, 5b, and 5c levels of difficulty. I wanted to try a 5, but the day went by too quickly. There was one climb that Brain was sweating out for quite awhile, but in the end his determination conquered it. Rock climbing is the perfect blend of challenge and rest in beautiful mountain settings. I may be hooked…

... between France, Spain and Andorra with 3000m peaks rising up all around. Up past charming little villages where all the little homes are made of stone stacked upon one another with only the slate rooves peeking through.

We drove the truck as far up the road as possible, and then even a little farther than we should have. Feels like complete mountain wilderness, but there are ...

... and bouncing off of different areas on the sides of the cave, creating new shadows and deepening depths in between. Condensation causes shimmering light and shining rocks add crystal to the chandeliers.

Finally we arrive at the Salon Noir. All lights had to be turned off and left on a rock by the entrance. You can faintly hear a few exclamations from those who have a fear of the dark as the group becomes one tight mass shuffling along ...

... if you dry the mushroom at a certain temperature for the right amount of time it gets rid of all the ‘bad’ poisons. But I don’t think I’ll try it anytime soon as I am not a strong Viking Warrior, nor a powerful Medicine Man and I may not be able to live through the consequences.

But I will persevere at searching for edible ‘shrooms‘. I love the taste, and can’t wait to try some different ones!