Sporting Pas de la Casa

... 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. But it wasn't too long before all my amusement was replaced with respect. As we started up the mountains, it was easy to see that the nearly 2000m climb up to Canillo isn't a laughing matter. Turn after turn we zig-zagged up intensely steep grade in a 15 ton death trap, and our driver just bounced along as if it was nothing. I'm sure it really is nothing to someone who does that kind of thing everyday, because when we got to the first stop at ...

... 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...

Time to attempt something I’ve always been itching to do: rock climbing. And not the kind done on indoor walls with padded flooring. Real out-in-the-open, unforgiving stone ROCK CLIMBING!

Out in the Pyrenees in the Ariege region with it’s beautiful slopes lie a multitude of rock faces covered in climbers pretending to be Spiderman.

Even though it’s something I’ve always wanted to try, there were a few ...

... and roads scattered everywhere - if you can find them. Driving is a very different than walking. In great contrast to the towns below, the wind howled and ice formed on the road. On foot the walk was extremely harsh and I could see why there were shephards and hikers huts dotted all around for shelter. You can see why farmers train their animals instead of caring for them themselves ...

The set up for working at Las Laous is a 2 day on, 1 day off system. This works great because it means that we have a full day to go and do things and we aren’t really restricted for time. Also, the fact that Justin and Emily have lent us a car makes it even better! We can go farther that we could on foot or bike.

One of the main things we were interested in seeing was the Grotte de Naiux (Caves). Part of the fun of spending time in the ...

Went up to the Col de Port this morning. At 1250m it’s the big dividing force between this valley and the next. A climb of around 300m from where we are currently staying. The mountain road twisting and turning, making it almost impossible to go faster than 50km/hr. Turns so sharp you’re forced to go over the lines or slow to a crawl. But of course, if you’re going to meet a vehicle on this road, it will be at ...

... of other stuff, brian stayed out tonight, and it was probably the best night of the trip, went to the club, billboard, but not before we went back to the havana cuban bar, still trying to figure ourt if it was a gay bar or not, brian was perving on a girl who couldnt ave been over 16, but she was a great dancer, gav managed to puke into his pint glass, which encouraged a guy called olivier to bring him to the bar and buy andother one. went into ...

... in the supermarket, and we often chat when they come to shop. My chubby roommate, Cyril, can be hillarious to work with. Many people call him, "Le blond," (The blond) because he recently got a dyed hair-cut like the Backstreet Boys. But, his hair has already grown out, and it usually sticks way up like taffy as if to show he works too damned much. I returned to work yesterday after a day-and-a-half off. I told Cyril I´d check the dates on the refridgerated foods ...

... with impatience, and speeding in a hurry. They have a lot of money, but they don´t seem to particularly enjoy themselves that much. They love bureaucracy and rules and lots of police and treating the foreign workers badly. I do feel for the locals in one way, because so many foreigners are in their country and no one (me included) bothers to learn anything in their language, Catalán. Anyways, last night, our supermarket received a shipment from a ...