Spain’s bouldering paradise

After Barcelona we headed off to Albarracin for what we thought was going to be a five or six day extravaganza on one Spain’s few sandstone areas. We arrived late at night and had no idea where to go, so we followed the main road to some coordinates we found online. The first thing we saw were signs signifying that there was to be no camping despite the fact that we were told that car camping in the parking lot was a-ok. We weren’t sure exactly what to do so we pulled into a small turnout off the road and set up camp, hoping that we would not be spotted from the road. The last thing we needed was to get harassed for wild camping during our last few weeks in the EU. We set the alarm for 7am, to assure that we would be out of there before any rangers came our way. Of course after we woke up the next morning to figure out where to go, we realized hat we had alternate GPS coordinates for the actual car camping area all along. We just didn’t pay close enough attention to the guide. Those no camping signs that we saw everywhere were really for tents, as Spain is pretty chill when it comes to camping in your vehicle.

We arrived at the “camping” area for Albarracin at 8:30am the next day. It was shrouded in mist and a little rain came intermittently. Surprise, surprise…we were so used to this weather and hoped that it would clear up in a couple hours so we could at least hike around and check out the climbing. After a few hours of writing, reading, chilling, eating and playing some Scrabble, the weather looked a tiny bit better, so we headed out to see what this place was all about. We hiked around for two to three hours and got to see three of the surrounding areas.

Morning in the forest

When we had first pulled in to the back of the “lot”, we parked next to a British van. We heard them making breakfast and chatting away, but we were so exhausted from our previous nights camping shenanigans that we didn’t quite feel like socializing quite yet. While we were parked there chilling, eating, and Scrabbling they packed up and left. When we returned, they had as well and introduced ourselves. It turns out that Nick and Brit weren’t Brits at all, but South Africans.

Nick and Brit

They even knew our friends Scott and Kaddi, Chris Kelk, and Micky Wiswedel. We became fast friends and they introduced us to two more couples, Shant and Claudia from Montreal and Norbert and Karin from Austria. They all became our new climbing buddies for the next ten days. As we have mentioned before, bouldering isn’t just about the rock but it is about the people that you meet that truly make the experience something special.

The following day’s weather proved to be a bit nicer. It wasn’t perfect but there was no rain and you can always find some dry boulders if your willing to look hard enough. The eight of us plus 3 wee ones, Sierra, Micah and Jonathon, headed off to Arastradero, one of the largest sectors in Albarracin.

Shant, super dad with Micah and Sierra

Micah and his mutant arms

There was a roof there that several people wanted to try and we figured that roofs had the highest probability of being dry. There was even a little warm-up area behind the roof with some 5’s for Corinne to climb. A couple hours later Shant and Steve decided to give El Varano a try; one of the classic 8a’s of the area. Though Steve did not send El Varano that day, he conquered that problem several days later. This time we were climbing with a Polish couple, Pawel and Agata. Steve and Pawel had climbed and raged together in Rocklands in the summer of 2011.

On our third day in Albarracin, we were driving into town to grab a shower, we spotted none other than the illustrious Ivan Luengo. Ivan and Rosie were a couple that we climbed with in Rocklands earlier in the trip. Ivan was actually the one who helped Steve name his first ascent in the Big and Roof sector of the de Pakhyus bouldering area. It turns out that Ivan and Rosie actually moved to Albarracin in October, a short time after they returned to Madrid from South Africa. We had actually attempted to get in touch with them when we were in Madrid in September but to no avail. It was so crazy bumping into them on the streets of the small town of Albarracin! Unfortunately, we never were able to connect to boulder together while there. Though efforts were made, it just never seemed to work out. We would not be surprised if we see them again in the future. Probably in some other bouldering mecca of the world or maybe even upon our return to either Rocklands or Albarracin.

Future mommy enjoying the practice

Over the next eight days, we visited a host of other areas in Albarracin. The weather was a bit warm and a bit humid but it didn’t rain and after our experience in Font, we were in need of dry weather. November was turning out to be a true month of climbing and we were psyched since our trip was coming to an earlier end than originally anticipated.

Karin climbing at the most picturesque boulder in Albarracin

Corinne on Seiscerrano (6b)

Some of our faves from Albarracin include the El Molina del Gato, a bar with a river running through it; the Panaderia, home of the amazing round bread, muffins and chocolate rolls (these were to die for), the Carneceria, the morcilla might actually be one of the most amazing “sausages” we have ever eaten and lastly, the amazing farmers market every Wednesday. You could get some of the best Clementines we have ever had; 5 kilos for 3 euros!

The town of Albarracin

The folks in Albarracin are serious – This is part of a entire trebuchet park!

The rock quality in Albarracin is similar to that of Red Rocks or Joe’s Valley. The style is a wild blend of Bishop table top volcanic roofs and Font style top outs. It is a fantastic mesh of power and static climbing; dynamic throws coupled with slow delicate movements. While the grades are inconsistent and the Euros can’t seem to travel more than 2 meters from a boulder before dropping trough, it is a wildly fun place to climb with beautiful scenery and a relaxed lifestyle.

Norbert crushing La Rampa

Myself and Nick cranking out El Varano, Techos Don Pepo (left), el Orejas de las Regletas and Zatoichi.

If you go to Spain for hard sport, take some time to visit the boulders too. Some of our favorite problems in Albarracin included el Varano, el Orejas de las Regletas, Seiscerrano, el Grimpa, Zatoichi, el Mito de la Caverna and Motivos Personales (sit).

Brit, Nick, Corinne, Norbert, Karin and Jonathan in the bear hat

-C&S

Barcelona

After our week in Buoux, with the final day ending in rain, we decided it was time to move south to Spain and get to the better weather. We broke the trip up into two days again, as the Goose can only handle so much driving at a time (yes, we are still having our over-heating coolant issue; we have learned how to deal with it by driving around 80kph and always carrying coolant and distilled water with us).
I found a campsite, using the ACSI website (the off-season camping card for Europe), which has proved to be quite useful when we can’t find wild camping or when we know that we are going to arrive late in the evening and will have no time searching for wild camping.  The campsite was in Narbonne, a town on the southern coast of France.  Had also done a little bit of research on the town and found that on Sundays, there was a terrific food market that was a must-see for foodies, according to TripAdvisor.

Our beautiful campsite in Narbonne

Overall, Narbonne was a must-see, as the town was not even close to being on par with the small towns and cities that we had encountered during our travels. The campsite was horrible as well. Since it was off-season everything looked pretty downtrodden. i am sure that in the summer this place is bumping but in November, it was all pretty bleak. We did get our own bathroom though…strange place…

The one upside of Narbonne was the market. We headed out early and parked at the end of the outdoor market, an outdoor flea market that flooded the Quai and walked through to our true destination, the indoor food market.  Somewhat similar to the Embarcadero market (for you Bay area residents), the market had a wide variety of fruits, vegetables, meats, patisseries and small restaurants. In the front, there is a wonderful spicery with fresh spices from all over. We even got to taste the spices prior to buying them.

Later that morning we left Narbonne and headed for straight for Barcelona. The drive took about 5.5 hours. We had a rough estimate of the address, along with some pics and a phone number, but of course, in Steve and Corinne traveling fashion, our phone minutes had expired and we didn’t make sure that we knew exactly where we were going. Antonio, our Airbnb host, had not left the exact address, figuring that we were going to call or email prior to arriving.  So, knowing that in France, McD’s was our internet savior, we asked Alice to find us one. We found one approximately 2 km away, but alas, no internet. Luckily for us, I found a wifi connection at the bar/pub next door, asked for the password and skyped Antonio’s cell. A female voice answered, which turned out to be his ex-wife Margarita. As it had turned out, Antonio had had a heart-attack a couple of days prior. She assured me that he was going to be fine but had to stay in the hospital while we were to stay at the house but that she and her sons were going to help out and accommodate us at the house. We never got to meet Antonio, which we were looking forward to, but Margarita, her twin sons, Rafael and Santiago, Rafa’s Brazilian girlfriend Daiana, live-in friend and helper, Roger, along with Antonio’s 101 year old father made our stay incredibly warm, comfortable and welcoming. We highly recommend this house to anyone planning on staying in Barcelona. The house is unique and only twenty minutes from La Rambla via the green line. The rooms are spacious and inviting and the company is unforgettable. We loved it!

For our first night in Barcelona, we wanted to go out for food and see some music. After doing some research, and talking to Rafa and Santiago, we decided to head into the center and grab some fresh pasta from Tucco and then make our way over to 23 Robadors for some live flamenco. Unfortunately, it being Sunday, Tucco was closed but luckily, there was another fresh pasta restaurant a couple blocks away. The meal was delicious and inexpensive. We then headed over to the Raval district for the flamenco show. The club was tiny and we had to stand in a hallway with a small view of the singer, guitar player, dancer and percussionist. We watched two sets of the show, though the show continued long after we decided to return home. No matter what night of the week, Barcelona is active all night. At this stage of the game, I can only handle so much nightlife. We returned to Gaspatxch via the metro and began planning our big day of sightseeing.

We arose to a delicious home cooked breakfast at 9am and began our perusal through the world of Gaudi. Though I had been to Barcelona six or seven years prior, I was excited for Steve to visit all of the wonderful sites and structures Gaudi created. Our first stop was Park Guell.

Next on the agenda was La Sagarda Familia. This was perhaps the most stunning piece of architecture we saw on our travels.

Some HDR photos of the amazing interior of the Sagrada Familia Cathedral.

We had a pretty aggressive plan and attempted to visit both Casa Batlló and La Pedrera but when we arrived and discovered that the cost was 15-20€ per person for each site, we changed our plans. We had already spent quite a bit in the city and been to many museums throughout our trip and we felt that spending money on food was more on the agenda than spending more money on museums. So, we continued to walk toward the center and find a nice lunch place. Of course we wanted to have some recommendations for where to eat, and luckily we walked directly passed the apple store and everyone knows that the apple store is a great place to mooch wifi. We got a great recommendation via yelp to a small restaurant in the outdoor vegetable and fruit immediately off of La Rambla. Unfortunately, after twenty minutes of waiting for some seats to free up, Steve and I hit our top frustration level and had to move on. Fortuitously, there was an amazing Crepe master around the corner to supply us with the necessary sustenance that we both so desperately needed. He included spinach, goat cheese, onion, tomato, and oregano wrapped in a beautifully made crepe that was absolutely delicious (Steve had the jamon as well, the delicacy of Spain that I have had to forego during my pregnancy 😦 ).

After lunch we continued to walk through the maze of central Barcelona, attempting to head into the gothic area. Exhausted from all the walking, we decided to stop in a square and grab a coffee before meeting my old colleague Laura Nuñez.  Laura and I taught at Lick-Wilmerding together, we started the same year and both left two years later after realizing that theschool just wasn’t the right fit for either of us.

Laura has been living in Barcelona for the past four years, working at an international IB (International Baccalaureate) school. This is her fourth international school, as most of these international school jobs last for two years and then you move on. Her previous locations have been: Mexico city, Paris and Milan. She now speaks French and Spanish fluently and additionally has a good grasp of Italian. Teaching has taking her all over but not surprisingly, she misses the bay area; she is always considering working in SF again and bay area education would be lucky to have her.

Laura took us to more of the gothic sites and introduced us to her neighborhood, where we went out for a drink to catch up and then to her local favorite tapas restaurant for dinner that was absolutely delicious.

We awoke Tuesday morning to another wonderful breakfast thanks to Rafa and Daiana. We packed up our things and began our journey to Albarracin. Our trip to Barcelona was absolutely perfect thanks to our wonderful hosts and Laura. We were sad to leave but also excited to get back to the mountains and to do some bouldering.

Daiana, Rafael, Roger and Corinne

Madrid Climbing

Here you are in the biggest city in Spain and in less than an hours drive, you can be climbing on some granite boulders or limestone routes. Spain has some of the best climbing in the world but even if you don’t hit the best areas (Albarracin, Rodellar, Marguelif, etc), you can still find decent spots with terrific problems.

Erin toured us around some of her favorite spots near Madrid. Though she hadn’t been climbing much of late, as soccer was more of the current priority, she took us to the spots that she enjoyed close to home. Our first stop was Zarzalejo, a granite bouldering area north of Madrid. We first picked up Juan, one of her bouldering buddies from the local gym. He toured us around the area. The rock was sharp but many of the holds were conglomerate pieces that were “cemented” into the rock. We started at an easier area where we could all climb and then moved on to a more difficult area where Steve and Juan could really get down to business. After a few hours some of Juan’s other climbing friends joined us. We continued to climb for a couple more hours and then headed to El Escorial de San Lorenzo for dinner.

Five days later, we headed to Patones, yet another European limestone rock band, also north of Madrid. The rock was smooth but not completely featureless, as we were able to read the line prior to making movement. We arrived later than originally planned, but we still were able to do four or five routes. This was my first time using my full body harness, thanks to Stephanie. Not the most comfortable harness but no pressure on the belly, which is exactly what I need right now.

The next day, we headed back to El Escorial de San Lorenzo, which actually also had some Granite bouldering. Both Steve and Erin enjoyed the bouldering here. Unfortunately, much of the bouldering was just a little too hard for me at this point.

Bullfight

Spending the last week in Madrid we have gotten a taste for the food, culture and art that the city has to offer. We decided it for time for some entertainment that was distinctly Spanish. What better than a bullfight?

I don’t think we have seen something on this trip that was more exhilarating, impressive, and barbaric. The stadium is all granite and concrete and we had second row seats in the giant circled shaped coliseum. There would be six bullfights in total with three matadors trading off turns. To begin the show all the participates enters the stadium in a paseíllo accompanied by music. The show begins with the matador and banderilleros using a magenta and gold cape to tire the bull out and learn it’s quirks and behavior. Next a picador enters on horseback and uses a vara to stab the bull on the back of neck, which weakens and agitates the bull. To further injure and tire the bull the tercio de banderillas enter the ring and stab the bull with banderillas. These small stakes stay imbedded in the bull. Finally the matadors takes stage again and begins his dance with the bull, this time using the red cape. The final performance with the bull can last some time before the matador goes in for the kill. He feeds off the crowd and determines the best moment to drive home his sword.

The first five fights went smoothly with the third matador being the most impressive performer. Each bull was killed, some more easily than the others and each matador escaped unscathed. For the sixth and final fight the third matador entered the ring for the second time. He played the role of each banderillero, tiring the bull and even stabbing it with the banderillas. After he succeeded with the first set the crowd went wild. He grabbed two more banderilla and broke them in half. Now instead the length of a sword they were barely the length of a small dagger. He went in to stab the bull again, but due to their length he got too close to the bull and it tossed him to the side. The matador rolled to the side before getting trampled and escaped uninjured. He continued the show, dancing and dodging the bull. The time came to make the kill. The matador grabbed his sword and prepared to make a single thrust kill as he had with the last bull. He danced to the side and made a thrust. The sword drove in about half way, but it was the clear the bull was not finished. Eventually the sword fell out and the matador retrieved it. He tried again and failed. Again he tried. Another failure. This process continued until finally the matador again got too close in his impatience to make the kill. This time the bull gored him in the leg, but the matador slipped away.  He continued the show, but now with a heavy limp. Again he went in for the kill, but with the limp he was too slow to dodge the bull. It caught him and flipped him in the air like a rag doll. The matador went down hard after a full backward flip on to his head. He sprang back to his feet, but stumbled back and fell over; he was finished. The matador was rushed out of the ring. Eventually the only the bull remained, breathing hard and gushing blood, but still standing. After a few minutes, a side gate opened and a small herd of bulls entered the ring. They ran around the injured bull for about ten minutes then returned to their pen. We later learned this was an attempt to save the bull. If it had returned to the pen with the herd, it would have been saved and treated like king and used for breeding for the rest of it’s days. Since it did not return, it was determined it was too badly injured and the bull was killed by a banderillero. The final tally was matadors 5, bulls 1. Something that rarely happens.

We were glad to see a bullfight, but agreed that one time was enough. The event was a bit too gruesome for multiple viewings. On the flip side it was a impressive spectacle and a unique part of Spanish culture.
Madrid climbing next!
-Esteban

The matadors enter the ring

One of their opponents

Banderillero tiring out the bull

This results in…

serious wounds

More tiring

The banderillo drives in banderilla

The Matador stands ready

Faceoff

The dance begins

Each matador has his own style

and super hot outfit

Gnarly

Going in for the kill

Eventually the bull goes down

The corpse is dragged off

Cape Town to Madrid

We flew out of CPT international on September 5th after staying the night with the infamous Justin Hawkins. Of all visits with Justin this was the most mellow. We arrived, hung out for a little, went out to a casual dinner at a wonderfully delicious Thai restaurant, and fell asleep watching the paraolympics. Which by the way were amazing if you did not get a chance to watch them. Watching a one-half armed man beat everyone in the 100 meter freestyle was badass.

Unfortunately this trip was not on business class, like our flight to CPT. Since we had to purchase one of the flights, as we did not have enough frequent flyer miles to pay for them all, we flew on Turkish airlines with an 8-hour layover in Istanbul. We had hoped to be able to check out Istanbul during our layover but after our hellish hot and uncomfortable flight, all we could do was sleep on the benches in the halls of the airport. Though Turkish airlines has free tours of Istanbul if you have a long layover, the tours do not start until 9am and end at 3pm. We arrived in Istanbul at 6am and left at 2pm. 😦

Though the temperature on the flight to Madrid was cooler, there were no private monitors for movie watching. They were showing Snow White and the Huntsman, which we both really wanted to see, but we were seated directly below the monitor and could not see the movie at all….ipad to the rescue! We watched a few episodes of Forbrydelsen (The Killing), a show that Colin and Jen turned us onto.

We arrived in Madrid with no problems. We received a new visa upon entry and BOOM, we were admitted for three more months to the EU.  Two minutes after our exit, Erin and Matt arrived and off we went to navigate through the metros of Madrid to their amazing flat.

They live in the western portion of Madrid, between Arguelles, Moncloa and Islas Filipinas (three different metro stops). You can get to anywhere in Madrid pretty easily; it usually takes 10-20 minutes to any part of the city. We laid pretty low during our first few days there, as we were tired from traveling and climbing in SA. We then began to get back into our groove; however, as Erin noticed, my groove is getting slower and slower as I get more and more pregnant. I am not quite as motivated as I usually am. Though my energy level is supposed to be back to normal, carrying the extra weight and sleeping a bit more fitfully is definitely sapping my energy.

After a few days of rest, we began to actually see the sites of Madrid. We got our museum fix on; we visited the Prado twice, the Reina Sofia, the Thyssen for a special Hopper exhibit and the monastery in el Escorial de San Lorenzo.

Outside the monastery in El Escorial

Inside

The caskets for all the deceased Spanish kings

Checking out some surrealism

Of course food is a huge part of Spanish culture, with lunch being the most important meal of the day. Most of the days we cooked, well, most days Matt cooked, but we also went out for some meals. Matt is becoming quite the Spanish cook; his tortilla con patatas is amazing, as well as his preparation of sea bass and liver; we definitely enjoyed the food in Spain. Mid-way through our stay, we were invited to have dinner with Fernando, Erin and Matt’s landlord. Fernando is Claudia’s father, a good friend of Erin’s who I climbed with last time I visited Madrid with Frederique. Fernando is a professor in Barcelona but also has a couple of apartments in Madrid, which he still considers his home. He is also an amazing cook. He made us a chilled soup, similar to Gazpacho but a little tangier, a hake dish with baked egg on top, as well a black sausage with a tasty green sauce (can’t remember the ingredients). For dessert, we had whole cream and peaches. The evening’s conversation revolved around American politics, the election and the media that presents it.

Fernando’s handy work

Our time with Matt and Erin was relaxing and exciting. We did more than eat and visit museums however. Stay tuned!
-Corinne

Emilie and Raul

After we left our SF friends and the gite in Moigny-sur-ecole, we decided to head south to an area Scott and Kaddi recommended called Petit Bois. Since it had been raining for some time we thought that the weather and the rock may be better the more South we went, since Steve and MK had that experience while Ginny and I were in Paris. Petit Bois was a great area, tons of problems on both the blue and red circuits, and also included Big Dragon, a problem that Steve wanted to get on, which completely suited his style. This was the area where I began to  understand the essence of mantling and smearing.

We didn’t arrive there until late in the afternoon but since it doesn’t get dark here until 9:30pm, we still got to climb quite a bit. No one was around, so we decided to camp there and see what was up; we didn’t yet have the 411 on how to camp for free here in Europe,so we weren’t quite sure where we could stay and where we couldn’t. After a bit, another car rolled up. An older guy, probably about 52 or so, got out walked over to Big Dragon (Steve had not gotten on it yet) and began to have some goes. He worked on it for about 45 minutes and then grabbed his pad, packed it all away and took off. Guess he was working on his proj…he got through the first two moves before packing up, not bad.

While senior working his proj, a panel van drove up, parked and started playing some techno music. No climbing, no hiking, just techno. We thought this was a bit weird but hey, we were in the small town of Saint-Pierre de Nemours, who knows how these folks roll.  We cooked, ate, and snuggled in for an episode of Dexter. By the end of the show, another van showed up,  we just assumed it was the techno boys again and went to sleep.

We slept well and enjoyed our first night on our own. Steve got up early, as he was eager to get out climbing again. Unfortunately, I woke up with a sore throat and a cough, so Steve let me sleep in. After his first climbing session, about fifteen problems, he decided to wake me up and make coffee etc. he noticed that the car that drove up the night before, was not in fact the techno boys but another Westy with another couple. Emilie, a Canadian Quebeçois, and Raul, who was from Spain, came over to wish us a good morning (our CA plates had inspired them to come by and chat). We chatted for a few moments and then they went off to eat breakfast and get ready to climb.

Steve’s second session was with me. We climbed a bit on both the blue and the red circuit. I worked some of the red problems that included mantles and very crappy feet; they were great fun. After 20-30 minutes we were chatting and climbing right along with Raul and Emilie. We went up to work on some reds, whites and a couple of off-piste climbs together; the more crash pads, the merrier! We climbed together for 3-4 hours until the rain started again. After a couple hours, Emilie and I decided to go shopping on their mountain bikes while Steve rested up for his third session of the day.  Raul and Emilie traveled with their mountain bikes so that they could camp for a while and just use their bikes to get around. There were two markets, the Lidl and the Carrefour, .5 mile away from where we were camped.

We got back and unpacked and my cold began to come back full force. I decided to rest, read and take a nap while Steve was ready for his third session of the day; he finally began working on Big Dragon but after several attempts and raw tips, it just would not go. He got to the second to last move (the crux) but today was not the day. More chatting and hanging with Raul and Emilie, then dinner and sleep. Petit Bois had served us well.

It rained that night. Again and harder than previous nights staying there was just not an option. So we all planned on moving on, but agreed that we would meet up later that day or in the evening at the Hippodrome de la Solle for camping.  Raul and Emilie became our new camping and climbing buddies during the rest of our Font trip…

Emilie and Raul have been traveling for the past two years in their van around Spain and France. Intermittently, Emilie will get a job so that they can continue on their travels, as Raul is in school finishing up his degree in Computer Science. His classes are entirely online, so he just needs to make sure that he has Internet and juice for his computer and he is good to go; he can work from almost anywhere until the end of the semester when he may have to go in for a final. He is able to  live in the van, climb and travel but must also be diligent about getting his work done.  Since it rains a lot in Font, he is able to take advantage of those days and go to the local library and use the SFR Free Wifi.

Raul and Emilie have figured out how to live simply and inexpensively while still eating well and climbing a lot. We learned a lot from them. When Emilie first took me shopping, she took me the Lidl prior to the Carrefour, showing me what to buy at the Lidl because it was that much cheaper; there were still some things that I didn’t want to buy there, but overall the Lidl was the place to go. Only problem is there are not many of them. Emilie and Raul also tend to buy a lot more food than we do, as they do not have a full camper but a weekender and therefore have more room; they know what will keep and what is not worth getting but the most important food item that they introduced us to was the chocolate pack from the Carrefour. For under €2, you can get 5 bars of pretty decent chocolate. We plowed through the chocolate in Font…

They also told us about McD’s. McD’s is the sure fire way to get Internet. Every McD’s in France offers free wifi.  They are the only place that you can truly count for getting free wifi, sometimes SFR Free wifi doesn’t work but McD’s always does. However, we have now found that in Germany, you actually need to buy something before getting the wifi. Once you buy something, you get a sign in  and then you are home free. We have yet to utilize it yet, but it will happen, you can be sure of that.

One evening, Emilie gave us the run down on all of the places that we should go to in Spain, along with descriptions of the type of rocks and climbs. They have been traveling and climbing for a long time, so they definitely have the 411 on where to climb and where to camp. I don’t know if we will be able to hit all of the places they mentioned, but we will definitely do our best.

Here is the list of spots that we want to hit with descriptions of the rock and what is good there. We hope to hit them in the Fall, either before or after Font, but we will see…
1. Mont Serrat – great sector in the south “el vermell”, “can jorba”, on the north side “San Benet”(sp?) – many smaller areas within this place – conglomerate rock – vertical and slabby (sandbagged)
2. Rodeller – limestone – “kalandraka” (Refugio) – overhanging
3. Bruixas – limestone – in Terradets which have sport multi-pitches (very few) many need some additional gear – overhanging
4. Siurana – limestone – slabs and vertical…(sandbagged)
5. Montsan – conglomerate – raco de misa, overhanging
6. Margelef  – conglomerate – everything, has pockets, every grade, vertical and overhanging – other side of Montsan- about an hour away
7. Villanova – good sport multi-pitch – limestone
8. Cavallers- good multi-pitch – granite – good wall for reg sport climbing African wall- good bouldering as well b4 multi- pitch.

Two days before we headed off to Germany to meet Scott and Kaddi, Emilie got word that she was hired by the Canadian government to work on trail maintenance in Alberta. She was off to work for the next 3 months in the forests. Raul still had 6 weeks left of school, so he was going to have to stay behind while Emilie went back to get ready for work. Both were pretty sad that there home was about to split up for a little while but Emilie was already looking to buy a van to live in once she had reached Alberta; Raul would then fly to Canada to meet her and live in the van as well. Once she completed her 3 month contract, the plan was to go into the U.S. and head to Indian Creek in Tennessee; they had been dreaming of climbing there for quite a while. So, U.S. folks, should you want to do some top class climbing with an incredibly chill and skilled couple, hit us up and we will connect you.

What a coincidence that we met Raul and Emilie; they were the perfect couple to meet as we began to embark on our journey. They knew all the ins and outs of van living and how to live on the cheap. There are a lot of differences between our journeys, as our trip includes a LOT more driving and a lot more destinations but we will utilize their tips and our experiences with them for the rest of journey. Thanks guys for helping to make our adventure that much better!

~C&S

The vans camped out at the Hippodrome. Got cut short as it started to rain…