Olot, Spain (Catalunya)
To ring in the New Year I took a short trip north to the town of Olot. I actually found out about it while searching on the internet regarding day trips from Barcelona. This town is known for its beautiful nature areas as well as having many volcanoes and craters.
I took a bus there which cost me 23 euros round trip. The bus trip took about 2 hours long, but it was a good ride because the scenery reminds me once again how beautiful catalunya is. It is easy to forget that nature exists outside the confines of a major city.
I got off the bus and took a picture of this tourist map that was displayed on a board next to the bus station. I’m so glad I did because I didn’t have any other information about how to get around the town. You can see that just within walking distance 3 volcanoes.
It was funny as I was walking around the town, I didn’t even realize that there was snow in piles on the ground. I guess they just had a snow storm or something because there was snow everywhere. It was so nice to see the snow. There is something about how fresh everything smells when it has just snowed and it is melting away on the ground.
Then it also took me a little while to realize that there were way too many sticks and broken branches on the ground. I’m thinking that olot had just had a big storm come through recently. I meant to ask somebody walking around what happened, but I never got the chance. Well I had the chance, but I was worried about talking in Spanish to them (as olot is definitely catalan territory).
You can’t see it in this picture (because I chickened out taking a picture of all the people hanging out on their balconies), but another thing that surprised me in olot was how diverse it was there. There were more African people walking around than in Barcelona. There were also many Chinese people as well, very interesting.
I first went to the nearby park. Here there was much more snow on the ground. So much so that I saw some animal tracks on the ground. I seriously thought that these tracks might be from a cougar or some other wild mountain cat, but after some internet research when I got home it looks as if these are just dog tracks. Actually the whole day as I was walking around in the nature, I was thinking that the cougar was following me.
I then walked to cross this bridge to make my way to the first volcano. The bridge was nice, and there was a river running under it. There was a nice area to walk on running alongside the river.
In catalunya, many of the people hang the three wise men outside of their windows. I guess the children here believe that the three kings bring them gifts at their house (on January 6).
Still walking to the volcano (and getting lost a little bit), I saw the most beautiful piece of garbage on the street. Continuing walking, I thought I was getting really lost (though I was actually on the right track all the time), I saw this little burro sculpture on somebody’s patio. If you don’t know this already, the symbol of catalunya is the burro.
So I made it to the end of the street, and it appeared as if there wasn’t any place to go further (though the map said otherwise), I made my way past someone’s garage on to their lawn when I realized there was a path leading up to the top of the volcano. I wasn’t for sure I wanted to go up, so I chatted with the guy who lived at the nearby house a bit. He only spoke to me in catalan, so I was a bit confused with our conversation. I’m pretty sure though that he didn’t know what was up the path either.
So I went up the path. It was a bit tough at times because of all the fallen trees and branches from the storm, but I made it to the top. On the way down I saw this butterfly/moth.
In this picture you can see the next volcano that I was to climb up. But before I was to do that it was time for lunch. I had packed a lunch with me, so I sat down on one of these benches to eat and enjoy the scenery.
On the way down from volcano #1, I saw this pigeon next to the symbol for anarchy. I just thought it was funny, like the pigeon itself drew that on the wall. Then further down that wall, I saw some graffiti in English!
Right before I went up the next mountain, I saw what seemed to be the center of the town.
I almost decided not to go up volcano #2 because of all the daunting stairs that I saw leading all the way up to the top. I hate stairs.
The view from up top was amazing.
There was also the center of the volcano to look at, but there was a sign that said it was a crater, so I’m not for sure exactly what I was looking at on top of the hill.
There was a church on top of the mountain as well, but it really wasn’t anything special.
In this photo you can see clearly the first mountain that I climbed.
Another very interesting thing that I saw was an abandoned bull ring. I really would’ve have liked to have known the history of that building. (because bull fighting is known as a spain thing, not a catalunya thing).
Making my way down volcano #2, I overheard some people talking to each other. The asian people were talking in Chinese to the woman, and the woman was talking in catalan to the Chinese people. They were doing it like it was the most normal thing to do too. It looked as if they were friends, but didn’t speak each other’s language.
In town again I took a picture of myself.
I also found the huge church in the center and this great, pink moderismo building.
Then I was making my walk back to the bus station, and I saw this storefront graffiti. I hope I’m not reading this correctly, but I think it says that they are anti bulls (a spain symbol – the oppressor) as well as being anti other cultures (all cultures). I won’t comment any more, but it definitely got my attention.
The last two things that I saw were this lamppost and a building. I think it was a lamppost, but I’m not exactly for sure. Something on the piece itself said something about lighting up the city. What a great idea for a lamppost though. When lit up, then the light would shine through the stained glass.
I’m thinking about doing another day trip before school starts on next Thursday. I like getting away from the city and I think I should do it more often!
I am big big fan of these street artists.