A hazy tale of friends dangling from ropes which is NOT a common feature of our
Rare rare delights: Ports de Beseit – 15 to 22 April 2007
After a couple of days of fun and frolicking in Barcelona, the non-perambulatory friends, spouses and siblings returned to Old Blighty while the foolhardy adventurers met up at Barcelona airport.
The group were:
· Deb (wife no.1 & trip organiser extraordinaire)
· Phil (husband of the year)
· Sylvia (wife no.2 - albeit chosen by wife no.1)
· Tig (arboriculturist with branches everywhere)
· David (lead vocals – male)
· Claire (tree hugger and lead vocals – female)
· Bill aka Bertie (chief wit)
· Alun (head of sheep)
· Terry (skinny dipper)
· Ian (obscure musicologist)
· and of course the gorgeous Callum (rare rare guide).
The first three nights were spent at the ancient Fonda La Plaza hotel, Valderrobres, where we were greeted by the fantastic host and owner, Sebastian and his pouting daughter, Vanessa. Vanessa took a while to warm to us, but we were great mates by the time we left! The food was great and plentiful (especially the Sunday lamb) and the seemingly endless supply of cava and vino tinto never failed to pleaseJ. We stretched our legs on arrival with a walk up to the enormous castle and church, having been assured by Sebastian that it was open until 6 pm. It wasn’t, but we admired the views and were able to wander back down exploring the picturesque alleys
Monday: Callum assured us that the first walk would be an easy one to settle us in, although “it might get a bit technical”. Naively, we believed him. Our suspicions should have been raised by the appearance of his mountaineering friends Luis and Virginia, armed with great coils of rope. We volunteered Bill to carry these. Several hours later we found ourselves at the top of a sheer drop – only then were we told that we’d be abseiling. It was at this point that we discovered Alun suffered from vertigo. It was particularly entertaining when Sylvia was nearly hanged as she was not given enough “slack” and David had to dangle on the end of his rope while Luis finished his cigarette! All great fun though! It was also Deb & Phil’s 25th wedding anniversary and we had a very romantic moment after lunch on top of a mountain when Phil thanked Deb for the last 25 years and gave her a beautiful silver necklace – we had to have lots of tissues to wipe away the tears! The walk finished with a long rest by a lovely mountain stream where Callum went skinny dipping (sadly, out of sight) while the rest of us paddled. In the evening it was a full on party and Callum had organised a wedding anniversary cake. The cava and red wine flowed and we danced the night away.
Tuesday: Starting at Beceite, we did a long walk with some steep uphill bits (thankfully mainly before lunch) ending up by another stream. This time Bill & Phil braved the icy waters, competing for the holiday’s Tough Guy award. In the evening it was Vanessa’s birthday and we started on the cava again and partied until the wee small hours. Phil fell in love with the dance teacher, Maria Carmen, and Bertie managed to slip away from Sebastian before agreeing to marry his daughter Vanessa (although he cannot remember if he signed an agreement as he had had so much schnapps!). Tig and Sylvia were caught on camera doing the pasa doble with Sebastian – look out for it on YouTube.
Wednesday: after a late start following an “optional extra” visit to Sebastian’s newly renovated holiday home with its unique interior design, we drove to Peñaroya. Callum insisted that we park the vans very close together in the main square as he was worried about thieves (despite this being rural Spain, not Brixton). He managed to squeeze both vans in between the wall and another van, ignoring our comments that he would then not be able to get out of the van. Now we knew why he hadn’t eaten much breakfast: breathing in very deeply, he squeezed out of the window. Just as we thought we were ready to go he realised he’d left his money belt and mobile phone in the van!!!! He therefore mounted the van’s roof and managed to retrieve both items by using one of Deb’s walking poles through the window – a very entertaining half hour, particularly the view of his bottom J.
When the cabaret was over we did a lovely walk along the Pilgrims’ Way to our next hotel in Coratxa. Legend has it that every seven years, seven virgins from Peñaroya are carried away to become brides of Vallibona men; however, the female members of our party had to walk the length of the path and were not abducted by anyone (possibly because they all failed to meet one of the essential criteria). On the way we encountered ibex, griffon vultures and many allegedly rare plants, while Claire got friendly with an ancient juniper tree. Hostalgeria Sant Jaume is owned by the most welcoming Carlos. We were looked after most of the time by his Romanian husband and wife employees Josip (aka Lurch – don’t ask!) and Maria. Lurch was very shy at first, but soon got in to the swing of things and (just like Vanessa) we were all great mates by the time we left.
Thursday: another late start for a short circular walk, starting in the forest above Fredes and going up to the Peak of the Three Kings, with lunch at the old Chapel of St Michael (a place ripe for development). This was followed by a late afternoon visit to the town of Morella where the more cultured members of the group climbed to the top of the castle while the others indulged in retail therapy. A quietish evening at Carlos’s place.
Friday: today was Tig’s birthday (we won’t reveal her age but sadly we couldn’t re-use the candles from the Sankeys’ 25th), so, foreseeing a party in the evening, we decided to do the longer walk today and take it easier tomorrow. An excellent walk where we went through Hell’s Gate (and nobody was denied entrance!), and admired Callum’s no.2 “fixer upper” – great spot! Lunch by a small river gave Terry the chance to skinny dip. The men claimed that they all swam too but we have yet to see any photographic evidence. The long, long haul on the way back to Paradise was a struggle with our legs lacerated by the thorns along the wayside, but then who said it was easy getting to heaven? A diversion to a lovely waterfall gave some of us a good soaking. Tig’s party in the evening included cava and a birthday cake – organised by the lovely Callum yet again. The red wine flowed and the party continued.........
Saturday: all a wee bit weary from partying (never mind walking!) we had a late start. Another great walk directly on foot from our destination this time, going over to Castell des Cabres (with a welcome bar), with lots of “fixer uppers” on the way. We were meant to have a reasonably early night tonight since we have to be up at 6.00 the next morning; however, there was lots of paella and wine, and the thoughts of an early awakening did not stop us from a good old dance yet again!
Sunday: depart Coratxa rather wearily at 7am, our destination Barcelona airport. All rather tired and emotional so there’s no singing in the bus, but the diaries are out and next year’s trip is being planned. Hasta la vista, Callum – we’ll be back!
