You win some, you lose some: that time we tried to go to the Alps, and ended up on a beach...

I began writing this entry from the front seat of the rental car, as we drove through pouring rain.  We had been in Switzerland for less than 24 hours and were already (and perhaps unwisely, given the weather conditions) throwing in the the towel.   The trip began well.  We broke up our short drive from Strasbourg with an impromptu lunch in Bern and got to wander down its small side streets.  We were dazzled by our first sights of the Alps.  Ditto Lake Thun, where we found a surprise diving board and swam. 

And, of course, we were in a German speaking region, so most of the place names and road signs sound like either bodily functions of parts of the male anatomy.  A telling example, Ausfahrt means exit.  We - but particularly Matt - were endlessly entertained. 

Can you spot the telephone poles and parachutes? Oh, the wonders of nature.

All these great experiences on the way in seemed incongruent with the other, more foreboding signs of what was to come:  double-decker tourist buses, billboards advertising waterfalls, and souvenir shops and hotels everywhere.  Once we arrived at Lauterbrunnen, we were shocked by the shear scale of the tourist infrastructure in what we thought would be pristine hiking country (perhaps if we actually planned our trips, these things wouldn't surprise us).  An example of aforementioned out of control tourism, on the one and only short walk we did in the Alps, our views were interrupted by base jumpers, sky divers, cable cars headed up to the top of the same mountains we planned on hiking and - and this really did us in - a helicopter flying about a hundred feet away. 

We used up our stores of patience, open-mindedness and equanimity within about thirty minutes. Then, using our choicest expletives, we decided to leave as early as possible the next morning, cutting our three day trip down to one.  Yes, we are quitters.  It feels great.  Our sad day in Switzerland led directly into an even sadder day of driving across France.  Post Alp depression + 10 hours of driving + no plan or place to stay for the night does not make for happy travel.  Our final days of the trip seemed destined to be a horrible aimless mess.  Then we remembered about the Internet and the fact that luckily, our campsite had it.  

After using our sophisticated googling skills (pretty sure the exact search was "pretty nature things near Narbonne") we learned that we were very close to Spain's Costa Brava.  We splurged on a hotel, left early the next morning and spent the next two days blissed out on the Mediterranean, hiking our way from beach to beach.  

View from our hotel window

Our time in Calella de Palafrugell was one of the happiest accidents of our trip.  From there we headed back to Madrid for one final day of eating, drinking and park sitting before traveling back to the cat - who - if night yelling is any indication, remembers us.  Success.  

   

Goodbye Spain, Hello France

 

Our last stop in Spain took us to Ordesa Y Monte Perdido, a gorgeous section of the Spanish Pyrenees.  After being in such wonderful parks the last few weeks we weren't really looking forward to the stop because we were pretty sure nothing could beat our previous stops, but of course, our outlook changed once we arrived. We were pretty tired after the Picos, so we planned to do an easy hike the first day there, a family friendly 6 km hike through the valley of Bujaruelo. 

After doing the Camino we got in the habit of taking coffee on our hikes - its a nice pick me up while struggling up mountains and, when the weather is cold and rainy, it provides a necessary moral boost.  What coffee does on warm sunny days when the hiking is easy, we learned, is makes you crazy.  See the stream above?  After our coffee break (at the end of the trail) we decided to find its origin.  This of course quickly turned our lovely family friendly hike into the longest hike of the trip, taking us through the valley and up into the mountains.  It was gorgeous, it was painful, it was decidedly not our plan, but the views and the promise of beer and soccer back at the campsite helped us pull through. 

On our last day in the Pyrenees, our luck with weather finally ran out, and for most of the hike the scenery was shrouded in clouds.  

While it mostly looked like the above shot, there were a few moments when the mist cleared and we could catch some views.

From the Pyrenees we left Spain. The following pictures capture our mixed emotions pretty well:

Sad to leave Spain and nature...

Happy to be in a new country, and just as importantly, to be wearing matching shirts.  Our wonderful aunt Debbie - though she doesn't know it yet - gifted them to us for our second anniversary.  We're sure our other family members' gifts and well wishes are on their way.

While we didn't originally have plans to travel to France, our good friends from home were going to be in Europe and we wanted to meet up with them.  Sure, we were in Spain and they were going to Austria, but Europe seemed small at the time.  After two ten-hour days of driving, it seems larger.  

The driving days were, surprisingly great.  We were charmed by the beautiful small towns we drove through (at 5 km an hour thanks to the lovely 18 wheelers), the incredibly friendly people we met and our constant diet of pastries, cheese and coffee, which kept us happy and content.

When we finally met up with our friends, it was in Strasbourg.  We don't know if they call themselves the Germany of France, but we'll go ahead and describe them that way.  Here is a sample of what we did there.  

 

 

 See, Germany.    

In addition to having the tallest Cathedral in Europe (after Notre Dame) it is also home to the strangest museum we have ever been to, which consisted of taxidermied versions of every imaginable animal - including some species that are now extinct.  We're heading to Switzerland soon to hopefully seem some non-dead versions of some of the animals in the Alps!