Another ¨Holed Up¨¨

These past few days have been something else. Remember when I said the rains fall mainly in the mountains (or not at all)? Well, they have been falling. I spoke too soon.

Contrary to my last post, I did not stay another night in Morella. When I finished my last blog I went outside & by the time I got to my hostal (not a hotel & not a hostel....but more like a hotel) it stopped snowing & even a beam of sun came out. I thought, huh, maybe I´ll go. So I asked a local if she thought the storm was over & she looked to the sky & said, I´m not sure, but I think so¨. So I finished packing up & got ready to leave. But I first went to explore the castle & church.

Whatever your thoughts are on religion or conquests or the hard (maybe slave) labor involved in the making of these grand buildings, if you can put all that aside and just focus on the beauty, these structures are magnificent works of art. The inside of the church was breathtaking & the castle, parts which dated back to the 11th century when the Moors first occupied the mountain, was spectacular with grand views (esp since the sun did indeed come out) showcasing snow on the nearby mountains.

After exploring I left & headed north & east. It was cold & blustery but by late afternon and early evening it improved & looked like the worst was over. When it was time to call it a day I discovered a dirt track leading off the road which splintered several times. I let my instincts follow me down trails until I came upon an old stone hut. It was dry, had some pine needles on the floor & seemed great for laying out my sleeping bag. Sure, half the roof was collapsed & the back wall smashed in. But it was cozy & I snuggled in for a cold but dry night.

When I awoke there was an inch of snow on the ground outside with fat flakes falling hard. And it never let up. It turned to ice midday & then cold rain for a few hours but mostly it fell in the form of ice or snow. The inside of my hut started leaking in places but I managed to find a sliver big enough for my bag not to get wet. At first it was all kind of exciting but then it became a SPAIN in my ass. I knew I wasn´t going anywhere that whole day.

I did what little I could do but mostly I just stayed warm inside my sleeping bag. Enjoyed the silence, the snow falling. But by 2pm I had to pull out the ipod. What did my ipod shuffle pull up? Coil´s, THE SNOW, so I hit forward to the next random tune & got Mark Hollis´, THE COLOUR OF SPRING, (which was only white as far as I could tell). So I stopped shuffle & put on what I wanted.

I told myself whatever it was like the next day I was gonna busta move. As it turned out it wasn´t too bad in the morning although there was a lot more snow on the ground. And it was still snowing too, but light, very light. I enjoyed walking in the cold weather. But by later in the day it turned very soggy again, very cold & rainy & I got soaked to the frigid bone. As compensation the scenery was quite lovely so I kept walking until I came to Horta De Sant Joan & found a delightful place to stay although I´m not sure what kinda place it was. It had dorms & private rooms & a big meeting area. It was kinda like a place for big family reunions. Only I was the ONLY one there. The owner, however, was very nice & made me a fire which I sat in front of for hours to warm up and dry off. It took hours to stop shivering.

Have to continue later...Time running out at library....Sorry