It’s apparent this morning that yesterday’s train experience took its toll on both of us. I’m feeling stiff and achy, but Rachael is worse. Her back that bothered her so much a few days ago but then quickly improved by the next day is even worse than the first time when she wakes up this morning. There’s no doubt it’s from the combination of the stairs and the panicked boarding and exit from the train made a poor prescription for her recovering back.
It’s overcast and fairly chilly today, so coupled with our creakiness neither of us feels motivated for anything very challenging. Rachael limits her scope to a very sensible walk east along the long, flat waterfront that extends east for about ten miles, passing through a series of small towns similar to Calella. Well, I thought it was sensible until I see that even self-restrained she still put in her daily dozen.
She was just out walking and concentrating on how her back was doing - that, and the annoying fact the the sole of one of her shoes has sprung a leak and lets in sand; so she didn’t stop for photography at all.
I don’t remember ever seeing something like this happen to a shoe. Good thing the trip is almost over and we have an REI dividend that needs redeeming when we get home.
Bob KoreisI've heard there was a time when this was common. The solution was to put a piece of cardboard in your shoe. Might not work too well in damp conditions. :^) Reply to this comment 6 minutes ago
It’s disappointing that she let us down with her camera today, but fortunately I’ve got her covered because I biked essentially the same route as she did before continuing further east to a potential birding spot. If she had been stopping for a snap here and there, here’s what she might have come back with:
It’s a dry but atmospheric day to be at the sea, a nice change from boring blue.
The waterfront along all of these towns is cut off from the towns themselves by the rail line except for widely spaced underpasses. This late in the season it’s very peaceful - almost no motor vehicles, and not many people either.
Six miles into our activities we each come to Malgrat de Mar, the fourth and last town of the string. Rachael turns back here, and I leave the sea but continue on east for a few more miles. Malgrat is an appealing little place with a bit more of an authentic feel to it than its neighbors. It has a tourism base because of the beach of course, but its real roots are fishing and especially agriculture, supporting farming the flat, open farmland just to its east.
Malgrat de Mar has a warm, vibrant feel today, its long main street filled with folks walking toward what must be some sort of event.
It’s almost startling to bike east out of Malgrat and abruptly transition into a purely agricultural land, with one totally flat field following another until they end at a narrow waterway, the Tordera River. As I bike along stopping here and there to admire one interesting scene after another, a number of other bikers are present. A few are recreational riders like myself, but most are what I assume to be African immigrants biking to and from their work in the fields. It makes me feel self-indulgent and self-conscious, just being out here by choice to enjoy the scenery before heading back into town for lunch.
The sandy mouth of the Tordera River is another of those allegedly promising birding spots, an important site for migrating birds. And when I get to the end of the trail there’s a bird blind and a nice board with photos of the interesting birds you might see here - even gannets and flamingos!
No gannets or flamingos or egrets or kingfishers or even ducks today though. When I look out the blind I see the sea right in front of me and exactly one bird - a tiny one on the shore that immediately disappears into the brush almost before I’m even aware he’s there. Maybe there are birds at the sandy mouth of the river itself but it’s fenced off and inaccessible, and invisible behind a twenty foot high wall of giant reeds.
So another birding bust, saved only by a random sighting on the way back to town. The day as a whole is fine though - we each enjoyed our day, and Rachael has the good news to report that her back didn’t bother her at all once she started walking. For lunch we walked a few blocks to an Italian restaurant we were both happy with. Rachael has her favorite pizza, arugula and prosciutto (and I wonder if the arugula was grown just a few miles east of here), and it’s too big for one serving so she enjoys it back in our room for dinner as well.
Another of these showy guys, so soon after the last one!
6 minutes ago