If at the Costa Brava The sun is shining and snow-covered treetops lure on the horizon, then winter time is in Catalonia. A plentiful hour’s drive from the Sunny Beach, a white world of wonder awaits us in the colder season.
Steep serpentines to the Valter 2000 ski station
We screw on the winter tires, pack up a hat, scarf and gloves and go to a winter wonderland for a few hours. It goes past Besalú and olot to Camprodon. Here the snow is almost in front of our noses. So we wind up after setcases. From here we climb the steep serpentines to the ski station Valter 2000. The road is powdered white. The thermometer drops to minus 4 degrees and the wind howls through the tops. White snows the fir trees, icicles adorned the streams. We dive into the freezing cold and felt like minus 15 degrees.
Almost alone on the mountain
The Tramuntana practices gusty as a snowstorm. We only briefly leave the car to shoot a few summit pictures. The ski lifts have a storm break today. We are almost alone on the mountain. Even our Golden Retriever Leon has little fun in the icy snow.
We drive down a few kilometers quickly. Here – in the slipstream of the mountains – happy cows stand on the side of the road. The landscape is powdered white. Children sledding on the shallow slope. We walk a little through the snowy landscape. The sun warms our face at about 0 degrees. Leon roars happily in the snow.
The winter landscape shows itself from its most beautiful side: Romantic and picturesquely reminds you of happy childhood days. The sun is slowly sinking behind the mountain at noon. We flee from the shady cold further down into the valley.
Alta Garrotxa – Behind the Seven Mountains
The return journey takes us via secondary roads through the Alta Garrotxa into remote little places. Rocabruna Located 10 minutes from Camprodon and tempts you to stop for lunch with a good restaurant. If you don’t get a place in the “Can Po”, you drive a little further down into the valley to the picturesque beget. At Hostal El Forn, local and seasonal dishes are served. If you want something more sophisticated, you can recommend a stop at Can Jeroni.
The legend of Saint Christopher
You have to take a look at the Romanesque “Església de Sant Cristòfol“World – a 10th-century Relic of the Vorpyrenean Romanesque. One euro is worth it: Ultramarine blue arches the gold-decorated starry sky inside the church. Over the altar, it is fascinated with a simple Romanesque and imposing expression, one of Catalonia’s most beautiful sculptures.
Above him, the bearded Christophorus – the baby Jesus shouldered – trudges through the floods. The legend of Saint Christopher gave the church its name: “Església de Sant Cristòfol” – named after the soldier who met a child on a river and carried it over. The child – Christ the Savior – carried the burden of the entire world. Sant Cristòfol only laboriously reached the other shore. He received saint status as a reward.
Fantastic views
The legend in the ear we continue through the lonely wild mountain landscape. From time to time we stop at fantastic views. Bizarre Tree Sculptures stretch their gnarled arms up.
A herd of cows makes us slow down. The small calf We would like to cuddle. But do the mothers allow that? Better not test.
oix is then the last stop before civilization. In the vicinity you will find small Romanesque churches and hermitages. In the village, the church of Sant Llorenç and the remains of the old castle could defy the centuries.
These three tiny villages of garrotxa still seem completely cut off from the world. Only connected to the road network since the 1960s has they only been reached by donkey paths or by foot. To this day, the clocks are slower in these hidden places. We’ll be back! promised.
