The time has arrived to invite you to join the Fourth Walking Weekend to be held 1-4 October 2015 in Viladrau (Catalonia, Spain).
Our home base for the weekend will be Viladrau, a tiny village of 850 people nestling in the hills of the Montseny Natural Park (a UNESCO biosphere reserve since 1978) . The Montseny Massif is a place where rugged terrain and lush woodlands make a spectacular landscape of singular beauty. Holm oak groves, forests of cork oak and pine, beech and fir woods and hundreds of pristine water springs are waiting for you.
The origins of Viladrau are distant, as distant as the spirits of witches in these woods.
A meeting of witches was held on nearby Sant Segimon mountain on All Saints Eve in 1617. Shortly after, they were captured and tried. A total of 14 women were found guilty of witchcraft and burned, most of them in Viladrau itself.
But.......it's said they're still around…..
The fortified mansion of Mas la Sala is the birth place of Serrallonga, a Catalan outlaw embedded into our collective memory as a legend who robbed the rich to help the poor; he is widely remembered to this day in ancient ballads: a hero to some, a cruel bandit and vagabond to others.
Such a magical and inspirational environment attracted the attention of poets such as Verdaguer and especially Jaume Bofill (1878-1933) - better known as the great poet Guerau de Liost - who converted his house Rusquelles into a focal point for literary activities, a true refuge for avant-garde poets and literati. Guerau de Liost recreated the poetical images of Montseny in "The Mountain of Amethysts" and "Paitides".
Our walks will explore the hills, the woods, the old houses and mansions of this place, giving you a wonderful glimpse into our history, our way of life and our traditions - along with great helpings of fresh air, camaraderie… and quite possibly some aching limbs at the end!
Useful links:
http://www.turismevalles.net/subapartat ... idIdioma=3
http://www.viladrau.cat/en
http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Tourism-g1 ... tions.html
You can either fly to Barcelona (El Prat) or to Girona
We will meet on Thursday 1st October in Vic.
Vic is the capital of the comarca of Osona, in the Barcelona Province, Catalonia, Spain. Only 69 km far from Barcelona and 60 km from Girona, well connected by train or bus from Barcelona and Girona. From Vic we will take a private bus to our destination, Viladrau. After the hotel check-in we’ll have a delicious tapas dinner at our main hotel "La Masia".
On Friday 2 and Saturday 3 we will have our walks.
On Friday our walk will be shorter to have a special "paella" taste at Viladrau club, with maybe a football match and relax in the afternoon.
Maybe also a good time to visit Espai Montseny
http://www.viladrauturisme.cat/en/conte ... seny-space
Sunday morning will be time for farewell to Viladrau and a private coach excursion heading to Barcelona in late afternoon-early evening.Our destination is still under discussion. Cadaqués, Tossa de Mar or even the medieval town of Vic are some of the options.
The official farewell will be at Barcelona arrival letting people free to choose hotel and length of their Barcelona stay. If you have never been to Barcelona before, be sure to take some days before or after the weekend, to see some of this beautiful city!
Hotel capacity in Viladrau is limited. We will not be able to stay together at the same hotel.
We will be staying in small country hotels and bed and breakfast.
All the options will be at a 5min walking distance from the Main Square, where we will find cafes, terraces, a couple of restaurants, bakeries and pastry shops.
“MASIA DEL MONTSENY”
will be the home hotel for the weekend. Meeting point, welcome tapas
dinner, social gathering and music in the evenings will be held in their common areas and gardens.
Other options will include:
Hotel la Coromina
Rural house Els Segalàs (8 and 4 people apt)
Hostal de la Gloria
Still looking for special offers for our group. No hotel reservation needed for the moment.
The number of participants is strictly limited to 60 participants only. We will accept 60 first reservations, and after that additional names go to a wait-list.
To register, please send an email to
lcwwviladrau2015@gmail.com
In January 2015 you will have to confirm your reservation and pay the non-refundable participation fee (amount to be fixed – 70 eur might be close). If you cancel after that, no refund will be paid, but you can transfer your reservation to the next person(s) in the wait-list, and get your money back that way.
Hope you will fall in love of Montseny and Viladrau as much as our poet Guerau de Liost did.
"May God watch over you traveller!
May Montseny grant you a little love and a little common sense.
Here you have a stone bench dappled with maiden’s hair.
Here you have a spring that could talk to you.
The virtue of Montseny is that the stream rinses out the leaves of firs and beeches.
The virtue of Montseny is formed at altitude.
This is why this spring has such a pure look, and its course echoes, moaning through the wood of the forest tortured by the wind." G de L
Déu te guard, vianant! Que t'imposi el Montseny una mica d'amor i una mica de seny.
Ací tens un pedrís clapissat de falzia.
Ací tens una font que parlar-te podria.
La virtut del Montseny és aquest rajolí que d'avets i de faigs la fullaca esbandí.
La virtut del Montseny es congria a l'altura.
Per ço té aquesta font una ullada tan pura i la seva canal dóna l'eco planyent de la fusta del bosc torturada pel vent." G de L
