Walking a Grand Tour An 18 day virtual solo walk from Queralbs to the Montserrat mountains (Spain), to be repeated in August/September in the company of many people. Commissioned by Nau Côclea. The same route twice, in two different ways, two different stories (or not?).
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Day 18. An ending in the company of mountains. Montserrat
Everybody woke up early to see the sun rise over the Montserrat mountains. I woke up early as well but I had seen so many beautiful sunrises in the last 18 days already. There was a small voice in my head telling me I should get up, I shouldn’t miss th...
Day 17. In every step. Manresa – Montserrat
I said goodbye to Manresa and left, crossed the river, stood still at the highest point of the old bridge to look back. The other walkers had decided to take a taxi to the starting point of a walking trail but I didn’t want to be in a fast vehicle on t...
Day 16. Growing mountains. Manresa.
So many stories that still have to be told. It has been a beautiful walk but days have been so full and as always there is too little time to do everything I would like to do. It is a difficult choice always, to use the time to write down past ex...
Day 15. Repetition. Cacis Forn de la Calc – Manresa
The rain started somewhere in the night and didn´t stop. The land could use it so we only complained a little while we dismantled and packed our wet tents. Like most mornings, especially while camping, it all took a bit longer than expected and miracul...
Day 12. Footstep dreams in paradise. Salo
The group is changing all the time, getting bigger and smaller and bigger again. People leave and new people join, people return or promise to return and will in the last days. Every day there are goodbyes and welcomes. Some people skip a day here and ...
Day 11. A new day. Santuari d´el Miracle
And the sun rose behind the Santuari d´el Miracle. No miracle, just beauty. Silence, only broken by the churchbells earlier at 7. A small oak tree was planted. A miracle might be needed there. It suffered during the 10 day walk but hopefully the ...
Day 10. In search of silence. Solsona – Santuari d´el Miracle
I didn´t read the book that was on the table of my cell. But I looked at the landscape from my window. I carried a small oak tree on my back into the church of the monastery, where in the middle of the huge glittering altar piece a big oak tree starred...
Day 7. Ways of mapping. Arp – Sant Lllorenc
The trail is copied in the scratches and bruises on my arms and legs. Nothing too crazy, not too much blood being shed, no big injuries. Just getting stuck in a blackberry bush, slipping on loose stones during a descent, taking a short cut going down a...
Day 5. If I fall down a mountain, plant a tree on my grave. Prat d´Aguilo – Gosol.
Twelf people in a bunkbed and no heavy snorers among them. You could almost call it a miracle. At 7.13 the sun appears behind the mountains but before I catch it, the big mountain on the right already does. The meadow lights up, breakfast is served. I ...
Day 4. The world is the only home I’ve got. Bellver de Cerdanya – Prat d’Aguiló
When I walked through France in 2015 the attack at the Bataclan took place. I asked myself then if it made sense to walk while horrific things are happening in the world. If I shouldn't be doing something more useful.Last Thursday the Ramblas in the ci...
Day 3. A horse concert. Err – Bellver de Cerdanya
"Now, to be properly enjoyed, a walking tour should be gone upon alone. If you go in a company, or even in pairs, it is no longer a walking tour in anything but name; it is something else and more in the nature of a picnic. A walking tour should be gon...
Day 2. The shadow of a black dog. Nuria-Err
The mountains are gorgeous. I already mentioned them yesterday, determining our movements, our state of being. They wore us out on the first day already but at six in the morning the will to walk, the eagerness to move on, to see more, to get tired aga...
Day 1. What the mountains know. Queralbs – Nuria
I see the world waking up. Mountains turning from black to blue to pink. Sun touching the ridges on the left, lighting up the grey and green, turning it a bright dark yellow. Cowbells, some animals are grazing so nearby I can hear the sound of their te...
Day 18. Here and there. Montserrat Mountains
I arrived. Whatever that means. Two and a half weeks of walking. I am where I wanted to go. The sadness of arriving, the happiness of having come all the way.I don't know yet how to describe these mountains, this holy place, I don't know yet what happe...
Day 17. Crafting a walk and getting smaller in the presence of a mountain. Manresa – Monestir de Montserrat
I’m walking slowly over the old bridge, the Pont Vell, ancient stones forming six big arches. Behind me the Cova de Sant Ignasi, where according to tradition Saint Ignatius of Loyola shut himself in a cave (“cova” in Catalan) for almost a year t...
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WALC Confluence 4 hosted by Nau Côclea – featuring the Grand Tour, the year we entered Barcelona
The impact of the Grand Tour 2024 goes far beyond what its participants bring or create on the way, as it inspires and is inspired by local communities and the landscape through which it passes. Grand Tour is an experience of walking, of living together and of contact with local people, in which Art has
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