Pyrenees

September 16, 2024

La Seu d'Urgell to Saint Llorenç de Morunys

I must have so enjoyed the big climb out of Tuixent which we did a few days back, that I routed us back through Tuixent and up that climb again. But this time, we wouldn't turn around at the col and go back down to find our turn. We'd press on south pass a few ski areas and head down to Saint Llorenc

Our hotel in La Seu d'Urgell was pretty cool. It made us feel as if we were staying in Hotel Portofino!

At some point on our first climb, we encountered a few free range horses, one of which insisted John give him treats. The cliff blocks were well received!

I called this the amazing clouds day on my strava title. And you can see why!

This was also a day of snacks for us. We stopped for a picnic at the coll de la Strava. OK, I added the S! On the descent, I noticed a sign for a cafe in Fornols. John was busy taking loads of photos behind me, so I sent a text, saying coffee in Fornols! Upon getting an acknowledgment, I rolled down through the village in search of coffee. John, of course, had to get photos of all the cats!

Next up was coffee in Tuixent. The bar/auberge we stayed in before was closed, but the shop across the way was open this time. Croissants and coffee were delicious. Then it was back up that climb. As we passed the turn we missed before, we observed it was easy to miss! After reaching the Coll de Port, we began a very long curvy descent past a couple of ski villages. When checking for hotels, I must have seen lots of places up near the ski mountain. When we arrived in town, we passed a hotel sign and rolled down toward the center. I spied a tourist office that was open, so we popped in. While open, they weren't terribly helpful. We mentioned the place we had passed and the woman said WE could phone them. I thought they might phone for us. But it turns out tourist offices in Spain can't make recommendations or phone calls. So I'm not sure what they are for. We have used tourist offices in France for precisely this! Anyway, I found the hotel on google and booked it. I got an email with a receipt. We rode up but the place was all locked up and no evidence of humans! I looked at the email again for instructions, but found none. I replied to the email saying we were here, but still haven't gotten a reply! We finally phoned and were told where the key was!

The we looked for restaurants and found there were loads, but only one was open. This is definitely a ski town! And this was the off season. It was very pretty as we walked through the deserted streets.