After our trip through Asturias and the Basque Country, we steered the car over the Pyrenees to Barcelona – an adventure, wild and promising. We spent two nights in the impressive area near Torla, but the days before brought so much snow that the 1000-meter-high canyons remained unreachable, roads blocked, a contrast between longing and silence.
Through villages and to the Sagrada Familia
We continued through old, picturesque villages with stops in Ainsa and Alquezar, a dance between history and landscape, rough and delicate. The last three days we let the vacation wind down in Barcelona, and just before the flight, we marveled at the Sagrada Familia – wow, a spectacular church with shapes and colors that open the heart.
An unforgettable finale
This journey, from the snowy Pyrenees to the splendor of Barcelona, swung between nature and art – an experience that stays deeply in memory.
The road to Torla, the snowy walls of the Pyrenees ahead.
Stone houses of Torla in front of the snow-covered massif.
A lane with an old stone house, the mountains above.
Left, “Propiedad Privada” on faded blue; right, an arrow on the stone wall.
A dark valley beneath snowy rock bands.
Paths wind through the snowy pine forest.
A turquoise stream in a narrow gorge between pines.
Steep slopes and snowy summits – heavy snowfall had put the canyons out of reach.
A river winds through the gorge, the road beside it.
A mighty ridge with remnants of snow above the valley.
Hairpin bends climbing the slope.
The river in the valley, snowy peaks in the distance.
Cattle among boulders on the wooded slope.
Old stone houses in a village, twice.
A green door with a red frame and a rusty bolt.
A weathered wooden door beneath a window.
Bare trees with snowy rock bands behind.
Moss and ivy covering old stones.
An old stone bridge, a rocky mountain behind.
A path between trees and walls, twice.
A coat of arms below the balcony window on the red facade.
Left, a red house with windows; right, a barred window.
A village church with a bell tower and round arch.
Abandoned houses beneath bare trees.
A bare tree in front of a ruin.
An abandoned village, trees growing among the ruins.
On the road through the villages at the edge of the Pyrenees.
A stone house above green fields, snowy mountains behind.
A narrow lane between stone houses – a stop in Aínsa.
Left, an old wooden door with a date carved in it; right, olive branches.
A snowy mountain beneath low clouds.
An old stone bridge leads into the forest.
A viaduct across the gorge.
Alquézar: houses on the hillside, the castle above, the church in front.
Apartment buildings with balconies, twice – arrived in Barcelona.
Grey sea, a wave breaking beneath heavy clouds.
Left, surf on the beach; right, the bow of a fishing boat.
Lamps on the seafront promenade, the sea beyond.
Sand, sea and sky in soft bands.
An estelada flag above the heads of the crowd.
The towers of a church in the evening light.
Left, a corner building; right, paste-ups on a weathered wall.
“sinpapeles” in handwriting on the wall.
Left, a tree in front of a painted wall; right, palm trees and an arrow sign.
Paper lanterns in a shop window reflected against the facades.
“Passatge dels Coloms” on a corner, a lantern beside it.
Horizontal slats of a facade in shadow.
A lane with shutters and balconies, a passer-by.
Walking a dog past shutters covered in graffiti.
Left, a zebra crossing; right, colourful patches of paint on the wall.
“Industria Gráfica” above a shutter in the dark.
A silhouette in hard light against a stone wall.
Palm trees in front of yellow facades beneath a blue sky.
Through the arcades onto a square with palm trees and lanterns.
An ornate facade behind green trees.
Colourful tiles on a wall, an apartment building behind.
A Gothic facade with a large window.
A man steps out of the shadow into the light.
Left, the tower of the harbour cable car with two cabins; right, masts in the harbour.
Reflections on the rippling water.
A facade of the Sagrada Família at night, lit in red.
The towers of the Sagrada Família with cranes above the park.
Colourful rose windows below the ceiling of the Sagrada Família.
Columns like a forest of stone, the light above.
A canopy with a string of lights between the columns.
Star-shaped structures and round windows in the wall.
Stained-glass windows between tall columns.
The vault, branching out in star shapes.
Columns branch like trees beneath the bright vault.
Blue, green and red stained glass in the dark.
Red and orange stained glass – the end of the trip, shortly before the flight home.
