Mushroom ¨Hunting¨ expedition a success

We went on our first wild mushroom hunt of the year this weekend and looks like all the rain we´ve been having is worth it. After the past couple dry years, we were happy to find lots of wild mushrooms and have been enjoying them in our meals. Here is Jaume about to pick a rossignol, the ¨bolet¨ we found the most of.

Though very interesting to look at, there are always some ¨bolets¨ or wild mushrooms that I prefer to just take a picture of. Some of them can be highly toxic or give you a very sore stomach, so it is better to stick with the ones that you know.

Trompettes de la Mort, always a welcome find, are great in pasta. (I know I look rough:), it is hard work looking for mushrooms! Especially this time of year when there is still so much foliage)

Hmmmm.... ¨bolet¨ or chestnut shell...?

Cumpleaños Feliz

I had a wonderful extended birthday celebration enjoying some of the wonders of Catalonia.
We got to do a great walk in the gorges in Canet d´Adri. A very peaceful place, just 20 minutes or so out of Girona. It was neat to see tadpoles, dragonflies, waterbugs and even a little bitty snake.

I enjoyed a delicious lunch with my Catalan family and a special dinner with friends from Calgary and Navasa.

Our next location was in the foothills of the Pyrenees just north of Castellfollit de la Roca. We liked hiking along a gorge so much the other day that we walked up this gorge from Sadernes and saw lots of rock climbers hanging from the cliffs. We went up to Sant Aniol d´Aguja with its little chapel built in the IX by Benedictine monks. Then a bit more, up to the Salt del Brull where we bravely jumped in the water, it was cold!

My last birthday celebration had to be on the coast! We went to the Cala d´Aiguafreda where we swam around before having my last birthday feast of paëlla!

 What a wonderful birthday in beautiful places. Thank you Jaume and Catalonia!

Journey to Can Cabruja (11th century)

Can Cabruja

We finally got everyone together to do the hike to Can Cabruja, to the earliest known origins of the family name dating from 1064. We started from the Santa Pellaia chapel in the Gavarres Mountains. Can Cabruja was an important masia (country house) in the Santa Pellaia parish. Though now in ruins, you can see it was built in a strategic position with views of the church and valley.

From the Santa Pellaia chapel, the house looks like it is very close, just down and up the valley. We could see the house from afar, but the path seemed to keep winding up and away.
We finally made it and had a good rest.

The Cabruja Clan

Here is the sign you can see at Santa Pellaia that explains the history: