It is time
to shake the dust off this blog, with a slight delay of 4 months compared to
usual. 2017 can be defined as a year of “one season one city”. This year I had the chance to discover really amazing areas and it took me a while to
select only 15 places for this ranking. I took into consideration not only
the characteristics of the site but also the experiences that I lived, leaving
room for subjectivity. Better late than never, they say, so let us have a look
at the already distant 2017 to remember the beautiful landscapes and even more
beautiful feelings inspired by them.
15. PEGO DO INFERNO (PORTUGAL)
Let us
begin the list with the current residence place, which will show up many times
throughout this post. This calcareous waterfall is located in a semi-arid
environment and hides many legends full of mystery. Deeper than it looks,
perhaps to connect with hell (hence its name), the locals say that once a
carriage fell into this lake, but neither the horses nor the travellers were
found. What is more, some even assured that some days later these corpses
appeared in the sea, suggesting that the lake would be not only linked to hell,
but also with the Guadiana River. Tricky calcium carbonate…
When I got
there, aside from enjoying the attractiveness of the place, I had to face some
fears and it took me some time to do it. But finally, just like in the legend,
I managed to sink down all these fears and now they may well be lying at the
bottom of a deep ocean trench or maybe in the very hell…
14. INNSBRUCK (AUSTRIA)
Like every year, a
city sneaked into the ranking and in this case, it was the turn of this
beautiful Austrian city located in the middle of the Alps. It has not been the
most stunning city that I visited, nor the one with the richest heritage. But
it drew my attention since the very beginning, even though I only went there
for working reasons. It is true that both the colourful houses and the insides
of Horfkirche Church are astonishing, but the snow certainly played a key role,
especially because it came in a period when I did not expect it anymore (somewhere
in mid April). And even if this may sound odd, this white element that essentially
represents the lack of colour, instead of attenuating the city, it intensified the vivid
colour of the facades. Since in that exact moment the Earth was able to start
painting on the canvas that She herself had just placed.
13. TXINDOKI (BASQUE COUNTRY)
Txindoki is
one of the most popular mountains in the Basque Country and is definitely among my
favourites. It was not the first time that I hiked it, but many factors made
this one different. First of all, improvisation led us there, since it was not
our plan A, nor even B. Having it decided just then, this peak began offering
the typical wonderful views, up to then with no big surprise. But as we were
going up, fog was coming into play and a picture never seen before was set in
front of us. Since even if I thought that I knew this mountain so well, what I
was observing was somehow unfamiliar to me, and my mental image of the site
became a blurry mixture between what I could see and what I could recall. And that is
exactly the charm of fog, turning the known into the unknown and making real an
unreal image that similarly varies from one person to another.
12. COMBARRO (GALICIA)
And now we move to a
place that is very meaningful for me, especially because it is the hometown of
my family. Its extraordinary aspect should earn Combarro a better position on
this list, but mass-tourism has ruined to some extent the charm given by its appealing
traditional architecture. But in spite of this, it gathers many elements linked
to the Galician identity: the widely present estuary landscape, little stone
houses, the so-called horreos, the presence of the language itself… And as if by magic,
this town enabled me to get closer to the ancestors that I never met.
11. MONCHIQUE-FOIA-MARMELETE (PORTUGAL)
Following the thread
of unrepeatable experiences, this area in Algarve made such a good impression
on me, especially because of its authenticity. Putting the basic adventure kit
inside my backpack (i.e. food, sleeping bag and camping tent), we took such a
big profit of a simple weekend, when, just like in all adventures, things did
not occur in the way that we expected. But in those same moments life showed
us, by means of coincidences, a wonderful event that would immediately expel our
pessimism, and which in turn restored our faith in humanity. I do not
know whether it would have been better if everything happened as predicted, but it
is clear that it would not have been so magical. Because the stars way higher above
than the mountain range can be better appreciated when you cannot take your
smile away.
10. BUFONES DE PRIA (ASTURIAS)
Asturias has an unfinishable
surprise-inducing cartridge and just like every year, another place made it to the list
in 2017, once again with a landscape linked to limestones. In this case these
landforms do not pay any attention to hell and connect straight with the sea,
as if the atmosphere and hydrosphere wanted to explain us that they do not want
to have a secret relationship. These impressive passageways have carved the
cliffs here and there, turning lithosphere into the accomplice of the
relationship; thus, according to its mood, the sea choses one way or another in
this truncate labyrinth to give its characteristic salty kisses to its lover. All this under the
attentive look of the background mountain barrier.
9. MONTSENY (CATALUNYA)
During the second time
that I visited this natural park I got to know it far better than the first one.
And once again the importance of improvising arises. In fact, we progressively
extended an initially fairly calm hike, which ended up being very complete. At
that time of the year, the mountain gave us a master class about natural
sciences, where Biology, Geography or Geology were so well mixed together to teach us that
the boundaries between all these disciplines are simply artificial, that nature
goes beyond those limits. Thus, the initial point was the bottom of the valley, where spring
had clearly arrived, and which visibly contrasted with the image some hundreds of metres above,
where the winter-spring transition was noticeable. When we reached the top of
the mountains, the relations between all biophysical processes became more
intense, because the power of nature is better felt up in the summit even
though you are farther from the centre of the Earth. In this realm,
mountain flowers survived under loose stones, talus slopes prevented
vegetation from growing and a textbook-like example of Föhn effect developed ahead of us. Yes, each piece of nature fit so well with its neighbouring partners,
just like with tectonic plates, because at heart our planet keeps some kind of
order beyond its entropy.
8. PRAIA DE BENAGIL (PORTUGAL)
Benagil constitutes the typical postcard
of Algarve; the beach is not special per se, but the surrounding cave
leaves all bypassers fascinated. When we decided to go there, we were
considering only seeing it from above. Later on, we thought about visiting it
in kayak or even with a boat tour. But we eventually made use of our own
resources and swam there, against the waves, taking advantage that there was
low tide at the time. A small trail, indeed, but each minute seemed so
important as it was approaching us to the natural wonder that we had been searching
for so long. And once inside, you readily feel the weight of the immensity of
nature, although you do not quite understand why She decided to rest entirely
on you, and you cannot stop questioning how such an imperfect shelter that
could collapse at any point was able to form.
7. VALENSOLE LAVENDER FIELDS (FRANCE)
Lately I am giving more and more importance to
agricultural landscapes and this is why in the last years there has always been
many places related to rural landscapes and their seasonality. 2017 was the time
of lavenders, icon of the Provence region, both due to their outstanding
capacity to colour fields and to provide them with a distinctively nice smell.
As if they were purple worms going up and down the hills, this pattern of
alternating mounds and hollows gives
multiple possibilities to play with perspectives. After all, these dynamic
lavender fields constitute a super-organised layer overlying the aforementioned
entropy of nature. And consequently, to compensate this exceedingly high degree
of order, the chaos of two randomly arrived travellers.
6. CABO DE SÃO VICENTE (PORTUGAL)
6. CABO DE SÃO VICENTE (PORTUGAL)
The Algarvian coast is
very interesting, since it offers a wide variety in terms of geomorphology and so
aesthetics. In my opinion four different sections can be classified: the light-coloured, flat
beaches of barrier islands; the first cliffs
composed of soft, reddish rocks; the yellowish cliffs in the middle; and
lastly, the whitish cliffs of the south-west. But these are only general
characteristics, since when we look deeper into the area around São Vicente, we
can appreciate a huge diversity, with additional black and red coloured cliffs composed of schists and greywackes. And just because of the resistance of the
latter, erosion is almost completely non-existent, even if the ocean makes
constant use of its strongest waves. On this coast full of vertical walls,
beaches are not so common, and therefore, the existing ones feel like
precious stones among the lapis-lazuli coloured waters. And paradoxically, in
contrast with the millions of years required for the formation of the
aforementioned minerals and rocks, I always come back with the feeling that I did not
have enough time to explore all the corners in the region.
5. SENTIER DES OCRES, ROUSSILLON (FRANCE)
After so
many coastal and mountainous areas, we now move to a more arid place. I had the
chance to visit this place twice, after ending up at the doorstep of the trail
about which I am writing at the moment. In the so-called town of ochres, what I
most like is the tight relation between the natural and anthropic
environments, more evident than ever. Hence, the façades of the town houses are
the mere reflection of these peculiar stones so frequently present in the
surroundings, as if Mother Nature had painted the buildings with the available
tones. Regarding the trail, I was highly surprised by the perfect combination between
the wide range of warm colours of the rocks and the dark green hues of the
overlying pine trees. And the missing tones were perfectly
completed by the lavenders growing on this particular ochre soil. To my mind,
this appealing colourful spectacle had a clear purpose: to remind us that
humans and nature are and will always be dependent on each other.
4. ELS EMPEDRATS, CADÍ-MOIXERÓ (CATALUNYA)
Let us now move to the
mountains. In this case, I chose this place as a destination for no clear
reason, but anyway, mountains are always nice just because they are mountains.
Thus, the initial trail with various historical hermitages encouraged us to
keep on exploring. So the steep slope section followed after, although
the fatigue resulting from the hike uphill was very much compensated with the
more and more stunning views. Counterintuitively, as one goes higher in
altitude, plants get smaller, perhaps with the intention of being closer to us,
and albeit being April, the bushes exhibited tones typical of the autumnal
Atlantic forests. Finally, when we were nearly at the top, the snowy Pyrenean
summits in the background were playing mimicry games with the clouds above.
After sufficiently
enjoying the limitlessness of the top, we attacked the descent by crossing the
river multiple times, as if we had become fluids that could also move across the stream bed, to the extent of not discerning the river from the
hikers. It was true, it was certainly not necessary to look for information about the
mountain to justify the visit, not really, since the immensity of the mountains, along with the many surprises that are placed in front of you, is able to take your breath away, while also providing you with the air that fills you
up more than ever.
3. LES CALANQUES (FRANCE)
The coast has clearly dominated this year’s ranking,
although it is true that each site presents some special characteristics making
it different from the others. The so-called Calanques are as touristic as peaceful,
if those two adjectives are compatible, and they bear a certain resemblance
to the Scandinavian fjords, albeit with a Mediterranean touch. Mediterranean
fjords, therefore, if this concept makes any sense. As in all limestones, water
has drilled the rock here and there through calcium carbonate solution, generating
an uneven surface. And inside those narrow crevices, plants managed to grow from unimaginable places, apparently having found some stability in the
irregularities, if this is anyhow possible. Once the pioneer species have laid
the foundation, it is easier for the next ones to join them, giving rise to extensive
carpets of dark green colours that highly contrast with the surrounding turquoise
sea and whitish rocks. It is true, though, that this is just a contrast of calm
colours, which sounds like a slightly contradictory expression.
As touristic as peaceful, Mediterranean fjords,
plants stabilising in the irregularities, contrasts of calm colours… I
apologise for the lack of accuracy, but writing about beauty is essentially
imprecise, since languages have not yet invented appropriate words to describe
it.
2. JAIZKIBEL (BASQUE COUNTRY)
Almost every year I
feel in the need to reserve one of the top positions on the list to this Basque
treasure. As I always say, I find stunning spots every time that I head there,
and I still have so many hidden gems to discover. It is likewise true that the
visited areas were not new for me, but this time I managed to see all the points
that had separately impressed me in the same day. It was an exhausting, long
trek, including moments when we were lost, fighting against insects and thorny shrubs;
but it was simultaneously fruitful, pleasant and breathtaking, since you can
really feel the power of geology thanks to the alphabet of landforms created in
the abundant sandstones. From the blood-like rocks of Labetxu you can readily pass to a
beach of the extra-terrestrial paramoudras, and a bit later you can play with
the peculiar honeycombs capable of scaring the least sensitive trypophobics while
admiring the coves of bright blue water. There is a plant known as Armeria euscadiensis that grows almost exclusively in this mountain, so as this rare endemism
clearly portrays, there is only one Jaizkibel in the world.
1. GORGE DU VERDON (FRANCE)
Finally,
we will move to another beautiful site, which has won the gold medal of 2017 because
of both the landscape and the experience. Concerning the scenery, it is an
enormous canyon carved in limestone by the Verdon River and which guarantees an
amazing spectacle regardless of your point of view. In fact, colours have achieved a higher luminosity in this natural environment: vegetation is greener than ever,
the river has acquired uncommon turquoise hues and even the sedimentary
fluvial bars are very bright. Astonishingly, the very same river processes that I
have observed so many times in my professional life were present here, but far more
dramatic and intense than before, to the extent of shocking myself as well.
Moreover,
the experience was so valuable, since the most beautiful places also teach us lessons at the same level. In the beginning, the trip seemed so crazy, and in
fact, our emotional side was full of doubts. But as I learnt this year, it is
important to keep the mind-heart dichotomy plainly separated, in order to
choose to use one and/or the other and in this case, our mental side warmly
recommended that we went on. Leaving logic aside, we prioritised adventure, and
the events taking place throughout our way taught us incomparable lessons. Among
others, we learnt to connect with ourselves under the moonlight; to trust
ourselves and our personal resources; to go for risk rather than caution; to extract as
much magic as possible from each improvised step; and possibly the most
important one, to understand the real meaning of freedom, because we felt it
reachable, because all the limits that we encountered in everyday life had
suddenly vanished. Instead, the world was ours and we felt capable of doing
anything, which I personally find a pretty nice definition for freedom.
“As they did
not know that it was impossible, they made it” Anonymous.
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