21.1 km today.
128.1 km this trip.
2286 km from start.
0 metres minimum height.
15 metres maximum height.
27 metres ascent.
28 metres descent.
Track Log: Logged.
Travel: Train.
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Vilassar-de-Mar-to-Canet-de-Mar.kml
Vilassar-de-Mar-to-Canet-de-Mar.gpx
Marine parades, beach paths, railway line parallel path and short road legs.
We are back to the 07:00 train (07:04 today). At Villasar de Mar, we started the walk in dull gray weather. The route was mostly along beach paths and marine parades. Some stretches used a track parallel with the railway with no fence between the track and the rails. We took to the road for a couple of short legs. Later it got quite wet. The nicest walk in the world is not so good if your view consists of a circle of black umbrella fabric. Even so the day was worthwhile.
Another feature of poor weather is the lack of good breaks. A ten minute snooze and bask in the sun does wonders for the legs and feet. If you are flushed out by the cold and the wet before a decent rest, the walk becomes much more tiring.
Today I have virtually no notes as it was cold. I failed to mention yesterday that our lunch place was shared with two nudistos. One took his clothes off and sat down like everyone else. The other disported himself to make sure that he did not go unnoticed. He thought he had a beautiful body and wanted to make sure we all saw it. Later we saw a third man standing in the da Vinci code position. His concession to the public nature of the beach was a minuscule jock strap.
We caught our train from Arc de Triomf. Tomorrow we will try and get an earlier one as there are fewer trains beyond Matarò. This should not be a problem as we only missed it today by one minute. Neil had forecast a rainy day today as Barcelona had been so clearly visible yesterday. He was right. The wind was coming from the north and planes were again landing in the wrong direction. Our walk was mainly along the beach or along the railway line. Just occasionally we had to do a short stretch along the road. As the whole of Spain was out and about, cars were moving at little more than walking pace and there was a pavement so it wasn't too bad. At one point access was denied to all but service vehicles and bikes. Soon the road ended and we went along the beach for a short distance. The only way out was up a steep rocky cliff. We thought about trying it but we didn't know if there weren't others even more precarious later on. If it was a long stretch it was just too hard. A man on a bike overtook us but he too decided against it.
Later when we were on the road above this cliff we did see two cyclists come down this stretch and from above we could see that the rest was actually quite passable but we didn't know it. We also spent a bit longer on another stretch or road thinking that it was unsafe to walk along the railway line. Eventually we decided to cross the line and have a look and there was in fact a nice little track away from the line so you could get along it easily and safely. Some of our route today was on the GR83 Camí del nord o del Canigó. This soon headed inland and off our route so we were on our own again.
Today it was frescito with frequent showers. These were not especially heavy but were straight in your face. I can see why Norfolk road builders would only work with the wind at their back – allegedly.
Today we saw yellow horned poppies, dark pink bunny flowers and a tiny but prolific purple mezzie. We had a number of short breaks but they were not very relaxing and we were glad we had done three extra kilometres yesterday in order to finish earlier today. The callouses are coming off my blisters from the February walk and new ones are forming beneath them. My sandals are much better this time but still not good. I shan't buy Rohans again.
Add in Barcelaona (sic) and Henrietta Dombey who woke me when I had gone to sleep in the evening and aging the following morning before I had woken up.