Badalona to Castelldelfels – Walked and Crawled on Six Crooked Highways

Thanks Bob. Twenty three miles of pain in Spain today. We got up at 6.45 am hundred hours and set off in the dark. Bitterly cold too first thing. It was an urban Odyssey today from Badalona, through the centre of Barcelona, out past the airport and down the coast to Castelldelfels. Strange apartment block in Barcelona.

I’m not a big fan of the place but it’s ok. Not the best city in the world, or in Spain. Cadiz, Seville, Malaga, San Sebastián and Madrid comfortably eclipse it, but then they are exceptional. Some impressive corners here though.

And seen from the other side.

We’re a bit broken. But we’ve both got the capacity to keep going when we’re exhausted. It’s what we do, even though we’re old bastards. Urban walking really hurts your soles. I’ve ditched me boots and switched to me Salomon walking shoes. Comfier on hard surfaces but you need to get a UK size bigger than your actual feet. I’m 8.5 but I need a 9.5 Salomon.

I’ve never seen as many coppers as there were in Barcelona this morning. Closing roads and warding off traffic. We thought it must be some Palestinian protest but it turned out to be a marathon speed walk.

Some impressive buildings and landmarks here as well.

The only feasible route out of the city was walking alongside a motorway, as we had done first thing when the traffic was light. As we got closer to the airport the hard shoulder disappeared and we had to follow an exit route into an industrial area. It was difficult to navigate as it was attached to the seaport and the airport and most roads ended at factory or warehouse gates.

After several hours circumnavigating the airport we ended up on a direct road to Castelldelfels. Having walked underneath a motorway and exiting through a hole in a barbed wire fence. It isn’t always mountains and waterfalls.

This was farmland now, with leeks being a prized crop as well as artichokes, which we’re developing on the plants.

And there was a big plant by the side of the road. A weed.

After 9 hours of walking we made it finally to Castelldelfels. And into a seafront restaurant. Gary had some cannelloni and I rewarded myself with a rib eye steak. Fab. But as my teeth are mostly not really my teeth it took the best part of 45 minutes to eat it.

Then we found a hotel as the sun went down.

Nice place and we’ll sleep long and deeply tonight.

Night night.