Do you ever look back through your work and realize you never shared your photos from an epic trip? Yeah, me neither.
In the fall of 2021, Genevive and I spent an amazing month in Spain. After landing in Barcelona, we drove toward Valencia to start our trip in the magical mountain village of Chulilla.
We just showed up in the village, naively believing we would find a guest house or hostel with a room for us. All the rooms were booked, so we ended up sleeping in our tiny Fiat 500, resulting in one of my worst nights of sleep. We found an AirBnB for the next night in the next town over, which was lovely.
The climbing in Chulilla is largely south-facing, so it was pretty hot, but we did find shady crags with drippy limestone tufas and stalactites (exactly what we came to climb!).
Island Hopping to Mallorca
Genevive had to be on the island of Mallorca because she was guiding a retreat, so I spent a week on the other side of the island working on an editing project. I drove around and explored the island and its crazy, curvy mountain roads, and took time to focus on photographing landscapes. When she finished the retreat, we explored the island for a few days, taking in some of the climbing and the deep water soloing.
Steep Limestone in Rodellar
We returned to the mainland and made our way to the tiny village of Rodellar in Catalonia, home to some incredible steep limestone climbing. The most prominent feature is El Delfin, a 7c+ route that is somehow just as aesthetically beautiful as it is fun! Rodellar proved to offer some of our favorite climbing we experienced in Spain.
Capturing Spanish Architecture
I also really enjoyed focusing my camera on street scenes and the architecture in Spain. It made me envious that their builders are willing to take risks and try new things as well as hold on to some traditional techniques from centuries ago.
Conclusion
Our month in Spain ended with a few days exploring the Mediterranean coast, visiting castles, learning about pirates, and sightseeing in Barcelona. It was truly an incredible trip. We always talk about going back and living from Barcelona for some amount of time.