From Pyrenees to the seaside It was very interesting to ride down from Pyrenees to France and observe the changes in the countryside: first clearly mountainous environment, which then changed into forests and fields that felt like at home in Czech. But after a while the countryside changed again into a typical southern French, sunny, full of vineyards, castles and the typical architecture. Through the vineyards I went to Carcassonne, where the famous fortress is actually a fortified medieval town rather than a castle. And from there I followed a very pleasant route around the astonishing Canal du Midi, which connects the Atlantic with the Mediterranian. I continued along the canal all the way to the coast. There I gave my last good bye to the sea at this trip…

After reaching Andorra by passing through a still active border control post, everything started to seem being built vertically. The capital, Andorra la Vella, is in the main valley, which is narrowly squeezed in between two steep mountain walls. Lot of petrol stations at the border and luxury brands in the city indicate a different taxation than in Spain. Otherwise is Andorra prepared mainly for winter tourism and skiing. However, even in summer, when one leaves the city in any direction – and therefore up the mountains – there is a lot to see. The only trouble is that the Pyrenees are composed of long continuous mountain ridges with no passes or lower sections – so to get a nice view one has to get at the very top of…

From Murcia to Valencia Starting from Almería and following the coast of Murcia and Valencia northeast one can find populated lowlands alternating with rarely populated places where the hill ridges reach all the way to the coast. First example of the latter is around Cabo de Gata, then in Sierra Cabrera, then in Calnegre etc. These areas have relatively low but steep ridges, where the environment looks once like in mountains, next time like in a different country altogether – making an impression of being in a desert or an arid steppe somewhere in central Asia. From Valencia to Catalonia Through Valencia I headed towards Barcelona. The countryside started to visibly change during the way: more of green colour, for the first time (with the exception of mountains around Granada)…