Unbeknownst to me, my girlfriend organised a secret weekend away for my 30th birthday.
Bright and early Saturday morning, she led me and her father (who was visiting for the weekend) down to Plaza Cataluña, from where I thought we'd catch a train to... I wasn't sure, but Girona? Madrid? Zaragosa? Nope, not the train station, but instead into Pepe Car to pick up our reservation, followed by a secretive drive for 3 hours into the mountains to Gotarta.
We arrived at a lovely Casa Rural in a tiny little village, with very welcomming hostess who took our dinner orders and sent us out for a walk in the hills.
Back at the house, after watching a field of sheep being driven home to the barn, it was 9.30pm, an open log fire is making us feel toasty, and still no sign of dinner actually being served, even though some fantastic smells were eminating from the kitchen. I mentiond my developing hunger in passing, but then you can never rush a rural dinner - it's ready when it's ready.
Suddenly, my friend Sam puts his head round the corner, and my mind does a summersault of emotions between the ordinary "Oh, hi Sam" and the slighly more concerned "But what the hell are you doing here?!"As the others also appear at the fireplace, it falls into place - suprise!
Suddenly the table is laid, dinner is served in seconds, and the full plan is revealed: We going white water rafting tomorrow!
And here we all are, kitted up in attractive wetsuits, lifejackets and helmets. It was a fantastic experience, and I think I want to do it again!
Many thanks to Eirin, Alf, Rob, Aleks, Ana, Sam, and Najat, you are all amazing!
