Books, Hikes and Feasts

Spring brings hope

We all know 2020 has been a very hard and challenging year for all of us. Besides wars, international conflicts, and abuses of power around the world, the coronavirus pandemic spreads readily.

Friends and acquaintances have lost their jobs, have had to cancel workshops or close their business.

This year, 2021, the end of the coronavirus pandemic seems to be on the horizon, but viral variants and vaccine logistics seem to push back the finish line. No one knows when this coronavirus pandemic will end and what for our lives and societies will bring in the future.

Regardless, last week of February has brought sunny days, high temperatures and some violets and snowdrops on gardens and meadows. And a very, very good new!

A friend of mine, Meritxell-Anfitrite, publisher, traveller, mountaineer, and writer has opened a bookshop in the middle of the Pyrenees, in the village of Alins, a region I hiked many, many years ago, when I was young.

I still have the map I used in the seventies!:

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She has converted an old barn into a cozy bookshop, cafe and grocery.

In this project, Meritxell-Anfitrite has mixed a lot passion, love, energy, courage, know-how and experience. The result is astonishing, really!

The bookshop – NaturaLlibres –, is specialized in Nature, mountainering, hiking, outdoor, maps, and guides. NaturaLlibres promotes the culture and love for Nature through readings with authors and other events.

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The Cafe – La Xurreta – offers coffees and herbal teas from wild plants of the region, el Pallars Sobirá, and hand made biscuits and cookies while leafing through the books at your leisure.

In the grocery, you’ll find tasty regional products as sausages, cheeses, and many more products for enjoying delicious meals after hiking in the Pyrenees.

Good news that brings us fresh air and hope in the times we live in!

A must for the lovers of literature and nature. But be careful, and don’t forget the need to mitigate human impacts on species and natural systems.