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Home , Catalan donkey, Ebro Delta, Province of Tarragona, Tortosa

pedelon travels by eBike CA TAL O

+++NIA God is in no hurry. (Antoni Gaudí i Cornet) +++ trilingual culture nation in search of independence +++ 1000 years of Catalan history on the path of the white monks +++ rugged mountains, golden coast and exotic rice fi elds +++ Catalan and Spanish bull ++ + Air, sun and lemons give the doctor little work. (Catalonian proverb) +++ the hairy resists the balding +++ noble wine from the priory of the Carthusian Monastery of the Deity +++ I admire Picasso. Nobody sold his oil for as much as he did. (Salvador Dalí) +++ L’Ermita, Clos Erasmus and Finca Dofi +++ For the fi rst time I was in a city where the working class was sitting in the saddle. (George Orwell, 1938) +++ Silence and loneliness in front of the sacred mountain +++ burnt onions, black rice and soggy dried fi sh +++ Ro- mans, Moors and Christians created ’s troubled heart +++ human castles of strength, balance, courage and Spirit +++ Votamos para ser libres. (We choose to be free) +++ Beach, dunes, lagoons and swamp at the end of the river +++

Our tour of the Penedès and the in 7 days, maximum 14 people, two double overnight stays.

Hotels ***** Gastronomy ***** Culture **** Nature ***** Sant Sadurní Penedès Parc Natural de la Serra de Montsant Barcelona Villafranca Priorat de Penedès

o Ebr Cornudella Travel dates 2020 de Montsant EKA1: Saturday, 09-may-2020 to Saturday, 16-may-2020 Falset Reserva Natural EKA2: Saturday, 30-may-2020 to Saturday, 06-jun-2020 Llaberia EKA3: Saturday, 12-sep-2020 to Saturday, 19-sep-2020 EKA4: Saturday, 19-sep-2020 to Saturday, 26-sep-2020

Tortosa L‘Ampolla Traveling price 2020 Price per person in the DR for 7 nights with half-board, by eBike eBike, entrance free, transfers, guided tours: 1930 € L‘Eucaliptus by bus or train 10 km Single-room surcharge: 450 € Does not include lunch, drinks and your personal expenses as well as travelling there and back.

Catalonia 2020 pedelon. travels by eBike +49 (0)89 61466980 www.pedelon.com 1 pedelon travels by eBike

Flight Booked by you or at your request by pedelon. Flight to/from Barcelona with Lufthansa directly to/from Frankfurt or Munich and transfer from almost all German airports. Target airport Barcelona from/to Munich (as available): 480 € Flights from other German airports as well as flights from airports in other countries on request.

Train From Germany, Austria and Switzerland the train will take at least 10 hours to Barcelona including several changes of trains (for example the fastest connection from Frankfurt with ICE and AVE in less than 12 hours). Further information can be found at www.bahn.de.

Car There are continuous motorway connections to Barcelona. From Berlin the distance is 1,900 km, from Frankfurt 1,500 km, from Munich 1,350 km and from Hamburg 1,800 kilometers. Parking in the Catalan metropolis is generally extremely limited and very expensive. If you need a car for an extra stay after your trip, the combination of flight and car rental in Spain will be the better choice due to the favorable conditions. Probably the cheapest and at the same time safe car parks in Barcelona are the parking garages of the company parkingviajeros, where you can park your car for 7 €/day. An advance booking via the website is recommended.

Participation conditions The arrangement contains the above services. Our terms and conditions apply.

After the booking confirmation, the “pedelon travel information” is sent, which provides useful information regarding your travel to Barcelona and other tips about the trip.

Catalonia 2020 pedelon. travels by eBike +49 (0)89 61466980 www.pedelon.com 2 pedelon travels by eBike

In the varied landscapes between the Pyrenees and the Mediterranean,CATALONIA the Catalan culture is alive and omnipresent. Its spirit derives from millennial churches, venerable monasteries, defi ant castles and winding quarters of the old town, as well as the form-rich aesthetics of the Nouveau. From Gaudí’s buildings to the Carthusian and Cistercian stony evidence of faith, from the Torre Gloriès in Barcelona to the Roman buildings in Tarragona, from the mountains of the Montsant to the marshlands of the Delta – on picturesque trails, our eBike journey leads us through a unique region whose largely unknown outback is worth a discovery.

From the airport you can take a taxi to our partner hotel in Bar- 1st day, Sunday: Barcelona – Vilafranca del Penedès, celona in less than half an hour. The „NH Collection Barcelona 34+18 km Pódium“, a tastefully restored 19th-century building, is in the he- After a hearty breakfast, the bike tour begins with a guided bike art of the metropolis, near the shopping and cultural area around tour through the still sleepy Barcelona. Annotated by a local art Plaza de Cataluña. The Arc de Triomf and Parque de la Ciudadela expert, the route leads right through the Barri Gòtic and highlights are within walking distance, and the Palau de la Música concert the architectural achievements of Antoni Gaudí, Sagrada Familia venue and Las Ramblas are nearby. A perfect house to immerse Cathedral, Casa Milà and other monuments. yourself in this lively city and afterwards escape the bustle on the

After this unforgettable city tour, the train will take us to Sant Sa- durní in an hour, where the bikes will be adjusted to you. Taking all the time necessary, our eBike and its proper use will be explained by the pedelon travel companions. The fi rst eBike stage of this journey leads through the gently roof terrace (swimming pool). For dinner we will meet in the hotel rolling hills of Penedès, one of Spain’s most important wine-gro- hall at 8 pm. From there it is only a few minutes by taxi to a Ca- wing regions. It’s perfect to familiarize yourself with the built-in talan specialty restaurant, which has been run with much passion tailwind of our wheels. The traces of viticulture can be traced back by the same family since 1786. in this region to the 4th century BC. Many wealthy Romans owned

Catalonia 2020 pedelon. travels by eBike +49 (0)89 61466980 www.pedelon.com 3 pedelon travels by eBike their own wineries and even Pliny the Elder appreciated the excel- In the vicinity of Bisbal de Falset there is a geological and histo- lent wines. rical feature to visit: in the “Cave of Santa Llúcia”, an enormous rock overhang, not only remains of a Neolithic settlement were Today, it is above all the cava for which the region is famous. A discovered, but it also served as emergency hospital for repu- small tasting of this specialty awaits our guests just outside the blican troops during the . In 1938, a few days town of Vilafranca, in the winery Mastinell. The associated design before the beginning of the Ebro battle, the cave was equipped hotel “Cava & Hotel Mastinell“, with its eccentric architecture ins- with about 80 beds, an operating room and a pharmacy. Both pired by a cava shelf, also serves as a noble hostel. republican soldiers and prisoners of war from the other side and injured people from the area were treated there. 2nd day, Monday: Vilafranca del Penedès – , 77 km On the slightly hilly morning stage, our eBikes can show their advantage when crossing the small mountain range “Alts de Mas Serè”. The cultural highlight on this route is the “Reial Monestir Santa Maria de ” on the banks of the Gaià. This river had long formed a natural border between Moorish-occupied and Christian areas. The outer walls of the “royal monastery” remind The afternoon stage runs in large parts through the small but of a fortress for a good reason. It is considered one of the most fine wine-growing area of​​the priory. For travelers, this region is important and best-preserved testimonies of Cistercian architec- still an insider tip, but international wine connoisseurs have been ture in the Iberian Peninsula. keeping an eye on it for several years. The Priorat is one of two wine-growing regions that meets the standards of the highest Spanish quality award DOC (denominación de origen calificada). The roots of this wine culture go back to the past. They have their starting point in an ancient Carthusian monastery, the “Cartoixa de Santa Maria d ‘Escaladei” (visit). In 1194, Alfonso I donated the lonely land at the foot of the mountains to the Order. These should help to newly cultivate and populate the area just recovered by the Saracens in the spirit of Christianity. Second night in “El Palauet del Priorat”. For dinner, a restaurant invites you in the village. After the lunch break, our accompanying bus takes us in less than half an hour through an area where cycling is not so inte- resting, before we get back on our e-bike and ride through the 4th day, Wednesday: Cornudella de Montsant – , peaks of the “Muntanyes de Prades”, the up to 1093-meter-high 73 km pre-mountain range of the “”. In the pretty town of Through vineyards, the route heads south again to Falset, the Cornudella, in front of the impressive backdrop of the towering capital of the present-day district of Priorat. After a coffee break mountain massif of Montsant, waits the stylishly decorated house in the pretty town, a half-hour transfer with the bus to “El Palauet del Priorat” (double night). Today, dinner will be served with its imposing castle from the 9th century, situated directly in a nearby restaurant which is praised by the locals. on the Ebro, follows. The impregnable medieval fortress of Arab origin was later passed to the Templar and is very well preserved. We continue by eBike to Pinell de Brai in the wi- 3rd day, Tuesday: Round tour Montsant and Priorat, ne-growing region of . 70 km The local winery of Sindicat Agrícola is world famous. Not without On an extensive round trip through the natural park “Sierra de reason it is considered a masterpiece among the wine cathedrals Montsant”, one encounters an unspoiled landscape that reminds of Catalonia. Its builder, César Martinell, perfected the architectu- in places of the American Wild West. Limestone eroded by rain ral interplay of form and function here. But that’s not all: he also and wind reveals itself in bizarre shapes and, depending on the allowed the entire range of artistic and stylistic means of his time incidence of the sun, in a wide variety of shades. Rivers have dug to flow into this unique building. The Catedral del Ví of El Pinell de deep gorges into the massif over the millennia, with goshawks, Brai combines the aesthetics of modernism and the functionality golden eagles and peregrine falcons nesting on the cliffs. of Noucentisme.

Catalonia 2020 pedelon. travels by eBike +49 (0)89 61466980 www.pedelon.com 4 pedelon travels by eBike

Already in the , the Camino Natural del Baix coots and flamingos were counted. Ebre (“Lower Ebro Valley”) serves as an original and sometimes spectacular bike route. The former railway track through the lo- nely landscape of the Sierra de Pandols usually leads in sight of the Ebros to Tortosa. The end of the railway traffic came in 1973, when the spillage of a tunnel was the reason for the discontinua- tion of rail traffic.

The tour ends in the town of Sant Carles de la Ràpita, at the time of the Moors a highly important spiritual and religious center. The escort bus takes you back from the Delta in a three-quarters-hour drive to the castle hill of Tortosa (second night in the ). Today, the restaurant is located in the old town of Tortosa, with a focus on the local products of the . After arrival in Tortosa, the medieval town near the Ebro Delta, you can enjoy its Mediterranean climate and the charm of its winding old town – especially from the castle Zuda towering above the 6th day, Friday: Tortosa – Tarragona, 21 km center. The „Parador de Zuda“, housed within its walls, will serve Directly in front of the hotel begins the only 21 km long route to as the princely dwelling for the following two nights. Dinner will be the station of L’Ampolla, a beautiful little village at the southern served in a Catalan specialty restaurant. end of the now unfortunately completely sprawled and overbuilt “Costa Daurada”, emerged from a fishing village with many res- taurants and some ice cream parlors. By train it takes about half 5th day, Thursday: Round tour through the Ebro Delta, an hour to the provincial capital Tarragona. Called by the Rom- 69 km ans , the city was during the Roman Empire capital of the After breakfast in the stately furnished dining room of the Pa- province of Citerior. From this time numerous buildings radors, there is a short way which is unsuitable for cycling, and have been preserved. The walls that surround the old town were that’s why our bus will take us in direction to the sea. After taking built in the 3rd century BC. Built in the 6th century and overbuilt in over the eBikes, the bike tour begins with a landscape that could the Middle Ages. At the sea, the steps of the Roman amphitheater not have been more different compared to the previous days: the rise, which, at that time, had a capacity of over 12,000 people. trail leads across wide sandy beaches, through bird sanctuaries Here were fights between gladiators and wild animals. There is and rice fields into the center of the Ebro Delta. With an area of​​ also a theater outside the city wall, where the height difference of about 320 km², it is the second largest in Spain and the terrain was used for the sitting steps, and a circus for chariot after the Nile Delta, the second largest delta in the Mediterrane- races is preserved in remnants. The historic old town lies between an. 4,000 years ago, the history of this landscape began, which the Mediterranean and the ancient city walls. In this area is the owes its present appearance to agriculture. Through the creati- on of small irrigation channels with a total length of about 450 km, sediments could be deposited over the centuries, which the Ebro from the Pyrenees, the Cantabrian coastal mountains and the mountains in the center of Spain brings along. This resulted in a flat swampland and with sand dunes and lagoons with fresh water, overgrown with reeds, just above sea level. The Ebro Delta is the largest rice-growing region in Spain, and about 20,000 hectares of rice are grown and irrigated.About one third of the total area was declared as a natural park (Parc Natural del Delta de l’Ebre) with a total area of ​​80 km² in 1983. The entire is a species-rich breeding and resting area for many Cathedral of Santa María. It stands on the site where once the Ro- species of birds, but it also serves as a wintering area for migra- man temple of Jupiter and later a Moorish mosque were located. tory birds from northern Europe. In one count, about 300 different This conglomeration of various influences is explained in detail native bird species, migratory birds, ducks, herons, waders, gulls, after a lunch break on a guided city tour. To be able to digest this

Catalonia 2020 pedelon. travels by eBike +49 (0)89 61466980 www.pedelon.com 5 pedelon travels by eBike overwhelming variety of impressions, our partner house is about 5 km outside Tarragona, the boutique hotel “Mas La Boella”, a spacious, very tasteful complex (swimming pool). The associated restaurant enjoys the best reputation and pampers our guests once again on the final evening with successful reinterpretations of regional delicacies.

7th day, Saturday: Tarragona – Barcelona Depending on which flight has been booked, the pedelon bus will take you to the train station of Tarragona during the morning. Our tour guides will gladly assist you in choosing a suitable connecti-

on to Barcelona. The train along the coast takes about two hours to reach Barcelona-Sants central station, from there it takes ano- ther 20 minutes by S-Bahn to the airport. For late home flights, Tarragona and Barcelona have a lot of interesting things to do to spend the complete day there.

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