Memories of many month long summer vacations in the Catalan part of the Pyrenees in and around the small village of UR were rekindled when reading 'Badlands and Border Towns' by Julian Allason in How to Spend It magazine (Financial Times).
The Train Jaune ('Yellow Train') was part of the excitement and also a valuable transport resource since my parents did not own a car at the time.
There were also visits across the border to Puigcerda with lunch in the park by the lake and sometimes to the enclave of LLivia. On numerous occasions we took the short cuts through the country side.
This is where I discovered Lamb Chops and 'hand caught' trout (not by me, not quite lawful either).
Amongst the local treats we would enjoy Turron ( a hard round almond confection) and Anis (round like pebbles).
Long lazy afternoons would be spent exploring the nearby mountains, building 'dams' out of rocks in the local stream (small ones), playing Petanque and on week-ends watching Sardanes dances make their long and repetitive motions.
Unfortunately for now the 'Badlands and Border Towns' story is not available online.
Related stories: A ride on the 'Little Yellow Train'
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