Castell, Platja d’Aro

This past weekend we made a trip up the coast to the Costa Brava! Actually got out the city!

We almost didn’t go. Friday both cats went to the vets. AJ was back in today for tests and is back next week for a biopsy regarding his tummy issues. Mr D may have a thyroid issue and will back in a month or 2 for his tests. Then the internet still wasn’t working. Both red alarms on the boxes until Friday evening, then just one alarm. After calling Movistar Saturday morning, an engineer was coming in the afternoon to fix it. I felt slightly dumb as a cable had been installed incorrectly, but no-one had touched it since it was installed last year! We ended up setting out much later than scheduled (which included a roof top workout! I’ll continue Saturday roof top workouts until it gets too cold. I have more of a weekend without going the gym, but I still need my fix!).

I wanted to walk the path from Cala Francesc, a cove we went to in the summer. It followed the rocky shoreline, which was unfortunately early evening closed off. I’d seen people walking along it and wanted to explore it! I thought set off from there and see where it goes. That was the idea. Tom Tom took us to a completely different part of the coast (input error?!). A few wrong turns, we ended up in Castell, Platja d’Aro. Light was fading, but I was determined to walk part of the Costa Brava. It was the last day of daylight savings and I wanted to spend it outdoors! I don’t like the shorter days. I like the lighter mornings, I don’t like that it gets dark eventually around 5.30pm. You get used to, but thankfully in 2 months, the days get longer again! P was game, so we set off.

We took the path left from the beach. One of the ‘wrong turns’ we found a pretty cove/cala Cristus Ses Torretes. It wasn’t far from Platja d’Aro on the motorbike, so I thought it would be easy to walk to.

Cala Cristus Ses Torretes, Calonge

Normally on these walks when the light’s fading it’s around a full moon. It had been overcast all day, no moonlight! That didn’t stop us passing through 7 coves or more along the part of the Cami de Ronda (built in the 19th Century by the Guardia Civil to control the coastline and stop smugglers). Scrambling over rocks, up and down steps, through short tunnels (one with a song bird roosting in!), along narrow winding paths, we followed the ronda until hitting a locked gate. If the moon had been out, I’m sure we’d explored further to that cove. We climbed a bank to see if there was a short cut around the gate. There was, but no moon, no go! We had torches on our phones but only used them in the short tunnels. It wasn’t that dark, but dark enough, if you’ve been eating your carrots to see. You could see the water was clear, so it’s easy to see why it’s such a popular tourist destination! 

After taking over the kids beach playground back at Platja d’Aro, we decided to explore the town, which reminded me of Juan les Pins and Cannes in France. Set along a high street with a mix of boutiques and typical Spanish high street stores, we walked until the amusement arcade, where it was game on with a round of Dodgem’s! 

Sunday, by the time back from a run (really need to run earlier!) and chores done, it was too late to get to the Delta de L’Ebre in time vs daylight or even a trip to the zoo. Instead the next best thing, bike ride to the W hotel then Barceloneta for vegan pizza and ice cream!

I hope you had a great weekend! Dodgems or skip ’em?