Last Updated on 29 April 2024 by gerry

Behind the coastal hotel development of Santa Susanna there are a number of hills quite heavily populated by a hotch-potch of houses. The weather forecast is still predicting a violent storm at some point today, May Day, our anniversary day, probably after 1pm, so we take a notion in the morning for a quick excursion to explore one of these hilltop settlements. It is the “urbanisation” called Can Torrent and the steep streets winding their way up the hill have been named after the signs of the zodiac in Catalan.

By a rather fitting and sweet coincidence, we spend most of our time climbing up Carrer Àries (my sign) and Carrer Peixos (Pisces, Alison’s sign). Sadly this is not a picturesque location (apart from the stunning views). The heavy air is filled with the sounds of guard-dogs barking behind walls and fences of the houses, most of which display security / burglar alarm warnings. There is a high variation in the architecture of these houses and you can’t escape a feeling of their high state of vigilance.

We are encouraged by the improving view to march higher and higher until we make it to the summit. We take plenty of time to catch our breath and take in the views of Malgrat, Pineda and a different perspective of our hotel’s location in Santa Susanna. Then we delicately pick our way down the descent choosing a different route, which takes us to a set of streets named after mountain ranges, including Carrer Himalaia, Carrer Alps, Carrer Bulnes and Carrer Pirineus. Fortunately dissecting the climbing and descending streets at opportune points  there are pedestrian steps which save us a lot of time on the way up and the way down.

It is after 1pm by the time we return to sea-level and there is still no storm, so we head for some lunch at the Bon Repòs campsite restaurant, which is alive with other diners. The holiday menú del dia at €18.90 doesn’t really suit our appetite levels and we make do with a burger and spaghetti respectively. We sense the storm clouds are gathering so we request a pre-emptive move to a table under cover a good 15 minutes before the heavens actually open. All the exposed diners at that moment just pick up their tables and chairs and move them into shelter, while the team of staff look on bemused.

In the end the much awaited storm was really just this one relatively short shower, but nevertheless we retired home to our hotel for a lazy evening in front of the telly, later snacking on baguette, fresh tomatoes and mozzarella.