Last Updated on 29 April 2024 by gerry

We enjoyed a nice relaxing Friday morning at our apartment in the hotel today. In the afternoon we went to the beach in Malgrat de Mar for a little bout of sunbathing and swimming. We caught our first glimpse of the Senti la Costa Brava boat, which amazed us by sailing right up to the beach beside us for passengers to get off and on. The sea is just deep enough close to the sand to make this possible without a harbour or pier.

This boat operates a bit like a “sea bus” with a regular timetable of sailings with stops all the way from Calella to Tossa de Mar. It really only reaches the very southernmost parts of the Costa Brava,  from Blanes, Lloret de Mar and Tossa de Mar, so it wasn’t that attractive a proposition for us, even though the way it disembarks its passengers is quite cool.

When we got home we realised that the breezy conditions had let to a rather gung-ho approach to the sun protection and we both had some significant patches of sunburn developing. Our Friday night plan was to dine out in Malgrat de Mar at a restaurant called Casa Bella and then if time and trains were on my side, I was going to attend the jam session in Arenys de Mar one last time to meet a fella from Donegal called Roy.

Casabella is a very down to earth restaurant with a really friendly and relaxing vibe and the food is fantastic and great value. I had an asparagus starter and then we shared an enormous Vegetable Paella. It was a close call but I managed to just about catch a train to Arenys. When I got to El Celler the session had already started and Jaume was up on stage doing his thing surrounded by about 4 other musicians, only a couple of whom I recognised from the last time.

Then they called Roy up for a few songs. I was invited up on stage after that and I sang Rockin’ in the free world and my own Blind and Deaf Blues before going out to the street terrace to spend some time with Roy and Jaume.