Our final full day saw us get our bags packed first thing. Hotel reception had a handheld digital suitcase scale which was a great help to figure out how much we could get in the big case for our 20kg. We seemed to be managing quite well considering we’d acquired a few items of clothing, although most of our toiletries were used up at this stage. With all that mundane stuff reassuringly sorted out so early, it felt like we still had the whole day to squeeze a bit more fun out of our trip. Continue reading “2023-05-09 – last full day: Sant Pol, Bon Repòs and heavy rain”
Tag: beach
2023-05-08 – hiking in Canet and our return to La Musclera beach
With two full days left, we opted to spend a bit of each day on a couple of our favourite beaches. I voted for La Musclera beach for today’s sunbathing, nestled between Caldes d’Estrac and Arenys de Mar. It’s a beach we first spent some proper sunbathing time on my birthday (31 March) and to our surprise we haven’t really been back to that particular stretch of sand. First though, we set off to hike up through Canet de Mar to Castell de Santa Fiorentina. It is the one remaining Catalan Game of Thrones location we have yet to see – it was used in the TV series as House Tarly. Continue reading “2023-05-08 – hiking in Canet and our return to La Musclera beach”
2023-05-06 – El Masnou, Alella, Cabrera and Estrac Pizzeria
As we count down the last few days of our stay in Catalonia, we plan some activites in places we haven’t yet visited. On our list of things to do is some wine tourism in Alella, so we have booked a tour for today at a winery called Alta Alella. Continue reading “2023-05-06 – El Masnou, Alella, Cabrera and Estrac Pizzeria”
2023-05-05 – Malgrat beach, Casa bella and jam session
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. Continue reading “2023-05-05 – Malgrat beach, Casa bella and jam session”
2023-05-02 – food and sun in Llavaneres / Caldetes
Now that the threat of the stormy weather (which never really materialised) is out of the way, our plan today is to go to a nice Catalan restaurant in Sant Andreu de Llavaneres called Pins Mar and afterwards walk along the coast towards Mataró and find a spot on the beach for a couple of hours in the afternoon. Continue reading “2023-05-02 – food and sun in Llavaneres / Caldetes”
2023-04-29 – cava on the beach
It’s Saturday and we are looking forward to yet another celebration over the weekend. On 1 May it will be two years since we first met each other. The weather forecasts are predicting a storm coming on Sunday and Monday so we are a bit circumspect on making too many weather-dependent plans. We had fancied a nice meal and a beach day on Monday, but we decide to defer that till Tuesday and return to the rooftop terrace / restaurant for a special meal on Sunday. For today we are mostly chilling out. Continue reading “2023-04-29 – cava on the beach”
2023-04-28 – beach day at Premià de Mar
There are still a few towns and many beaches in Maresme country, which we have yet to visit. Today we set off for Premià de Mar on a mission to take a look at the town, have some time on one of its beaches and then walk north to the next town of Vilassar de Mar. Continue reading “2023-04-28 – beach day at Premià de Mar”
2023-04-26 – daytrip to Sitges
We were out the door at 8.45am this morning – a (not so impressive) record for us on this trip. We were catching the 9am train into Barcelona Sants to change onto an R2 train to Sitges. A couple more firsts for us there: our first experience of the big railway station of Barcelona Sants and our first journey on a double decker train, which is what took us to the seaside resort of Sitges located to the south of Barcelona. Continue reading “2023-04-26 – daytrip to Sitges”
2023-04-22 – Sant Jordi’s eve spent in Malgrat
Having seen how lively Malgrat de Mar was yesterday evening, I suggested we go along again today (Saturday afternoon) to check out the Sant Jordi weekend atmosphere. It was another sunny / blustery day, so we brought our beach gear with us as an option. I showed Alison the back road to Malgrat that leads straight to the church square where the three florist shops are located, sporting their roses in many guises for Sant Jordi day. Continue reading “2023-04-22 – Sant Jordi’s eve spent in Malgrat”
2023-04-19 – sunbathing in Sant Pol de Mar
When we reviewed the stretches of the Maresme coastline we have already walked, it became apparent that we had almost covered the complete length of coast from Malgrat de Mar to Sant Andreu de Llavernes. Just one piece of the jigsaw remained unexplored: Sant Pol de Mar to Canet de Mar. That was today’s mission. Continue reading “2023-04-19 – sunbathing in Sant Pol de Mar”
2023-04-16 – Vermut time in Pineda de Mar
One conclusion of our Friday exploration of neighbouring town Pineda de Mar was that here we would find a great location to continue our Sunday vermut time tradition. There are plenty of cafes with seating in the big square of Plaça de les Mèlies and the smaller square, Plaça de Catalunya, home to the Ajuntament, Can Comas and one bar: Bar Barcelona. This bar was our first choice for a vermut time venue, but unfortunately although it seemed open we found it devoid of customers and therefore rather lacking in atmosphere. Every other cafe terrace in the bigger square was buzzing and there was a political rally ongoing at the furthest end of the square, along the dog-leg as it were. Continue reading “2023-04-16 – Vermut time in Pineda de Mar”
2023-04-15 – a simple Santa Susanna day
I think some wee beastie has bitten me on the eyelid. There is a bit of swelling and it’s quite itchy and uncomfortable. I’m happy enough to catch up on some computer stuff while Al has some sunbathing time by the pool. In the late afternoon we grab a light snack at La Pèrgola cafe attached to one of the three Aqua hotels here. Its menu is great value, for instance I had a tasty omelette sandwich for €3.50 and a glass of local red wine for just €2.50. Continue reading “2023-04-15 – a simple Santa Susanna day”
2023-04-06 – Sant Adrià de Besòs to Sant Martí, Barcelona
After such a successful jaunt down the coastline between Caldes and Sant Andreu yesterday we were fired up for a bigger expedition into Barcelona to see how the coastline into the city fares as a ramble. We got the train as far as Sant Adriá, which is on the northern outskirts of Barcelona and walked down to the beach. It is very industrial in this neck of the woods, but this is the last coastal train station heading into Barcelona on the R1 line and we had hopes that we could navigate ourselves on foot all the way into the first beaches of Barcelona proper. Continue reading “2023-04-06 – Sant Adrià de Besòs to Sant Martí, Barcelona”
2023-04-05 – Caldes, Sant Vicenç and Sant Andreu
Although we have enjoyed a couple of visits to the neighbouring town of Caldes d’Estrac, the southbound stretch of beach across the railway tracks remained unexplored, so that was our mission for today. Continue reading “2023-04-05 – Caldes, Sant Vicenç and Sant Andreu”
2023-04-04 – platja de Cavaió
Today was another restful day, taking it easy in Arenys de Mar. It was another lovely sunny day, so we donned our swimwear and headed to the beach beyond the docks in Arenys, which is called Platja de Cavaió, a very long wide beach. Even on a Tuesday afternoon we are seeing the beaches here more populated with sunbathers, people fishing with rods and even swimmers. I was determined to have another dip in the ocean myself. Continue reading “2023-04-04 – platja de Cavaió”
2023-03-31 – birthday no. 2
My fifty-sixth birthday has arrived! After a lovely lazy morning, the plan is to explore La Musclera beach near Caldes d’Estrac and in the evening I fancy going to the pizzeria there to eat. It’s menu is reasonably veggie-friendly and I like how they name all their pizzas after towns in Maresme. Continue reading “2023-03-31 – birthday no. 2”
2023-03-28 – Sant Pol de Mar
A sunny Tuesday and it was time for another excursion a few stops of the railway track. Our destination today was the small and apparently quite exclusive resort of Sant Pol de Mar, with a reputation for particularly lovely beaches. Continue reading “2023-03-28 – Sant Pol de Mar”
2023-03-02 – Arenys de Mar, our home from home for 6 weeks
It’s a Thursday morning and we’ve woken up in our new “home from home” for the next 6 weeks – Arenys de Mar in Maresme county in Catalonia, on the mediterranean coast just north of Barcelona. The “home from home” narrative is a keen reminder to ourselves not to slip too much into “holiday mode” eating and drinking out every night. An attempt to replicate the type of expenditure that might be routine at home. We’ll see how that works out for us. Continue reading “2023-03-02 – Arenys de Mar, our home from home for 6 weeks”