Visit to Peratallada

Today we left Pineda de Mar and en route to l'Estartit, visited the delightful medieval town of Peratallada.  It was unusual in that it would have been built with 3 enclosures with walls and towers and not just one.

Entering the town by the Gate of the Virgin Mary. 

 Underneath the bridge is a moat 20ft deep (no water now). 

Exploring the narrow streets.

 

Part of the palace-castle.
 

The restaurant behind the keep of the castle where we had a super lunch.

My main course of duck confit.

 

John's Catalan sausage and beans.

 

Chocolate and orange cake/Mille Feuille with strawberries to follow.

 
The Church of Sant Esteve.

 A small town, well worth the visit.

Then we continued for another 20 minutes to the coast again and settled at Camping Les Medes at l'Estartit - now on the Costa Brava.  We needed to have a good stretch before eating another meal, so walked the 20 mins. each way to the sea and back not long before dark.
Looking out to Illes Medes

 and the town of l'Estartit - to be explored tomorrow. 

Camping Bellsol, Pineda de Mar

Yesterday, Wednesday 26th February, we left the Camperstop after a very windy night.  Wind is very rarely strong enough to rock our van, but this time it was!  The gusts kept us awake for an hour or more, but at least we didn't have anything outside to get battered about.  In the morning someone's folded chairs and table, which were probably underneath their van when they went to bed, were out in the middle of the parking area.  The abandoned Swiss van had been driven out early evening - we don't know if that was by the owner or the police - will always be a mystery.

We came north, bypassing Barcelona by the outer motorway.  Just south of the city are these very rocky mountains.

 Then we came back to the coast at Pineda de Mar and booked in for 2 nights. 
In the evening we finished a rather tricky jigsaw that the Kings gave us for Christmas.  A reminder of home - no, not because we have no roof since Dennis passed through Horsham! - Nymans NT.

 Today, Thursday, we cycled along the coast to Malgrat de Mar. 

 There were a lot of people around in the town but again, hardly any shops open at all.  We ate our picnic on one of the seats in front of the church and then explored further towards the hills.  Then we spotted a funicular and wondered if it was working.  A lady was standing by the open lift waiting for her husband who was behind us.  She ushered us in, pressed a button and up we all went.  The chap pointed out the button to press when we wanted to go down.   So it's free to use by anyone.
Good views from the top.

 We didn't use the lift to come down, but walked steeply down and through a park.  We really liked the part for younger children.

Although quite breezy here, we've left those strong winds behind.  But this is another part of the coast that was badly battered by the January storm.  Here the fences are all down.

 Watching the pounding waves.

 The cycle track has been uprooted in several parts.

La Selva del Camp

We've been experiencing a bit of a lack of wifi - ie. we are using too much data on the phone, so yesterday we found suitable shop and invested in a Spanish Sim, 10€ for 7Gb to last us till we leave Spain.  Took a bit of sorting out last night, but this morning we are in business ....

So we need to go back to Monday 24th February - we left Peniscola and drove 80 miles north and then inland on the outskirts of Tarragona to a small town called La Selva del Camp.  It was quite a palava to enter the Camperstop as there was a large notice beside the barrier giving a phone number for the local police!  A very jolly German chap came over from his van to guide us through the procedure.  He said there would be 2 policemen and sure enough they drove up to us, asked for a passport and 10€ to stay for 2 nights and gave us a code for the barrier.  Jolly chap told us the van in the corner had arrived a bit before us and police only left about 3 minutes before we came! We assume there's no crime around these parts to give them the time to do this several times a day!  But there was more drama than this - they came back later because the van opposite us in this photo

had apparently been there for 5 days (only 2 allowed) and they hadn't paid.  Mr. Jolly said no people came back to the van the night before - he was wondering if they might have had an accident in the mountains, or even dead in the van!  He added that he couldn't smell anything though!!!  Anyway, the police spent quite a while walking around it and then decided to issue a ticket!

We then went off, first to find a geocache a few yards along the lane, which was an interesting one because we found a small box hidden on a road sign and that contained the co-ordinates of the final cache and a key.  That took us to a large box attached to a tree up on the bank(the black blob on the
middle tree) and the key fitted the lock! 

John is returning the key to its hiding place.

 We explored the town a bit then, but did a lot more of that yesterday, Tuesday 25th February.  The old part has several archways and very narrow streets and the new part has a lot of fairly modern housing. 
 
 
Part of an aqueduct built in 14C to work a mill.

 We continued on up past the town with views across to Tarragona and the sea.  Up here, there are a few remote houses with olive groves and other bare-branched trees that we don't recognise.

 It had been cloudy and breezy a lot of the day, but we watched this blue coming for some time!

 From then on it was back to business as usual with beautiful sunshine.  Lots of geocaches to find here (hence needing the extra Gb's - this one outside a school, very cleverly disguised as part of the fence.  It slid down nicely between the posts.

 Towards the end of the walk we came past this blossoming field.  I think it is almond.

And so to today - we've survived a night of extremely strong winds!!   We don't remember the van buffeting around so much ever before!  At one point, around 2.30, John got up and had a look around outside and two other (of the 8 on the camperstop) chaps were also checking things out.  Apart from keeping us awake for a couple of hours, we are unscathed.  One pair of Germans must have had their chairs and table folded underneath their van - found this morning some distance away!

It's still very gusty now as we prepare to move on - hoping it calms down soon.

Peniscola - lunch and more exploring

Yesterday (Saturday 22nd February) we took it pretty easy most of the day.  It's something about the sunshine - to sit and read, do a bit of a jigsaw or a crossword and maybe doze for a little while.  We decided to try out the restaurant here - it looks very smart from outside and, we soon discovered, very smart on the inside too. 
 
But eating is so cheap!  It was slightly more expensive than at Tropicana - 12.50€ instead of 12.00€ - for a 3-course meal including a bottle of wine. Just got to put some pictures on the blog ....
John's starter was paella and this is my onion soup.

My main was a very tender grilled tuna steak - John had lamb.

We both finished with a calorie-loaded chocolate pudding!!

 Our chilling out  pitch on the campsite.

 Just to give us a bit of exercise, we cycled along the prom to the next town, Benicarlo, about 3 miles away, and back for a light supper. 

This morning, instead of cycling along the seafront into Peniscola, we went behind the campsite and followed the track through the nature reserve.  Most of this is a boardwalk over the swamp. 

Not many of the shops are open in February, but the orientals seem to be open all hours.  So finding Gran Bazar Chino Ningkang Wu open, we just had to go in and have a look around.  They stock just about everything.  John was delighted to find a 10m stretchable pipe!!

Should one wish to purchase a plastic box, they probably have the desired size .....

 

 Carried on cycling around the south bay beyond the old town and castle and climbed the hill for the super views.

 I rather liked my villa on the hill.

 Then back to the old town to explore a bit more.

 Looking south over the harbour.

 Being Sunday, quite a lot of restaurants and shops were open.

 A wall of shells.

 Just one of the attractive narrow streets.

Another enjoyable day in Peniscola - but decided to move on again tomorrow.