L'Estartit (Day 2)

This morning we were glad we'd decided to cross the border into Spain. Isn't this wonderful Marge, waking up to a beautiful morning on the Costa Brava? Costa, make mine a vanilla latte. Not that Costa Marge! Shadows dissected the ground as the sunlight crept over the parched earth and spurts of green emerged from cervices in the rocks that towered over us. In the trees the birds fussed. We were glad that we could just sit and enjoy it all. 

Today we planned to walk out to a cove on the outskirts of the town, but before setting out we put on a wash and John attended to a problem with the bathroom sink. You've got to stop this leaking Marge! Unbeknown to Angela he'd accidentally booby trapped the toilet seat, so when she assumed the sitting position, it slipped off. Stop laughing Marge! 

The walk to the cove started with a steep climb out of the town and up to the viewpoint at Cap de la Barra which looks across to the island of La Meda Gran.

 Then we walked on through the dense growth of the low growing firs which lined the path.

Wild flowers provided colour amongst them. As we took the precarious rocky path down both of us slipped on the small stones like marbles. But no harm done. We have walked this way before and know the sharp, difficult descent is worth it. Marge's voice in our ears told us we were silly fools. And she probably would also tell us we'd stupidly left our walking poles behind. 

The little cove of Cala Calella is a tranquil natural landscape. We were lucky enough to be able to sit alone for over two hours. By the time we readied ourselves to begin the uphill scramble the sun had gained heat.

High above in the clear blue sky vapour trails from aeroplanes resembled the flag of Scotland. Trying not to look too undignified we climbed up and over the rocks holding on to the trunks of the pine trees to steady ourselves. About half way up we stepped aside to make room for a couple with a dog to walk on down past us. They stopped to chat. About our age, from Belgium with an apartment in the town. The topics of Brexit and covid dominating the conversation. Feeling we deserved a reward after completing our challenging walk we bought ice creams at the supermarket. Angela couldn't resist adding a bottle of sangria to her purchases. 

This evening as the sun dipped down behind the trees it was warm enough for us to sit out and eat. We had just six sausages cooking on our grill. Our German neighbours twelve. Six each! We felt like right English lightweights.

Tonight, we are looking forward to tomorrow and some more fine weather. We plan to cycle out and explore a little more of the area.