Go a Segway-ing

After working double shifts in July for 5 weeks, and then doing a 1 month intensive training course in Barcelona, a weekend away was much deserved! Continuing on the theme of 'seeing as much of Catalonia while I'm here,' we took a trip up the coast to Empordá.

Overlooking Montgrí on the Costa Brava.

This part of the coast, between Palamós and L'Escala, has many stories. Pirates used to frequently attack this wealthy area, anchoring their ships in the Bay of Pals (near the beautiful town of Pals), and coming ashore to do their stuff. A famous pirate that used to 'ply his trade' around here was Redbeard (also known as 'Barbarossa'). This is why many coastal towns (like Torroella de Montgrí, Palafrugell and Pals) are inland a few kilometres - to allow time to defend themselves from these pirates. You can also see quite a few 17th century stone watchtowers, els Torres de Morro (Moorish Towers), which were built to spot pirates in advance.

Montgrí Castle.

On top the hill just near the town of Torella de Montgrí, is Montgí Castle. This 13th century castle is impressive, but unfinished. It was started by the Count of Barcelona as he was fighting with the Count of Empuriés at the time. After 7 years of construction, the conflict ended - on the account of the Count of Barcelona accusing his rival of being gay. Let's just say the Church took care of that little detail, and the head honcho in Barcelona won. 

Columbus is also talked about around these parts. It is said that he sailed from the Bay of Pals and the big red cross on the sails of the Santa Maria is actually the flag from the town of La Bisbal d'Empordà here in Empordà. Some people even say that Columbus was actually Catalan, and not Italian...

On the Segway trail, with Montgrí Castle visible on the hill.

If you have never done a 'Segway' tour before, I highly recommend it! If you don't know what a Segway is, they are the silly looking (I used to think!), futuristic, 2-wheeled standing bikes that you see tourists getting around on in cities. They are big in Europe, and I first saw them in Madrid back in 2007. They are electric, and you move them by leaning forward or backwards, and you turn using the handle bars. Sounds simple, but its takes a bit of getting used to. Well, it was great, a little unbalancing at first - I rocked back and forth like a flat bottomed dingy - but it was easy after 5 minutes. A great way to get around, and the ones we had were like 4x4s with big fat wheels - surely Segways are the Future of Transport! I want one!

The sunrise from the campsite beach at Mas Pinell.

We went through the small town of Gualta (which has a population of only 350 people...), and up a hill to take in the beautiful bay. The weather was warm, even though it was the fist day of Autumn - summer is fading here, but the Costa Brava turned it on for us that day! The view from the hills was amazing - you could take in the whole area, and imagine that what is was like when pirates were here. I always wanted to be a pirate...

Next Marta and I stopped in at a nearby camp-site to visit family. The initial plan was for lunch together, then head back home, but we ended up staying till lunchtime the next day. It was fun! If you've never been to a big camp-site here in Spain, I have to say you are missing out a little. Cheap and cheerful would be a label you could give them - but if you don't like crowds, then avoid them. There are people from all over Europe here to get some sand and sun that they don't get in their own country - so we're talking hoards of Germans and Dutch people in their big Audis and luxurious caravans (with satellite TV and more appliances that I have in my house!), and now more and more Russians are coming to get sunburnt in Spain too.

Mother and daughter watching the waves.

Have you ever been asked "mountains or beach?" Well, I normally say mountains straight off the bat, but I do like the beach sometimes. Now when I say beach, I'm talking clean sand and waves - not something you always get over there. The beaches in Barcelona are quite dirty, the sand a bit brown and dusty, or even quite rough, and there are basically no waves - I feel like I'm standing in a salty bath, and when I get out my feet will get dirty. The beach here is different though - there was a bit of a swell, and sand was quite clean and pleasant. I went in, chasing after my 3 and 6 year old nieces, and had a ball. The 6 year old, Alba, is a quite a strong swimmer and was fine on her own with a little supervision, and the 3 year old, Jana, was absolutely fearless with her 'floaties' strapped to her arms. I was tired and wanted to get out before the girls. In the end, after they had drunk much sea water, I carried them in, fighting waves and mouthfuls of seawater myself, and relaxed on the sand.

For some reason, I woke up at 6:30am the next morning. Well, the reason was that I needed the loo, but was desperately trying to hang onto to it till a reasonable hour, so that I didn't have to get up and walk outside to the facilities (small caravan = no toilet). This in fact did me in - the sun was starting to come up, and it was too light when I went back to bed to sleep again... What to do now? Well, there beach was a 2 minute walk away, the sun was just coming up, so sunset watching it was! Rarely done, I soaked it all up, sitting on the beach with my camera, watching the sun come up over the sea. The moment was shared, but not spoilt, with a few people who possibly had the same issue as I did with the outside toilet. A family of 4 sat and watched the sun come up, then afterwards, walked along the beach together and just had a great time - no screens in sight either, just a family doing things together outside! Wunderbar!

It was a very relaxing 2 days, great to get outside and do a few things. Now I feel relaxed and more fit and healthy. I have finally got over my 'jet lag' from the intensive courses, and I'm ready to be more active. I have to build a little bit of fitness it I want to tackle Nepal in October!