Costa Brava--Palamos

The esplanade to the left, the harbor, the beach and the church on the hill

I was lucky enough to be invited to spend a few days with friends who had rented an apartment in Palamos, right on the Mediterranean, on the Costa Brava of Spain.  I took the train to Girona where they met me at the station and we then drove to Palamos.  We took the "scenic" route, and I will pst those photos later.

Our building, and top floor second balcony from the right

Spain's Costa Brava is lovely and is in the Catalonian region of the country.  This area of Spain has been suing for independence for years and things have gotten heated and quite serious in the past several years.  Catalonian flags fly everywhere here, and not necessarily beside the flag of Spain. More likely than not, the Catalan flag flies alone.  Yellow ribbons hang from fences, and yellow ribbons are painted on the sidewalks and in the crosswalks of the streets in Palamos.  Catalan is the preferred language. Barcelona is the capital, and is intensely separatist.  Spain, however, is not going to let this vibrant part of their country secede without putting up a fight and things have turned ugly in recent times, with separatist leaders being jailed.  This fight has been going on for centuries, and will not be easily solved.

On the beach

View from the balcony

Palamos is a working fishing port and also welcomes tourist cruise ships, although I am not sure at which dock.  There were none in evidence while I was there, but then again, it is very much off-seson.  Some, maybe even most of the restaurants were closed for the season, but many shops were open for the holiday crowd.  A lots of people, like my friends, escape the chill of northern climes for the sunny and relatively warmer beaches for the holidays.  There are some "high rise" apartment buildings farther down the coast (to the west), but most of the buildings on the stretch of beach where we were are no higher than 5 stories.  I expect all the places are fully rented out in season.  

Statue at the town end of the walkway

Statue at the west end of the walkway

There is a lovely esplanade for walking that runs the length of the beach.  I made plenty good use of that, and I also got a nice workout walking in the sand.  I spent some time looking for beach glass and shells, but had little luck.  The sand was clean with no debris, no plastic, no cigarette butts.  Even in January, in various degrees of bundled up, moms pushing stroller, power walkers (and non-Power walkers), joggers, scooters, bicyclists and dog walkers were all using the walking path.  

I have to do some research, but I think there is a hiking path that runs along this beach that is also part of the pilgrimage path of the Saint Jacques de Compostelle walk.  The red and white markings are the same.  The map indicated a trail that ran along the coast, but if it were leading to Compostelle, I would think it would have to turn inland soon, as to cut across central Spain would be unbearably hot in the summer.

Red and white blazings--and It probably was 14 minutes back to Palamos

Map of the hiking trail

There were lots of children all awaiting Sunday's arrival of the Three Kings Epiphany is much more important there than it is in the States.  The weekend's festivities were kicked off by fireworks on Friday evening.  Sunday the Kings will arrive by boat and then lead a parade through the streets, tossing sweets to the children and leading the processing to the creche in Our Lady of the Sea church, up on the hill.  It would have been fun to see that, but as Sunday, Epiphany was also the last day of school vacation, the trains would have been crazy packed getting back to France.  I returned on a Saturday and they were crowded enough then.

 The Creche

All sorts of characters and stories here

Love the Brussels sprouts

Light at the manger

Tin foil river

Campfires

This is one of my favorite photos

Statue of Our Lady of the Sea at the front of the church

I loved seeing the different way the shops were decorated for the holidays.  Here in Carcassonne, the city provides small, maybe 3 foot high trees for the merchants to decorate.  In Palamos, the deal is to have three logs or log segments and they are tied together and then decorated.  Saw lots of them in plaid or sporting scarves...very cute.  The church had a beautiful creche, not just at the altar, but in one of the side chapels, they's set up an entire hillside village.  I loved the Brussels sprouts used as  cabbages in the garden.  I also saw more pointsettia than I have seen since leaving the United States.  It made me remember how much I like it.

Sun lights up the produce at one of the outdoor market stalls

Logs decorated for the holidays

Fresh fish and "blue" crab!

I could have spent hours puttering around the town, exploring shops and the market, even though it wasn't the "Main" one of the week. Veronica kept remarking that we had not "gotten very far."  So what?  We stopped for a drink, where we met up with Georges.  They had vermouth and I had a pina colada, which I haven't had in maybe 30 year!  Yum.  We got a chicken for lunch from a shop that rotisseries the chickens over wood coals.  It was delicious, and all the more so because we ate it out on the balcony in the sun.  In January!  This is the way to live.  I had a bite--yes, just a bite-- of a local pastry that was something like a churro filled with a vanilla pastry cream.  Seafood abounds, and it is unbelievable fresh.  The fishermen will sell directly to the public, but that market was closed when we went by.  I think it was just the wrong time of the day.

Make way for ducklings

I saw lots of boating activity.  A fleet of tiny sailboats followed two larger catamarans out of the channel, looking for all the world like a flock of ducklings trailing after their mothers.  There were fishing trawlers coming in with their catch and along the docks, there is a space for the fishermen to lay their nets on the ground to dry.  I am told that there's an old guy who comes along and mends them as needed.  

Sunrise from the balcony

And as always, the Mediterranean showed nearly every shade of blue in the spectrum.  At Palamos, because the cove is so sheltered, the sea is calm and nearly flat.  Out on parts of the exposed coast, the waves crashed and spray flew.  I cannot imagine that even at its worst, it can compare the to storms of the Pacific (and what can?) but the power is there. 

I had not realized how much I missed the sea until I spent some time at its edge.  I will be going back there, and it will be soon. 

Waiting for the season