Costa Brava - Santa Fransesc

Three views from Santa Fransesc, one of the small coves between Lloret de Mar and Blanes.
The first photo is looking up from the beach towards the exclusive villas in the urbanisation.

This second photo is looking down over the roof tops of the villas to the beach.

Once down on the beach there is a very nice reasonably priced restaurant where you can get a menu of the day or just a drink.

The only way to reach this beach is by car or a very long walk down through the urbanisation as the boats are not allowed to pull into the beach here!
Owing to this its not a very crowded beach in the summer, apart from the weekend that is when the local residents like to spend their free time just lazing around!

Christmas Nativity in Blanes.

This is the Nativity Scene on display near the fruit and veg market in Blanes.

Quite a large scene as you can maybe just make out from the people looking round. It takes up a large section of the street and is raised up on a platform.

I'm not sure what they do with it on a night time...whether it is closed off some how, or maybe it is just left open. Something like this would not last very long back in the UK.

It would either be vandalised, stolen piece by piece or completly stolen and rebuilt in somebodys back garden!

Not the Christmas spirit you would expect...but when things here are put on display they are left alone so that everyone can enjoy them.

Christmas in Spain.

Children in Spain do not receive their Christmas gifts on the 25th December as in the UK. The day for giving presents is 6th Jan, traditionally known as the Day of the Kings!

It is the three wise men who deliver the presents here, not Santa Claus!
So to put in a request for what you would like for Christmas, you must address your letters to
the Three Kings.

Another Christmas tradition in Spain is the making of model nativity scenes, either at school or home. Every year here in Lloret de Mar there is exhibition of nativity models made by some of the businesses in town or individuals, these are on show in the Local Church. On the run up to Christmas many shops in town stock all kinds of figures and model rustic style stables with which to make your nativity scene!

The Summer of 2007

Looking back to good times and good friends of 2007

Lloret de Mar Beaches

A view from the cliff tops overlooking Santa Christina beach.
Looking through the trees up the Costa Brava coast the next cove is Boadella, then you come to the larger beach of Fenals.

Then the next beach is the main beach of Lloret, from where you can take a boat to travel down the coast to see these very picturesque beaches the journey only takes about 20 mins or so.

Girona School Uniform

A photo showing some children on a school outing in Girona, all looking very smart in their school uniform!

Sunday Market Lloret de Mar

Every 2nd Sunday of the Month there is a boot sale type market in Lloret de Mar.
One or two stalls sell new products such as slippers, pottery, honey and herbs.
The photo below is a stall which sells old photos of Lloret and other parts of the Costa brava,
they are quite interesting to look through.



As for the the other stalls the only thing I can say about them is.....I've never seen so much rubbish in my life!!
as you can see from the next 2 photos!!

Typical Spanish ornamental pottery.

Lloret de Mar Medieval Weekend

Lloret medieval week end brought hundreds of people into town as always.

The weather was perfect for both days, so the streets were packed with people looking round the colourful stalls. There were pony rides for the children, along with sheep and goats in pens looking just as they would have been kept in medieval times. The streets were covered in straw again to give them that 'olden times' look!

 

Lloret de Mar Medieval Weekend.

Just one photo for now.
This had to be the best looking bird at the Medieval week-end!

Last Stop in Spain!

This slideshow show photos from the very small border town of Port Bou. This is the most northerly town on the Costa Brava before you reach the French border. The railway here is the most important place in town, serving trains from both sides of the border.

Port Bou sits in a valley surrounded by mountainous green slopes which stretch right down to the sea. The church of Santa Maria can be seen from all over the town as it is set on a hill at the back of town only to be reached by very steep hills or long flights of steps.

The sea here is crystal clear even in the small harbour, where usually you would see a light covering of oil in places from the boats. Not here though all the harbour and town is kept spotlessly clean!

A Colourful Autumn in Girona.

Although the weather is still very good on the Costa Brava, as in the UK autumn is well and truly here. These trees are just outside the bus station at Girona, adding a variety of colour to a very dull looking station! Temperatures in Girona these days are reaching 22c - 23c, but dropping to about 3c during the night. Daytime temperatures on the coast are about the same through the day, if not slightly warmer, but night temperatures can still be 12c or more!

Medieval time in Lloret de Mar

Due to take place during the weekend of 10th - 11th November here in Lloret is the popular Medieval event. Everyone looks forward to this special weekend, as it brings hundreds of people into town, which is very good for the shops and bars. Hotels will be full to approx 80% - 90% capacity.

Lloret de Mar - Gerry's Bar

The end of October is more or less seen as the end of the season on the Costa Brava.
On Sunday afternoon Gerry's Bar in Lloret had a massive BBQ to celebrate just this!

Tables were laid in the beer garden, where everyone was able to help themselves to large pieces of beef, catalan sausage, chops, various mixed salads bread & wine etc.

These few photos show just a few of the people who were there !
A lot of hard work had gone into preparation of the food etc...which everyone enjoyed.
Thanks to Simon, Yasmin and the lads who did the cooking, we all had a great day!

Cruising the Mediterranean.

The other day while looking out to sea we saw a very unusual cruise ship, not like the normal ships we see sailing the Med....this one had 5 sails on! No one else we spoke to saw the ship so I started looking at various websites and came across a site for the Windstar Windsurf

This ship is currently cruising in the Mediterranean and it seems it was just on its way to Palamos on the day we saw it.

If you would like to read more about the Windsurfs on board amenities click here.

Best Beach

Our local beach here in Fenals has just been voted the best beach from Tarragona up to the French border.

Beaches in Lloret have for many years had the blue flag award, but this vote is extra special.

It is for the cleanliness of the beach, services such as toilets, showers, first aid station, keep fit area which was installed this year.

The old kiosks from which they sold ice-creams and drinks were replaced with wooden ones this year making the whole appearance of this stretch of beach look more natural!

Costa Brava Rally 55...2007

A slide show of some of the cars taking part in this week-ends rally. Also showing cars which were just on show in front of the town hall.

Thought we might have seen Lewis Hamilton taking a walk round the cars this morning....but no! Maybe he has other arrangements this week-end ???????

Costa Brava Rally 55...2007

Its rally week-end here again in Lloret. The Costa Brava Rally takes place every year at this time. Here's a couple of photo's of the cars just having their final check before they start this annual event.

Its ideal weather with no rain forecast, so there should be plenty of people out on the Costa Brava roads to see the cars racing round those hairpin bends !!

Girona Airport

Girona airport was built in 1965 to cater for tourists arriving to the Costa Brava. Girona is the nearest airport for visitors to the Costa Brava, only 30 - 40 minutes drive from Lloret de Mar. The cost of the journey by taxi is approx 45€ but there does seem to be a shortage of taxis serving Girona airport! There is no train service, the nearest train station is in Blanes. A bus service runs into Lloret de Mar bus station, times of which can be found Here.



Most of the air traffic using Girona is the low cost Ryanair. On their website it is called Barcelona Girona, but don't make the mistake of travelling to Girona if Barcelona is where you really need to be! Barcelona is approx 100km south of Girona. So if your on a tight schedule with maybe a meeting to attend, this is not the airport for you. Although a bus is always there to meet Ryanair passengers to take them to Barcelona.
Back in 1993 passenger figures for Girona were 275,000 but by 2005 Girona was dealing with more than3.5 million

Barcelona Airport

For visits to the Costa Brava you have a choice of two airports Girona or Barcelona. Barcelona is the second largest airport in Spain. The largest one being Madrid.

A new terminal is under construction at Barcelona, due for completion in2009. When all new developments are finalised the airport which handled 30 million passengers last year 2006, should see passenger levels rise to 50 million!

As it is now the airport has 3 terminals A, B and C.

Passengers on the 'no frills' airlines such as Easy Jet, Thompson Fly and Jet2 etc arrive and depart from terminal A.

The airport (El Prat de Llobregat) lies 12 km south of Barcelona centre, but has good links to the city by either train, bus or taxi.

If you are taking a holiday on the Costa Brava it may be a good idea to book an airport to hotel transfer here a few days prior to travel.

Costa Brava Views

Some of the best Costa Brava views can be seen on the slideshow below, one or two of the photos may have been included on previous pages, but they look so much better when viewed in a slideshow along with music.
So make sure your volume is turned up high !!

Formula 1... Barcelona Events

This weekend in Barcelona 13th & 14th October Formula 1 is here for the 2nd time this year !!
Only this time its the turn of the classic F1 cars to take to the Montjuic track. Fifty or more cars are expected to be on show over the weekend. On Sunday they will parade round the Montjuic circuit. The track has not been used for the Grand Prix since 1975, but it will restored to how it looked in years gone by for the event.
For news of this classic weekend and also latest news of the ongoing Formula 1, click here!

Lloret de Mar - Nudist Beach!

In my opinion the most picturesque beach in Lloret (if not the Costa Brava) has got to be Boadella.

Here the sand is not quite as course as Lloret main beach. Not that easily reached these days, as the boats don't go into the small bay as they did in previous years. So the only access is down through the woods.
Many new apartments are being built in the Boadella area, so the beach is not as quiet as is used to be.
Boadella is actually a nudist beach, but with the influx of new residents it is now being used more and more by families.

A close up of the nudist area...its maybe best not to visit Boadella on a full stomach as there are some very squeamish sights!!

Lloret de Mar - Weather

Well there's nothing much happening in Lloret just now, although there's quite a few tourist's in town. At this time of year its usually couples with younger children who have not yet started school, and people who dont like the harsh sun of August!

After a few cloudy days which we had towards the back end of last week, yesterday the temperature was 28c. Todays forecast is for 25c in Barcelona...it is already that here in Lloret!!

Lloret de Mar - Weather

Clouds Gathered out to sea early yesterday evening. As the evening went on it started to rain. Until eventually we had a full storm raging all over town, which went on for most of the night.

This morning though the sun is shining again...the current temperature is 21c, so later today it should reach 23-24c at least!

Lloret de Mar, A guide to eating out.

La Campaña

Where ever you are staying in Lloret you will never be far away from a very good and reasonably priced restaurant!

The most popular place for chicken is La Campana (Pedro's) The chicken here  done on the spit is the best I have tasted its usually served with chips and salad and to make it a complete night out there is live music and dancing. Pedro's can be found in Lloret up the hill 'Carrer de L'Areny' behind the museum on the seafront.

One of the nicest decorated places to eat is La Fusta. Here there is a good choice of menu ranging from pasta, grilled meats such as lamb chops and steak...the goulash is very good and very filling! The menu of the day is very good value, the cost is about 8.20 euros which includes a 3 course meal with wine. The address is...Hospital Vell 8, only 2mins from the church.

One of my favourites is Can Guidet, situated across the road from the Olympic Suites Hotel at the back of Lloret. The Can Guidet stands in its own grounds and gardens where they grow much of their own produce. Here you'll find a typical Catalan Menu, but dont worry its not too far out of the ordinary! Just a really good varied menu aways cooked perfectly, especially the 'galtes'...pigs cheek cooked in tasty gravy with onions and sauted potatoes. This dish is a favourite of many locals in Lloret....me included!!

The following restaurants are situated in the Fenals area of Lloret.
On the sea front is the Xaloc and then just next door is the Fenals International. Both have very good varied menus, the steaks in both are equally as good and large!

CLICK HERE  for a map and more detailed report on restaurants in Lloret.

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Lloret de Mar - Weather

The weather has taken a turn for the worse in Lloret today. Yesterday was beautiful, the temperature was 25c, with hardly a cloud in the sky. Then today at 8am was a bit dull and cloudy, now the rain has started....looks like it could be here for the day!!

Playa De Aro

The beach at Playa De Aro just seems to go on and on, at more than 2km long it is one of the longest beaches on the Costa Brava. Just like anywhere else on the Costa Brava this beach is kept spotlessly clean.
It also has the services of lifeguards and first aid centres.
You can also join in at the Beach Fun Area which is free for anyone, activities here include...water-volleyball, beach- tennis, football, beach- rugby and for the younger children there is a work shop where they can learn crafts and take part in their own gentler games! All under cover so there is no danger of sunburn!!