Catalan towns, Cardona Castle

While travelling around Spain it seems that built on every mountain top is a castle or some sort of ancient fortress. Today we visited one of the most important fortresses of Catalunya - Cardona Castle overlooking the town of Cardona. The castle dates back to the 9th century but has since been restored throughout the years and is still undergoing restoration even today. During the 11th and 15th centuries it was occupied by the lords of Cardona who were one of  wealthiest families in Europe owing to the the surrounding salt mines/quarries which the castle protected.  In 1976 the castle was opened as a 4* luxury parador/hotel with rooms decorated in beautiful medieval style.

Overlooking the Cardona country side.

The old town

Salt is still been mined in the area

On the Beach in Lloret

 25ºC today and it now looks as though our summer is here.

 The beach has been much busier today than previous days and it really looks as though the holiday season is underway!

Even the Dona Marinera statue had more visitors than normal with standing room only!

Stormy skies over Blanes

 Yesterday we had a trip down to Blanes to get some shots of the dramatic looking skies from the Sant Joan tower, it had been a nice sunny day but it was looking very stormy at times. We could see in the far distance that rain was falling further down the coast and also over the mountains towards the back of the resort which enabled us to get these shots of the stunning cloud formations.

Lloret de Mar sunrise

 Saturday 31st May and we've had a beautiful start to the day this morning, we were out very early this morning to catch the sun as it rose up from behind the hills in the distance. Hopefully the sun will stay with us for the rest of the weekend at least!

Catalunya Villages - Madremanya

While out travelling around the Catalan countryside we recently came across a lovely little village called Madremanya just about 35km from Girona. It wasn't until we looked online at the adjuntament website that we realised that the population is less than 300, that must be why the only person we saw as we walked through its winding streets and stone archways was the post woman.....But what a beautiful privileged location they live in!