Lloret de Mar Winter Events

Pumpkins and Aloe Vera plants

All around the church square in Lloret on Sunday there were a few stalls selling homemade produce. This was to raise funds for the local walking group - Xino Xano. There were pumpkins of every size and shape, as you can see in the above photos!

Jams, marmalade and pickles.

Bottles of wine were also on sale.....along with some small tasty looking tapas. 

Lloret Views Dec 2010

Here we have a short film show and a few shots taken yesterday on the sea front in Lloret de Mar.

We had another nice day with great weather, lots of people were out walking making the most of the warm temperatures...I think this woman who we saw taking a dip gets the 'Bravest Woman' in Lloret award!

Lloret de Mar Xmas Lights

All the Christmas lights are now on in Lloret, its never a great illuminated display but the streets do look a little bit more Christmassy!

The Spanish Christmas is quite different from the UK, the family all gather together to eat their Christmas meal on Christmas eve. Seafood  will always be on the menu, along with the meats just as we have at home....turkey is now becoming very popular here. So one thing does happen here the same as at home...the prices for these items go sky high!

Always at this time of year the supermarket shelves are well stocked with turron this is a nougat type sweet and comes filled with lots of different flavours such as nuts, glazed fruit, coconut and even alcohol flavours!

The children may only be given a small gift on Xmas day as the Spanish custom is to give their presents on the day that the three kings arrived in Bethlehem - 6th Jan. To celebrate the 3 Kings arrival in the towns all over Spain there are large processions of floats on the eve of the 5th Jan. Tons and tons of sweets will be thrown to the crowds that line the streets to watch the parades as they pass by.

Latest Cigarette and Tobacco Prices....Dec 2010

The price of cigarettes and tobacco has just risen sharply in Spain, here is a copy of the price list which I got from the tobacconist today. So far the biggest rise is with Golden Virginia which has gone up almost €20 for a pack of 10. Some prices have not yet changed but I was told others will rise shortly, so I'll keep you informed whenever this happens.

Lloret de Mar Bodegas

If you are planning your annual holidays for next year, why not try the Spanish bodegas or tapas bars. The local tapas bars always give great service and value for your well earned holiday cash. Drinks are usually a few cents cheaper than the tourist type bars and small Spanish style snacks (tapas) are normally given with each drink.
Even though you may not speak Spanish they will always serve you with a welcoming smile, you just have to take a seat at one of their tables either inside or out and they will come to take your order.
All the bodegas have their own sangria recipe either made with wine or Champagne,  you should be able to get a litre of good sangria for about €6 - €8. Give it a try, its a great way to spend a couple of hours in the afternoon just watching as the Spanish people go about their laid back way of life! Take a look at some of the local bodegas here in Lloret de Mar on my  BODEGAS PAGE.

Lloret de Mar December Weather

Lloret de Mar Christmas Tree.

Its not a bit like Xmas, its almost as though summer is on the way back!

Temperatures over the last 2 days have been very mild...19ºc very good for the time of year.

These two photos were both taken today, the first one of the Christmas tree in front of the town hall - I still don't like it! I much prefer the traditional green one with the red decorations they used to have. The photo below is taken on Fenals beach, not many people about here but over in Lloret there were a few actually laid on the beach taking in the sun!

Lloret de Mar - Blanes

Views of the coast and chapel taken from near the Sant Joan tower in Blanes.

Looking towards Lloret de Mar

Lloret de Mar - Blanes

High up above the rocky coastline between Lloret de Mar and Blanes is the Sant Joan tower, from here you have some of the best views of the Costa Brava. You can easily see the Pyrenees in the distance on a clear day as it was on Wednesday when we got these shots!

Sant Joan Tower

Views of the Pyrenees in the distance

Lloret de Mar Winter Events

Just a few of the photos from Sundays exhibition of classic cars in Lloret.

The qualifying factor for any car entered was that it had to be more than 25yrs old, some such as the one below were much older than that!

Lloret de Mar Winter Events

Its been a very busy Sunday today in Lloret. Down in the square by the carousel there has been an exhibition of custom motorbikes along with a kickboxing show put on by boys and girls of all ages, the above photo shows two of the youngest...no body got hurt, it was all good fun!

 Some of the bikes which came into town put on their own exhibition by just parking on the roadside!

The bike below has been customised in the unique style of Gaudi which can be seen in Parque Guell in Barcelona...(see the small photo below)

Tobacco Prices in Spain.

Now the summer season is over the majority of visitors to the Costa Brava at this time of year tend to be French. The hotels which remain open all year round are usually quite busy at the weekends owing to the fact that Lloret de Mar is only just over an hours drive from the French border.
Spain is still one of the cheapest places in Europe to buy cigarettes and tobacco, so visitors do benefit by stocking up on cigarettes etc while they are here. As from 1st Jan 2011 the legal limit what the French can take back home over the border is to be raised. Just now the limit is 5 cartons of cigarettes each, but there will be no limit at all after January 1st.
With the recent price increase of 6% in France it looks as though more and more French will be nipping over to Spain to get their cigs and fill their car up with the cheaper petrol while here!
The latest tobacco prices for Spain can be found .... HERE.

Lloret de Mar - Girona Bus Timetable

For those arriving at Girona airport and staying at any of the nearby resorts this is the latest timetable for the Sarfa bus company. The timetable is valid as from 27/9/10 - 22/6/11 and at present the cost into Lloret de Mar is €8. This is by far the cheapest way to get to your resort as the taxis are now charging around the €50 mark...not too bad if you are travelling with 3 to 4 friends but quite expensive if you are travelling alone.

Lloret de Mar Weather and November Views

A deserted November beach.

 Not the usual views you might expect from a place like Lloret de Mar!

The recent weather we are experiencing here just lately is still very good with very mild daytime temperatures for the time of year. These two photos show what we thought was a very bad storm brewing up out at sea this week, but all we had was a light rainfall which lasted through the night and then a nice clear sky the next morning.....and again today we have another nice day, although a little bit misty out at sea.

Spanish Poker Final-Lloret de Mar

 The Spanish Poker Tour tournament will take place from November 18th to 21st at the Gran Casino in Lloret de Mar. Some of Europe’s best players will be competing for a guaranteed €300,000 prize at the four-day main event.

On November 17th, the day before the start of the Grand Finale, a freeroll will be organized for all players. The prize pool for this special freeroll is already up to €45,000 and eligible players can check the number of points with which they will start playing on the SPT website. Following the Main Event of the Grand Finale, they will also be announcing the winner of the SPT 2010 most valuable player.

Lloret Medieval Event 2010

Heres a few photos from this week-ends Medieval event in Lloret de Mar which seems to have been a huge success by bringing thousands of people into town. There were far more stalls and activities than previous years, and as you can see from the photo below the streets were packed! So I'm sure that many of the local stores and bars have seen a much needed increase in their takings this week-end.

 The stalls were selling their home made products again...bread,cake, jam, soap, creams and other toiletries. Also a lot of the stalls were selling handmade jewellery, and very nice things for the home such as wall plaques, pottery, and linen items.

Have you ever seen a BBQ as big as this?

 The Medieval street musicians making as much noise as they possibly could!

Lloret de Mar Medieval Event

Medieval Fiesta 2008

This weekend November 13th - 14th we have the annual Medieval Festival in town once more. This will be the 10th time in Lloret de Mar for this event which gets better and better each year. The agenda for activities will begin at 10.30 tomorrow morning and go on until Sunday evening. Stalls will be selling all kinds of hand made goods such as, toys, clothing, shoes, jewelery, toiletries and all kinds of food stuffs. The kids will be able to join in with all kinds of games and even go on a donkey ride around the streets.

Lloret de Mar Sunrise

Looking towards Lloret from Fenals.

After the previous shots of the evening sky in Lloret yesterday, these photos show just how the sun rise looked at 7.30 this morning from our balcony. These are genuine photos which have not been re touched at all. 

(Apart from the watermark that is for copyright purposes!)

Lloret de Mar Weather and November Views

Looking towards Blanes from Fenals

Wish you were here? 

Its getting to that time of year again now where the weather in Lloret is feeling very cold when the sun goes down. These photos taken from our balcony only 30 minutes ago (just 5minutes apart)

show the fantastic wintery skies we see at this time of year.

Temperature wise though is not as bad as temps in the UK  just now  at 18.15pm its 10º c, but after the warm daytime  temp of today which reached 18ºc (25º yesterday) it is feeling rather chilly out there!

Lloret de Mar - Costa Brava Rally 58

The ever popular historic Costa Brava Rally is again due to be held in Lloret de Mar next week- end 5-6 November. It was estimated that there would be 100 teams taking part, but at the end of closing date for entries the total is 117 teams from 16 different countries which have now signed up - most are from Spain. A map of where most activity will be while the cars are in town can be found here....Costa Brava Rally.