Lloret de Mar - 50th Birthdays !!

Thanks to Poppy for the catering !!!

The fire extinguishers were at the ready here !!!

This year a few of the regular vistitors to Lloret have celebrated their 50th birthday. So as usual 'any excuse for party' and because it was a rainy day we all ended up in Gerry's Bar!!

Lloret de Mar - A Summer Place.

Here is a short photo slideshow of the Lloret de Mar coast, no explanation needed....only to say that I think it has to be the most picturesque coast line in Spain!!

Lloret de Mar - All Inclusive !!

The latest trend for many of the large hotels in the resort areas of Spain are now offering all inclusive deals. Meaning that familys who book with these hotels pay just a one off payment for which they can eat and drink as much as they like for the duration of their stay.
Although this works out excellent value for families, it is not doing the Spanish Costa's businesses any good at all!
Most of the bars and resturants here are suffering their worst year of trading so far. They are just not getting the custom they need to make a decent living!
It seems that if the hotels carry on this way the only thing over here will be a lot of cramped hotels and a lot of bars, cafes and resturants having to cease trading. Which wont be a very nice sight for tourists or residents here seeing all the empty shops and bars with their shutters pulled permanently down, because they just cant compete for trade against these large hotels!!
One more thing that we are now hearing, is that the large hotel groups are now even undercutting the excursion operators by running their own trips at approximately half the normal price.
Which is a clever ploy to get the holiday makers out for the day...that way they are not eating and drinking in the hotels making huge savings for the hoteliers.
They just dont seem to realise that eventually they will more than likely put them selves out of business as there will be nothing left in these resorts to see but a lot of empty shops ect.
With nothing to do in town sounds like a very depressing holiday to me!
These all inclusive deals work very well in places like the Caribbean owing to the size of the complexes, but its not ideal for Spain.
So its time these hotels got back to their old ways with a choice of either B&B, Half or Full board,
and let the bars etc get back to their old ways. Its no fun when the traders and bar owners (not forgetting customers) dont know how much longer their 'local' can carry on trading!!

Lloret de Mar - A Day Trip Out

Another nice trip which is worth a visit is either by boat or bus from the bus station is Tossa de Mar. How ever way you decide to go the scenery is just as breathtaking. Unlike the bustling streets of Lloret, you will find Tossa is like stepping back to how we can all imagine what the old Spain was like before all us tourist's invaded years ago!

 

These pictures of the narrow streets are taken within the castle walls from where you will also have views of the rocky coast not able to be seen from the beach.

The castle itself dates back to the end of the 12th century and has protected the 'village' many times. The main invaders being 'pirates' around about the 16th centuary.