Holiday in L'Escala, Spain - 24th September - 8th October

Day 7 - More exploring

No rain today, but we had strong wind instead! We decided to take a drive this morning around the opposite headland to see what was there and explore a little bit. 

There were a lot of villas and several campsites dotted about the wooded hills, and roads leading down to parking spaces from where you could walk, presumably, to the sea. We didn't get out of the car, but it was lovely to see the blue sky and sunshine.

Heading back the way we'd come, we called in at the marina, which was a lot bigger than we realised, with lots of yachts and boats moored up. We looked at the menu of a restaurant called La Clota, so this is another prospective eatery within walking distance. We could see the sea and it was very frothy from the wind, with white waves scudding towards the shore.

We decided to head into the town and scout out a parking space for tonight as we wanted to eat in this part of L'Escala for a change, but it would mean driving; it would be too far to walk back after a meal. We found an open-air car park that looked perfect (after Figueres, I didn't want to park in a multi-storey again!) and was right in the middle of the town. From here we drove to the outskirts of L'Escala, called into the tourist information centre (closed) and then popped into Lidl to get some lunch for Keith.

We headed back to the villa but the centre of "our" part of town was closed for some reason, so we had to find our way along the maze of back streets! Back at the villa we made lunch, enjoyed a glass of Rosé cava and sunbathed. It was still windy but very sunny, with little white, fluffy clouds floating past.

In the evening, we drove to the far end of the town and parked in the small car park. However, the instructions for paying were a bit complicated so we hung about until a family arrived, and I tentatively asked what we had to do. We had to put in our "matriculation" - our car registration number - and then choose how long we wanted to park for. Simples! Catalan Spanish is widely used here which can make things a little difficult!

Strolling down to the seafront, the streets were narrow with bars, shops and restaurants dotted about. It was a little like our beloved Pollensa! It was still very windy, and people were wrapped up against the evening chill. We came to the seafront and recognised this area from the YouTube video we'd seen.

Here, there were several bars and restaurants, and people milling about, meeting friends and looking for somewhere to eat. There was a lovely atmosphere. We walked into a bar and had a drink, enjoying a spot of people watching and gazing out at the beautiful views. The sky was like a Dali painting, not surprising as he regularly visited the coast further up.

We had booked a table at an Italian restaurant called Tagliatella, which was on the next bay but as it was so windy, we cut through the narrow streets and noticed another promising couple of restaurants.

We were a little early, but the staff welcomed us and showed us to a table upstairs with fantastic views over the sea. Little lights had just begun to twinkle and it was lovely and warm in the restaurant. We perused the menu and chose bread to start (stuffed with tomatoes, onion or olives) and Tortellini Fritti.

I loved the pendant lights in the restaurant.

Our main courses were cannelloni (Keith), ravioli (me) and rigatoni (Sophie). My dish of ravioli was enough to feed two, and I asked for it to be boxed up so I could take it back with me and have it tomorrow for lunch! As I was driving, I had one glass of red wine, Sophie enjoyed an Aperol Spritz, followed by a glass of wine, and Keith sipped on a couple of beers. We're finding the price of wine here very good value, usually about 3 euros for a 175ml glass. A lot better than at home!

We managed to find room for pudding - Tiramisu for Sophie, Limoneisu for me (lemony tiramisu) and a delicious chocolate concoction for Keith. The bill came to a very reasonable 93 euros, the lowest of the holiday so far!

It had been a lovely evening, and the food was great and certainly plentiful. The staff had been friendly, even joking with us about Keith's love of beer! We strolled back through the quiet streets, reclaimed the car and drove back to the villa. I poured us all a glass of wine from the plastic container, and we watched an American crime documentary until almost 11pm! A late night at last!