Return to L'Escala: 20th June to 6th July 2025

Relaxing by the pool... and realisation dawns...

Today has been a repeat of yesterday with a lazy start, breakfast of toast and jam, and time spent in or by the pool, in an effort to keep cool. I spent £2.99 on Amazon to watch the latest Bridget Jones film, something I've wanted to see since it was first released.

I also read some more of the excellent travel book, The Lost Heart of Asia, which I am slowly making my way through. It was a very relaxed day, and very hot!

Lunch was taken on the terrace and we enjoyed cold meats, salad and bread. I served strawberries with yoghurt for dessert - delicious! We floated about in the pool in the afternoon, and Sophie and I suddenly realised something: when we booked this house back in July 2024, there was a washing machine, but the owner had taken it out because of a couple of complaints about no dishwasher available. They'd swapped the washing machine for the dishwasher, which was madness! I knew I hadn't been mistaken! In fact, when I looked at the current photos of the house, there is clearly a washing machine in the kitchen, in the same place where the dishwasher is now!

I was angry about this, as she should have told us before we arrived. I am heartily sick of having to handwash our clothes and peg them out when they're wringing wet. I started to draft a message to the owner, and we talked about asking for fresh towels to be delivered, as there's no way I'm washing heavy towels!

We sheltered from the sun at about 4pm and had showers. Tonight, we had a table booked at La Gruta, in L'Escala, for 8pm, so we set off for the town at 6.30pm and found a space in the car park we used on Tuesday. In a shop opposite the car park, Sophie bought a hand-held fan to keep cool. It was a bargain at just over 5 euros!

We walked down to the front and enjoyed a drink overlooking the beach, which was still full of people and fertile ground for being nosy! One man looked very fetching in small, tight swim trunks! I did admire the bathers for being so on show, in front of several bars with people enjoying drinks!

It was bliss to sit and enjoy a drink with so much to see and the gorgeous views over the sea. Sophie and I popped over to one of our favourite shops and bought two bottles of a white Cap de Creus wine, some herbs for pasta, a seasoning for paella and a candle. Lovely things to take home with us!

We then had a slow walk up the street to La Gruta, passing by the gorgeous church.

We were a little early as La Gruta opened dead on 8pm. We were taken to a cool table indoors, but some diners had opted to sit outside in the sweltering heat. It was still about 29-30c!

We sat at the same table we had sat on for previous visits and looked at the menu, all of us choosing the "Bistronomic" menu at 44,50 euros each.

We chose the soft-boiled egg with ham to start, Sophie and I opted for the Iberian pork, while Keith picked the beef. I ordered a bottle of a local Rosé, which was delicious:

Starter

Sublime dessert of panna cotta

The food was delicious and our pork tender and moist, so different to how we cook it at home. Keith loved his beef and shared some with Sophie, who also said it was very good. By now, the restaurant was busy with lots of people eating outside and a party upstairs, where Keith said it felt stifling.

Sophie and I ordered panna cotta for dessert, and the food was so good we asked for a second helping! The pots were tiny! We felt very naughty, but our request was indulged and understood!

Tonight was Sophie's treat, so she paid the bill and we walked slowly back to the car in the warm night air. Back at the house, we sat on the terrace and chatted and had a last drink. The night sky was beautiful.

The Domino Effect...

Keith has been sleeping downstairs in his lair, and when we decided to go to bed, he made his way cautiously down the steps. I shone my phone torch for him, but he missed the last step and went sprawling onto the ground. I shouted to Sophie and ran down, but I missed the bloody last step as well and went down too, almost landing on top of him! We felt like dominoes in a row! Sophie ran down as we picked ourselves up, and both of us were a little shaken, to be honest. Sophie had slipped as she went into the pool the other day and hurt her wrist, but it could have been much worse. 

The trouble was that there was no way of differentiating between the step and the ground beyond, and both of us had just missed it in the darkness. Now I know why our Health and Safety Executive make businesses put warning tape on steps!

I limped to bed and hoped that I wouldn't ache too much in the morning!