Tossa de Mar, day 2

March 20, 2022

We’ve always been booked in Tossa for two nights, but the idea was that we’d bike north up the coast to Sant Feliu and back on the layover day and the next day bike inland to Girona. The prospect of a week of rain has led us to scrap that plan though, which means that that nice overview map for Catalunya we presented you with two days ago is now null and void. We cancelled our lodgings for the next four nights and will figure it out one day at a time.

We decided instead that short, easy days are best so that with luck we can get our miles in within a fairly small window of dry weather. Surely we’ll get a few hours here and there that let us hop from one base to the next as we inch our way north?

Girona is inland on the other side of the coast range - a challenging 40 mile ride getting there, and an equally challenging one on leaving it. So Girona is out - not so disappointing really, since we were there for a six night stand just four years ago.

And today? We could take that out and back to Sant Feliu, but now that looks like the route we’ll be taking when we leave town. And there’s the matter of the weather which looks marginal today. It’s raining when we get up, so we decide to just hang around the room and watch for a break wide enough for us to get out for a walk.

One comes sooner than expected, and around ten we head out from the room and start walking north along the bay. Even though it’s Sunday it’s still very quiet and peaceful this morning with only a few folks walking along the beach.

We don’t quite have the beach to ourselves today, but this is close enough.

At the north end of the beach we come to the beginning of a footpath to the next two beaches to the north. We follow it as it climbs away from the sea, steeply at times, and enters the attractive pine/oak woods that blanket the hills lining the sea here. the woods are attractive, and the seaward views spectacular.

Just what we were looking for - a short hike along the sea. We’ll just walk as far as feels right and keep an eye on the sky.

Beautiful, graceful pines blanket the hillside.

In places the trail is severely eroded, dropping straight off to the sea

Who knows what this guy is thinking about? Lunch, probably.

It’s a modest scramble following the path, but eventually it comes to the coast road and levels off. We walk a ways further north along the road to the point where the trail drops off to the next beach, but looking out at the horizon we decide it’s wisest to turn back.

Should we keep walking down to the next beach or turn back here?

It looks like the rains could return shortly.

Rather than follow the steep trail down to the coast we give a thought to the old knees and follow the road back. There’s virtually no traffic this morning so it’s a virtual walking path anyway. Out of season like this I imagine people are much more apt to walk the road when they climb up here for the views because it’s so quiet. Maybe three or four cars pass us on the way back and we squeeze to the side for them; but the rest of the time we just take the lane, as do a half dozen other walkers and their dogs that we pass also. We also give way for about ten cyclists strung out along the road, all looking fit and like they’re a group - maybe on a challenging day ride from Girona.

As we approach town we discuss my gear situation and Rachael suggests that we should see if there’s a bike store in town. I’m skeptical because Tossa’s such a smallish place. Maybe Sant Feliu just up the coast though; I’ll do some research when we get back to the room. But then, we look up and there’s Tossa Cycling staring us in the face, with a couple of guys inside sitting on a couch having coffee. Amazing.

I step in, ask if they’re open, if there’s a mechanic on duty, and if they have time to adjust my gears this morning. Yes to all three, if I hurry - they close at one today, only about 90 minutes from now. So we hurry. We’re back to the room and I’ve returned with the bike twenty minutes later.

It’s a nice place, and brand new - they opened just a few weeks ago and are just gearing up for the cycling season which is running late this year because of the unseasonably wet weather. Everyone local who can afford to change their plans at the last minute is pushing their break out another week or two. The owner brews me a cup of coffee and serves it up with a tray of small cookies and we chat while the mechanic works his magic. The owner’s a young guy who lives here now, having moved here from western Poland about ten years ago. We talk about Poland, Ukraine, the world for about ten minutes and then the mechanic rides through the shop on my bike, takes it out for a spin and returns to announce it cured. Something about the cable, he says in broken English.

Just as I’m ready to leave Rachael shows up. She’s walked over to give me an extra key to the room in case she’s not there when I return, but since I’m done we walk back together. As we leave she snatches the last few cookies I’m leaving behind. Waste not, want not.

Amazing luck once more. Just when you’re needing a bike shop, one pops up. It’s magic!

We return to our hostel, drop off the bike, and then immediately turn back and walk along the beach to Da Giovanni, a restaurant we passed earlier this morning that looked like an appealing place for lunch. Along the way we pass maybe eight or ten other open restaurants, all with diners inside. It’s a surprise to see how many people are here, when the beaches and paths are so empty. When we arrive at Da Giovanni’s though it’s clear we’ve chosen well. It’s quite busy, an obviously popular place filled with folks who appear local, many known to each other. One family comes in and one of the chefs comes out, wraps the man in a bear hug and pats the daughter on the head. Thinking back on our stay here, I don’t think we heard anyone speaking English except in conversation with us.

So, an attractive restaurant. And the meal was quite attractive as well.

Hostal Maria Rosa, our home for our first night here.

We’re going to enjoy all of our days by the sea in the days ahead.

While we’re eating lunch we notice umbrellas walking by outside and see rain streaming off the awning. It’s pouring. It’s stopped though by the time we finish our feast and walk back to the beach, but the sky is still gloomy and menacing. The tide is high and impressive breakers crash against the beach.

Back at our hostel, Rachael goes up to the room while I walk around the corner to a second hotel with the same owners to work on the blog. Ours doesn’t have WiFi, but we were told that we could go over to their other hotel if we needed access. When I get there the owner surprises me by saying we can move there for our second night if we’d like. It’s an easy call - it’s a nicer place, larger, has WiFi, and is more established. They’d have put us up there the first night if a room had been available, but now that the weekend is past there’s one free. I suspect too they’d just as soon get us out of the other place because they’re still working on it.

I hurry back to get Rachael, we quickly pack up, the owner comes along to help us carry our luggage, and ten minutes later we’re settled into our comfortable new room - reading, writing, and wondering if we’ll get another break later in the day. Time will tell.

Looking north from the beach. It looks like we’re lucky to be getting a dry walk back to our room.

We’ve lost our nice view of the sea, but a castle view works well for us too.

Today's ride: 1 mile (2 km)
Total: 14 miles (23 km)

Rate this entry's writing	Heart	9
Comment on this entry	Comment	0