Tossa del Mar

May 17, 2014

Dipping our toes into the Mediterranean

We began the day with a climb to El Angels, following a route made locally famous by Lance Armstrong when he was still a hero to so many of us. It was allegedly one of his favorite training rides when he based himself in Girona. It isn't a particularly difficult ascent, but we could definitely feel the effect of riding under our full loads for the first time. At the top we walked around the outside of the chapel to enjoy broad panoramic views in all directions, along with about 20 other cyclists.

From El Angels the road drops steeply off the other side, losing perhaps 800 feet in two miles, and then slowly climbs to a second summit before dropping to Cassa de la Silva. At Cassa we next turned straight south, dropping most of the way until we hit the Mediterranean coast at Tossa de Mar.

Tossa holds a special place in our memories - it was one of our favorite stops on our tour from Nice to Barcelona 18 years ago - and I was a bit uncertain about coming through it again, fearful that we would be put off by the greatly increased tourism that has taken over since we saw it then. It is definitely quite touristy now - understandably, given its dramatic beauty - but we had a wonderful time anyway and were glad we came. After lazing around on the beach in the sun for an hour or so, I convinced Rachael that it was bad luck to not dip our toes in the water before setting off for the other coast. Afterwards we returned to our room to clean up and then took a walk around the castle grounds before settling on a meal plan for the evening.

My sister complains that I don't write enough about the meals in my journal, so Elizabeth this one's for you. Tonight we ate at Santa Marta, a lovely family-run restaurant inside the castle walls. I started with a very good gazpacho, as well as a generous share of Rachael's amazing serving of leek pie with Roquefort sauce. It would have been worth coming here just for the leek pie, but we both had delicious fish dishes - I chose monkfish in pepper sauce, and Rachael had another amazing preparation - salmon with raspberry and kiwi sauce. Elizabeth, you should have been here.

After this feast, we ended the day with another stroll along the castle walls, enjoying seeing it under the floodlights. Checking our mail at the end of the day, we were pleased and surprised to hear from our hotel in Bilbao - our cases have arrived already, and are in storage waiting for our arrival next month.

Rachael has her Contour videocam along again; here's a bit of the climb to Els Angels: https://onedrive.live.com/?cid=73ed18eec8ba7424&id=73ED18EEC8BA7424%21540&ithint=video,.mp4&authkey=!AEraMyArYHYC42Q

Net elevation gain: 3500' today, 6300' total.