September 10, 2022
Pals to Sant Pere Pescador
Today’s ride was a lot easier than yesterday’s, which I think is a type of training where one alternates big climbing days with easier rides. It was mostly flat and inland on dedicated biking trails and small roads. The EuroVelo 8 passes through this coastal side of Spain and there is an extensive network of local trails, so we are seeing lots of of cyclists, but still only a very few with touring panniers.
Our first historical destination was the Roman bridge at Gualta, which has been carefully restored to show the original arches and the ruts of centuries of traffic on the surface. While admiring the bridge, we struck up a conversation with a lovely cycling couple from Koln who are very familiar with this part of Spain having cycled here many times. They said we must do the Santuari del Angels on our way into Girona so we are researching that ride. We continued to skirt the massive, round hill topped by the Montgrí Castle and passed through Torroella, a pretty old town with an impressive church, before coming out to the coast again at L’Escala. We picked up lunch at the grocery store and found a ideal picnic bench at El Portitxil with a view of perfect little cove with a beach. Too full for a swim, we leisurely continued our way along a truly delightful section of coastal cycle and walking path with the turquoise water to our right and the ancient Empúries Greek and Roman ruins on our left.
This part of Spain appears to have zones for different uses and the Sant Père Pescador area has all the campgrounds. We must have passed five huge complexes before coming to the town. This is a windy part of the coast so there were loads of kite and windsurfers, but the beach where we swam was marked off with an section for swimming only. As it is Saturday night, the seaside hotels were all charging full price but we managed to get a better deal a few kilometres inland. It made for a change of atmosphere to be in a town that seems as much an agricultural centre as a tourist town. We ate a delicious supper at a simple trattoria on the pedestrian walkway where the waiter was glad to practice his English and said we were the first Canadians he had served!
It was also our first night without air conditioning, but the temperature dropped into the low 20s and our room was on the 3rd floor so we slept with the windows open and enjoyed the night breeze, waking only for the 7am church bells. (Perhaps they don't ring all night).
| Heart | 2 | Comment | 0 | Link |
Today's ride: 47 km (29 miles)
Total: 141 km (88 miles)
| Rate this entry's writing | Heart | 8 |
| Comment on this entry | Comment | 6 |
2 years ago
2 years ago
Yes we are always reading other's blogs too in planning our routes and what to see, where to eat, all the important things! It is such a great community. I hope our paths cross sometime soon.
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