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squiz Member Member#: 6644 Location: Registered: 27-05-2007 Diary Entries: 2888 |
15th February 2018 Hiking - Walking: Empuries and L’Estartit Wind Direction: Wind Stength: Surf / Sea State: Air Temperature: Sea Temperature: Weather: sunny and warm. Max Speed: Distance Covered: Thursday 15th February – sightseeing travel and walks ***** Empuries and L’Estartit - sunny and warm. Would have been a nice quiet night expect woken by what I thought were hikers preparing for a ramble chatting in the carpark until Mag told me it was 2 o clock in the morning!!!! They left in the end and we got back to sleep and woke to a clear blue sky with not even a dog walker in sight, just the odd small boat heading out to sea. Mag even did her exercises out on the rocks while I sorted out the van. We were intrigued by a huge apartment block just around from Roses so headed there and were just amazed as the Empuriabrava area was just a maze of waterways with loads of nice villas each with their own mooring, it was actually very nice. Would have been great to explore on a paddle board. We had a job to get out with loads of dead ends blocked by canals! We found the huge jumble of apartments in one monumental block - very ugly and empty too there is just no one here:) The nice thing about the Golf de Roses is it is built up at both ends but remote beaches and nature reserves in the middle:) It is a very flat area made by several rivers carrying water from the snow-covered Pyrenees to the sea. There are loads of espalier apple trees, even some rice fields where we spotted loads of large black and white storks frog hunting:) At St Pere Pescador we headed back towards the coast and found an interesting little old walled town which invited us to stop even if all the carparks were closed and we had a job to park but it was worth it as it was another quality find! You entered Empuries through a small arch and headed up a narrow alley to a small square with a nice restaurant and chapel with a couple of very nervous cats looking for scraps. Then you found the crystal-clear sea looking fantastic under a clear blue sky. It was then you realised we were way over dressed, it was definitely a shorts, t-shirt and sandals day even if all the locals were dressed in winter coats and scarfs! To the left you had miles of deserted beach that you could hardly access and to the right a wooden walkway by the sea and a tarmac cycle track leading to L’Escala. The cycle track looked interesting so we headed that way with the idea of walking back along the beach. There is the remains of what looks like an old quay in the sea and it soon became clear as we came across the biggest area of what we assume are Roman ruins called Ruines d’Empuries which is fenced off but you can see it clearly and it was amazing just massive! We came to a small hotel in a little sandy bay doing a little trade from the odd bus load of tourists and passing cyclists, it would have been nice to explore on our bikes but you just can’t bring everything! We then turned onto the wooden walkway and found some lovely little secluded bays with the odd family enjoying a day on the beach! We walked back on the soft sand past large posts used to watch the bathers in session to the old quay even more impressive close up:) Back at the van and hungry now we drove to L’Escala and parked by the port for lunch. We then wanted a spot for the night fairly close and saw L’Estartit just around the next headland. It didn’t look overly promising as we drove along the straight road in but with high rocky hills to the left with a castle too we had our fingers crossed we would find somewhere nice and we were not disappointed! On reaching the sea you were greeted by the Les Illes Medes a large island with a lighthouse just offshore, again very impressive. It was then just a case of finding somewhere to park, first we turned left towards the port which was a hive of busy/noisy building work and was not camper friendly but the other of the town we hit the jackpot, ignoring the no vehicle over 2 metre sign we parked on a large sandy carpark with top views of the islands and even had another large camper a 100 m away staying to so felt safe to stay. We think you can get away most times out of season. Cake, cuppa and doze time, then with the sun dropping behind us we decided to go for another walk, first to the right to a group of very sad 60’s apartments in need of pulling down or serious restoration. Then back to the van to carry on along the beach to the port which was all lovely in the golden light. There is supposed to be a Castell there so we walked right to the end of the prom past loads of yellow bows tied everywhere (don’t know what that is about – have now discovered it is in support of the Catalan government) but no castle to be seen, must be very high up on the Rocamaura. We were getting our six-mile legs again and were glad to get back to the van for corned beef and potatoes, another top day in Spain:) Photo Gallery Here |
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