Costa Brava: Blanes y Tossa de Mar

Today I went on a day trip to see some of the Costa Brava. The Costa Brava is the name for the entire coastline along the Mediterranean starting at Barcelona and extending all the way north to the French border. The southern part of this is known for its beaches, while the coastline becomes very abrupt and lined with cliffs as you go further north and closer to the Pyrenese Mountains. In some places (way up north) the mountains literally come right up to the water.

We took the train from Barcelona (about 1 hour) to Blanes. From the train station we walked about a half hour (we found out later we could have taken a bus for .80 cents, oh well) to the coast. This area is fairly touristy, with tons of resorts and hotels for people to enjoy the beautiful beach. All of the coast that we saw was lined with hotels and the waterfront with tons of seafood restaurants and cafes. There were a number of small boats along the shore, and also two big marinas with larger boats.

We didn't spend much time in Blanes because we wanted to see more of the coast, so we took a bus to Loret de Mar. Our goal was to check out Loret and then hop on the bus and continue north along the coast to Tossa de Mar. After the half-hour bus ride to Loret, we got out next to a casino and a bowling alley, and immediately realized that it was way to0 touristy for us, so we immediately hopped on the bus to Tossa de Mar. There, we walked to the coast again. The beach was beautiful, as on both the northern and southern sides of the beach the terrain shifted pretty abruptly into cliffs and rock formations. There was also a part of a fortress origionally built by the Moors standing along the cove, so we climbed that for a view of the sea. On the way back down we grabbed some ice cream and headed back to the bus to start the journey back to Barcelona. In Blanes we decided to take a break and eat seafood pizza (with shrimp, salmon, and clams) before getting back to the train for the ride back home.

Click here to see my photos of Costa Brava:

Costa Brava Oct. 19 and Nov. 1

This week I am going to get started on some of my papers I have to write for my classes (including one on the idea of "utopia" for my Political Psychology class). I will try to get ahead with homework and such because I will be in Germany to visit Jon Huber from Thursday through Sunday.