The blond holidays: travelling in Spain, visiting L'Escala

I don't really remember L'Escala that clearly. Mostly because of the huge amount of Estrella I drank, but also because I slept there most of the time. Hubby and I went to Spain during one of those years one sometimes has when is trying to make a living and comes back home at 10 o'clock at night, eats Heinz soup out of a can for dinner, and is so tired that falls asleep while standing. We just wanted to rest and be with each other (aawww - isn't it romantic?), so we chose L'Escala.

It is a small town on the Costa Brava, in Spain. It is only 1.5 hours drive from Barcelona - although it took us a little more, because the company we rented our car from gave us a very ugly, brown Fiat Panda, which didn't cope very well with even the smallest hills, and didn't go faster than 30 miles per hour (even if it had, it would have probably fallen apart after an hour). It was also the only car on our car park, which was covered with birds poo (clearly Spanish seagulls know a thing or two about cars.) So, the 1.5 hours journey, which Google said it would take us to get there, turned into 3 hours. 

But the road trip aside - L'Escala is a lovely place, with hidden quiet streets, full of local cafes and restaurants and a little square in the centre. There are hidden beaches around the town and you can choose between those more lively ones, and those less frequented by visitors.

There is not much you can do in L'Escala. We only made a few trips: to former Salvador Dali's home, Girona, and Empuires - town ruins from the 7th century BC. There was a plan of going to Barcelona for a day, but we looked at our Fiat Panda, sighed deeply and decided against it. But, of course you might be more lucky and have a Porshe or Lamborgini, which will drive flawlessly through the Spanish roads. I wouldn't hesitate then and explore the city, which is known as one of the most beautiful capitals in Europe. A trip to Barcelona won't cost you much (especially if you can afford a Porshe) and will be a nice break from the lazy days you will most surely have in L'Escala.

There are a lot of modern apartments around the coast of L'Escala, which indicates that you can probably get a good deal on renting them during out of the season months. We went in June and it was fairly quiet, but there were still lots of old Brits around. Actually, they were everywhere. They own shops and pubs there and, of course, the apartments, so from time to time you can feel like back in Brighton. You can judge for yourself if that's a good or bad thing.

We finished our holidays with a beautiful dinner on the beach and a jug of Sangria. Then, Adam managed to convince me to change into my bikini and promised to swim with me in the pool. The weather got cooler, the water was freezing, and I was a bit reluctant to jump in. 'Go on - he said - I'll jump with you. On 4-3-2-1 and..!' And...I jumped and he didn't...He was standing there, laughing his head off. Well, a real blond ending to my holiday in Spain. 

This post was sponsored by Destinia.com (www.destinia.co.uk)