Cadaques again

I have fallen in love with this picturesque little town. It has a wonderful ambience and food to die for. The sun is shining today so I am just off for a swim in the sea.The Dali museum was disappointing, as it was just photos of his life and not the surrealist art I was expecting. As a pensioner I am a 'jubilat' here in Spain!i I head to Madrid tomorrow by bus and train to start my second Cosmos tour with Pele's mother, Margaret.

Cadaques by night

This is such a romantic little town. After my siesta, I resurfaced about 7pm and just wandered. It has quaint little steep streets and alleyways and really comes alive at night. Motorbikes roar up and down the narrow cobbled streets and people sit in their doorways and chat. Apparently there are 120 restaurants here and I've discovered an authentic Catalan one called L'Hosta, which has been a meeting place for famous artists and is also a nightclub. Dali designed their logo and their Catalan spinach tonight was delicious. The Ubaldo has also been an excellent choice of hotel as it is in centre of the old town and is clean and comfortable. The only disadvantage are the steep stairs and no lift!

Cadaques

Oops! I am a bit tipsy after a late tapas brunch and 2 wines in a cafe on the waterfront!! Cadaques is a charming little fishing village on the southern side of the Cap de Creus peninsula. It was made famous by Salvador Dali and the Surrealist movement and it is absolutely gorgeous. Unfortunately it is a little grey today but still warm and not too many tourists, as it is the end of the season and great sales in the little shops. This morning I did some shopping and a trip around Cadaques and Port Lligat in this funny little train for about an hour. It was just me and a bus load of very lively elderly (ie. older than me!) Spanish tourists who hollered and sang all the way. It was very funny. I have just had a wee siesta, but it is quite noisy below - there is constant chatter in Spanish, dogs barking and seagulls squawking. Tomorrow I will go to the Salvador Dali museum.

Costa Brava, Spain

Well, I feel as though I am now on the home straight! I flew down to Girona this afternoon and I had to wait for a bus to Cadaques, 2 hours away up the coast and a 2 hour wait. I went into Claudia's English class yesterday and then we went into Ettlingen again to get some spongy insoles for my shoes, as I know I will be doing a lot of walking in Spain. Ralf cooked us a delicious Spaetzle last night and drove me into Karlsruhe to catch the plane today.
The Spanish countryside is so different from the green Schwarzwald - very brown and dry with the typical adobe and stone houses. The soil is red and obviously quite fertile, as there were many apple and olive orchards.The Costa Brava has a series of mountain ranges along the coast with secluded coves and beaches with pine groves running down to the water's edge. The bus had to climb up a very windy road a bit like going around Banks Peninsula to drop down into Cadaques. Arrived in the dark and no taxis but I have managed to find my hotel. Photos in tomorrow's blog!

Ettlingen

Today Ralf and I did some sightseeing as Claudia is teaching. We went to this charming little village called Ettlingen. It is not unlike Staufen, with the Alb stream running through it, lovely architecture and cobbled streets. Their kids share a flat here. Then we went to Bruchsal, where we visited the gorgeous baroque Bruchsal castle, which was totally bombed in WW2 and subsequently rebuilt. It is a magnificent complex. After that we babysat Dominik and Simon in Gruenwettersbach, while Bettina went to the dentist. They live in an amazing community with kids and bikes everywhere.The houses are called 'Reihenhauser' because they are semi- detached with dead-end streets, so very safe for kids to play together outside.

Bad Wildbad

Had a quiet morning then went with Claudia to this pictuesque little village called Bad Wildbad, which has thermal springs and lots of retired people in wheelchairs or on sticks, as there are healing clinics here. The lovely old building is where Sven has his little picture theatre.I think I might retire here!! 'Wild' in German means 'wild' so the grass in the cafe tables was a nice touch.

Rotensol

Trained across to the Schwarzwald again yesterday and back into sunshine. Had a lovely family barbecue with all of the Mayer family there, Claudia, Ralf and their children and their partners. ( see photo). Today we all went to Forbach and the children and Claudia went 'soft rafting' on the Murg River. It was very gentle and only about 200 meters over little rapids, where they had to keep bringing back the rafts to repeat the exercise. Pretty tame compared to rafting the Rangitata, but pleasant sitting in the sun with Ralf, Dominik(4) and Simon(1), while their parents rafted.At night we went to a fantastic concert in Karlsruhe's lovely theatre. It was called 'The times they are a'changing ' and was the Bob Dylan story, so well- known music from my growing up years!