Knives

May 30, 20193 min read

Three Weeks in Spain - Part 3 (The Costa Brava!)

Ah! Welcome my friends - you have finally arrived at the Costa Brava :D

This is a wonderful place you do not want to miss out on.

We rented a farm villa just outside of Verges for 10 days with our friends from France to enjoy the sunshine and fresh country air! ...And by fresh, we're talking farm fresh - yes manure. This is spring on the farm after all!! (Mmm...the smell of moo cows in the morning, ha ha!!)

Inside the villa grounds we felt like Spanish royalty though. There were so many different outdoor eating areas, we almost didn't know how to choose!

Kelly enjoying a cold beer while working hard on lunch ;-)

And a HUGE back yard with a pool to enjoy!

Dogs loving the giant backyard poolside...*woof*

And on the rainy days, I was able to cook up a storm in the kitchen and serve home cooked meals made from fresh local products grown right outside our front door! (Yes, the box-wine in the photo below is a specialty of the region! And no, I'm not making this up just so that we could be 'so darn classy')

Family meal for five! ...No, the sippycup isn't for Kelly's wine ;-)

We've been living in short-term AirBnB rentals since January of 2019...so having this large space in such a beautiful setting was a slice!

But there were some days when the wind picked up, and we needed to drive the 10 min route to the coast (farmland kicks up a bit of dust in the wind....). So, here are a couple of our favourite spots from the region:

1. L'Estartit

In May, this pretty little fishing village turned resort town is pretty much empty. But this means you get the white sandy beach alllll to yourself! You could also get in all the diving to yourself if you're into scuba - it's one of the best scuba spots on the Spanish coast!

In quiet May, you also get the choice of ANY RESTAURANT your heart desires, as everywhere has open tables just waiting for you to enjoy ;-)

We could tell that in the summer, this place would be insane and packed with locals looking to cool off in the beautiful blue sea, and then eventually escape the sun and heat for a hopping resto-patio to laze the afternoon away.

We hit up Harveys. No, not the fast food joint ;p Harveys is a super fun little 1950's American inspired diner on the strip of L'Estartit. How can you say no to a lunch of burgers and sangria on a hot day?! *yum!*

2. Pals

Pals is a special place. A small Medieval village, set on a small hill over looking what were once marshlands but are now replaced with fields of rice. (Which is one of the areas specialty products)

We wandered through its winding narrow streets up to the small Gothic church of Sant Pere, to soak up the 360 degree panoramic view of the distant Pyrennes at one end of the valley and - if it wasn't so cloudy - we could have also seen the sea with its jagged peaks of the Medes Islands at the other.

We had lunch, enjoyed exploring all the local shops, and laughed as we ran through the winding cobblestone streets!

3. L'Escala

We adored this seaside village!! Renowned throughout Spain for one thing: anchovies. But it is oh-so-much more!

Self-proclaimed as the most family-friendly town in Spain (they even have a family festival in the summer!) this little gem is stocked with sea side patio restaurants, beach playgrounds, hiking trails, nature parks, mesmerizing winding streets you could happily get lost in, oh and the views! From here you can see the tip of the Costa Brava and all the little towns that dot the sun bleached shores.