Welcome To Spain’s “Wild Coast!”
Yes, this is the “Costa Brava” region of Spain, the country’s “wild coast” – a gorgeous and very rugged area just northeast of Barcelona on the Mediterranean sea…
The breathtaking views go on for miles, and Alex and I had a chance to explore this region for several days….
Welcome To Mas de Torrent!
After spending a few day in Barcelona, we rented a car and drove out to the Costa Brava, staying at the Mas de Torrent resort in Torrent, Spain…
Aside from being a beautiful resort, Mas de Torrent is also situated in a perfect area for exploring the costa brava countryside….for example, here is the view from the hotel’s driveway:
The Medieval Town Of Pals!
Yes, that is the medieval town of Pals, Spain, just a few miles away from our resort. It’s a gorgeous view every single day, and it’s just the tip of the spanish medieval village iceberg! There are many other classic old structures nearby in the town of Torrenti as well:
Our “Tour de Spain!”
The best way to see these incredible villages is to grab a bike and go! The hotel has bikes to use so that you can explore the area easily…
So we did just that: using the incredible scenery as our map, we headed out to bike the Costa Brava!
After the obligatory “at arms length” photo, we headed down a quiet country road toward the center of the town of Torrenti, where our adventure begins…
We followed easy directions from our hotel and quickly found “direction signs” that had been put up on an abandoned road…turning it into a private bike path!
A new road was built through the area, so they very smartly turned the older road into a “bikes only” ride through the spanish countryside!
Heading For Pals!
Our abandoned back road took us right to the medieval Spanish village of Pals, which is easy to see from a distance, since the area is virtually flat for biking:
And the ride through the spanish countryside is like a trip back in time…peaceful, quiet and without any traffic whatsoever….
And no matter where you are, you can see a village over your shoulder…this is an area with many medieval villages, like Pals, Sant Feliu and Peratallada – all of which we explored…
The abandoned road takes you right to the edge of the medieval town. Once you arrive, you drop your bike off and take a walking tour of the incredible old buildings:
After touring the old village, we rode our bikes back along the road before heading off onto another two-lane highway where we found more great towns to explore…
The next day, we took a long walk along the country road as well, and came across Alex’s “Gladiator” moment, that scene with the silky fields of grass…
So we re-enacted the scene as best we could…
And we finished by getting a shot of Alex at the Torrenti sign…and yes, I referred to the town earlier as Torrent, but this sign had an “i” on it – and maps show it without the “i”…I will let you solve the puzzle…either way, “Torrent(i)” is a beautiful area…
And of course we ate and ate and ate great spanish food…here is one of my posts from our Barcelona culinary adventure….
Baby Squid and garbanzo beans from “Cal Pep”, regarded as the greatest tapas restaurant in Barcelona…read all about it here:
http://johnrieber.com/2013/05/20/barcelona-tapas-cal-pep-the-battle-for-tapas-supremacy/
And let me know what you think!
