Final days in L'Estartit

While we had grandiose plans for taking lots of day trips when we arrived in Costa Brava, it being the first time we've rented a car as a family since we arrived in Spain, we didn't end up going anywhere beyond that one trip to France.  And you know what, it was so relaxing to just sit around and not do much of anything.  I think overall it made the trip even better.  Naps, reading, dvds, walking around town, going to the beach - just total relaxation. 

One of several hang gliders we saw this week - 2 of which flew right over our apartment!

One of the best parts of the trip was that Aidan learned to snorkel.  Four days in a row he dragged (well not really dragging because Josh loves the water) Josh down to the beach to go snorkeling.  They had the absolute best time looking for fish and any other sea creatures they could find!  I love seeing Aidan's love for the water - and I think Josh does too! 

Liam, too, has become more confident in the water and at one point, he actually waded in up to his chest.  Something I haven't seen him do often.  I find it interesting, his ambivilence about the water considering that he has literally grown up on the water.  He was boating at 2 weeks old and has been on or in the water at least once a week when the weather is warm since he was just a baby.  But I'm thrilled to see that he's starting to take some chances and "swim" in the water.  His version of swimming is kicking his feet but pulling himself along the sea's bottom with his hands.  It's a start!

In the end we had a fabulous time in this stunning beach town and we will absolutely go back again!!

Julie

Cruising up the Coast... Nuria Excursion - L'Estartit Day 5

I'll admit, I haven't seen a lot of the countryside of Spain or for that matter, Europe.  I'm a New England girl and with the exception of some road trips in the US, I haven't seen an amazing amount beyond New England.  So when I tell you that some of the most beautiful places I've seen in the world are in Spain, bear that in mind.  But it's true... some of the most beautiful countryside I've seen to date has been here in Spain.  And most recently that includes L'Estartit on the northern coast.  The mountains reaching down to kiss the Mediterranean Sea.  Rock faces that you can see have been impacted by the water and weather over thousands and thousands of years.  Amazing stretches of beach that feel luxurious between your toes.   A seaside town that while busy in the peak tourist season, isn't so crowded that you have to wait in any lines or that you feel claustrophobic in the streets. 

This is the type of place that Josh and I have dreamed about for years.  It's like a piece of Cape Cod was dropped off by the mountains.  It's peaceful and serene but yet has so much to offer for us to do.  And speaking of things to do, one of my favorites thus far was yesterday - when we boarded the Nuria Excursion.

Yes, this was a tourist thing.  But hey, we're tourists, right?  And since we are without our own boat we have to utilize what is available to us.  So we took the Nuria which is much smaller than the typical tourist boats here which are closer to the size of a ferry.  This boat fits about 20 feet and reminds me a bit of a Boston Whaler.  It rode low to the water and took it's time - and for me who doesn't usually like to go fast in the boat, it was almost too slow.  But at the same time, that's part of what made it enjoyable.

After settling on to the boat, we headed north up the coast.  Now we had seen some of the rock cliffs the other day but because of how the road ended, we could not see beyond that one cliff and I think we just assumed it was more beach or homes on the other side.  But no, we were faced with what looks to be miles of rock heading up the coast.  It was stunning!!  And the water was so clear - blue and turquoise.  Just like you expect the Mediterranean to be (in Barcelona it is NO where near this clear). 

The boat truely hugged the coast.  And normally when I say hug the coast I mean that you can see land from wherever you are in the water - for us normally at home this means about a mile or so offshore.  But not here - there were times where you could almost reach out and touch the rock face.  It was an incredibly calm day and the water was like glass. 

L'Estartit Harbor as we were leaving

      

A cave "starting" to form

L'Estartit is known for its diving community and I can see why.  Everywhere we looked there were signs of divers.  Boats, buoys, etc. 

The best part of the trip by far was getting a chance to boat thru some caves that were naturally formed over thousands, if not millions of years.  This is why we chose the Nuria - because it was small enough to fit into the caves unlike the bigger, flashier boats.  At one point it actually took us about 50 meters into a cave (that was a dead end and then had to back up) where actually saw what looked like a few stalactites on the ceiling which was very cool.  It was amazing to think that the water over the years has washed away so much of the rock that we were actually able to boat into the depths of the cliff.  I imagine there is some very cool diving in here as well. 

Coming upon the first cave - this one we could pass right thru

Second group of caves - we'll enter the middle one and go in about 50 meters.

This is the first cave, opposite direction

This was most definitely a worth while trip and I'm so glad we did it.  The views were amazing, the ride relaxing and it gave us an opportunity to see something we would never have otherwise seen. 

This reminded us a bit of Tarpaulin - where you can only get to the beach by boat.  This was the only beach we saw on the entire trip!

Fish in a feeding frenzy by our boat

Family portrait!

Returning to harbor

But the day didn't end there!!  Because today Aidan also went snorkling for the first time and he LOVED it!  He and Josh went off on their own while Liam napped and Aidan couldn't stop talking about the "other" world that he saw down there.  I think we have a future marine biologist on our hands!

Julie

L'Estartit, Costa Brava Vacation (Day 4) - Sigean Africaine Reserve, France

DAY 4

Today was the day we travelled to France. It really is cool knowing how close it is to get to – like driving to Maine…but it’s France!! We decided on the Sigean Africaine Reserve (not based on the rhino picture I assure you…) as a destination http://www.reserveafricainesigean.fr/. Our “trusty” GPS told us that we had just under 2 hours to go and off we went!

The ad that "motivated" us to go the reserve

The drive, similar to the drive from Barcelona, was just stunning. This time it was mountains that surrounded us instead of the water but it was just as magnificent and we drove a bit in awe of how beautiful the countryside is here.

As I had somewhat expected from reading the reviews, this reserve was part safari and part traditional walking zoo. The safari part required us to drive our car thru the park, and given that ours was a rental, I was a bit ambivalent as all I could think of was the citigroup commercial (I tried to find a link but couldn't find one) where the elephant sits on the guy’s car hood when the family is at a similar type park. In a sense it reminded me a bit of Disney’s Animal Kingdom…except unlike Disney, the animals could actually roam in the street in front of you as you can see here:

The park itself was pretty cool and for the most part appeared natural looking. I do think, and Josh agreed, that there should have been a train or something that goes thru the reserve instead of a caravan of cars. Not only is it bad for the animals to inhale all that carbon monoxide, but it was a major pain the ass to be in stop n go traffic in the middle of an animal reserve. The good thing is that you could stop and take pics from the car and there was no rush to move along – unlike in Disney where if you miss the shot, the truck continues on and the driver could care less.

Long line ahead of us to enter the park

Aidan checking out his map of the park

And Liam watching Aidan and pretending to look at his map

We were given a piece of paper with a warning on it when we entered the bear and lion area – DO NOT OPEN YOUR WINDOWS, DO NOT GET OUT OF YOUR VEHICLE, DO NOT STOP NEAR THE BEARS OR LIONS!!!

You can see the trail of cars making their way around the bear area.  There were no boundries preventing the bears from making their way up to the cars (they just seemed to have no interest)

A mom and her cub - they were separated from the rest of the bears

Again, the lions were right near us.  Yes, there was a fence behind her but that's just to keep her out of the rest of the reserve - she had the complete ability to roam anywhere in her area (including by the cars) that she wanted to go.

The boys loved seeing the animals up close and personal, although after a 2 hr drive, I think they would have liked a break before going into the reserve and driving for yet another hour to get thru. After a quick lunch we went over to the zoo portion and I was definitely impressed there. The environments for most of the animals were much bigger than in traditional zoos and for a number of them, there were acres to roam about. It makes you feel a little better about them being in captivity if they at least seem to be in a genuine habitat.

Last little bit of the "wild" before we entered the zoo.  This guy was a little too close for comfort if you ask me!

Liam thrilled to be out of the car!

Amazing view from the zoo area

Tired baby...

My three boys!

By far my favorite view of the day.  From what Josh's GPS told us, the turquoisy water is actually a bay/inlet to the Mediterranean.  Beautiful isn't it??

After the zoo, it was back to L’Estartit once again. It was a VERY long day full of driving but we all had a great time!!

Julie