GK Tours. Day 28 to 30
Sunday to Tuesday, 1st to 3rd December 2024
Pals to Pineda de Mar, Tarragona and Salou.
The night was very quiet and as per the forecast, it didn’t rain, which was good as the car park can, apparently be tricky to get out of if it did.
We headed for Pineda del Mar on the coast again and chose a campsite called Camping Bellsol with ACSI discount (not that there is a lot of choice this time of year) right opposite the beach.
The campsite only has a few pitches open and luckily had space for us. We were placed at the end of a row in between two other UK vans. Rare as hens teeth to see other Brits out so far.
Anyway, the sun was shining so we tried out the roll-out awning on the van. Yes, there actually was an awning in the casing 
and it was a surprise to see it came with some braces to help strengthen it once out.
We didn’t need the shade so popped it away again .
Finally we had the chairs and table out, sitting in the sun.
How lovely. Still have to have a warm top on but it’s so good to feel the sun on you. I’ve just treated some sun damage on my nose so have to avoid the sun on my face. Not too difficult, just keep a cap on when walking into the sun and turning my back to it when sitting.
The beach was just across the road, though you have to go through underpasses as the railway runs alongside the beach.
The sea wasn’t as calm as it was in L’Escala, we didn’t want to go in so not a problem for us . To be honest we didn’t see anyone in the sea here at all.
Our days were taken up with walks along the beach with Meg and a trip into the town to get her nails clipped. Other than that we did nothing, it was lovely .
One thing I have to mention is how small the world is becoming.
We got talking to one of the guys in one of the UK vans, it turns out they lived in Holsworthy until about 8 years ago 
what are the chances eh?
We knew it was going to rain last night so packed everything away in anticipation. Goodness me, did it rain, or is it just the sound of it in the new van? Whichever, we had to close all the skylights and got rather stuffy . First world problems 
.
This morning we set off for Tarragona. Gareth had read it still has a lot of Roman ruins so we went to investigate.
The weather warmed up and though we had our coats on, shorts were enough for walking around the city.
There’s an amphitheatre on the waters edge (see photo at top of page), very well preserved and protected. You can see most of it from the park above.
Old Tarragona has a couple of ancient forums, one which is gated and sadly doesn’t allow dogs so we skipped that, opting for a drink in the cafe just up a bit in a plaza. I had a Clara (beer with lemon, just like a radler), Gareth had a coffee and it came with two small ham and bread tapas. We couldn’t believe it only cost €3.90, especially so near to an attraction.
We followed our GPSmyCity App, and wandered off track when we saw something else that caught our eye. The ancient castle was closed, this also houses a museum and is at the edge of the old forum, some of which they are still finding. As you walk around you come across remnants of Roman walls and Roman houses.
We stumbled upon the Cathedral, accessed by a lovely big staircase and were intrigued by huge posters depicting the biannual event of the Contest of Castles (Castells).
This is where opposing teams build castles out of humans as high as they can. It looks amazing, have a look at YouTube, I guarantee you’ll get goosebumps.
The contest attracts all the Castle groups from Catalunya who gather in the old Bull ring. Definitely a must-see for another trip
The last item on our list to see was the Roman Circus, just up the hill from the amphitheater. Here they used to race chariots, have markets and hold festivals. Once again most is on view from the street.
We grabbed a sandwich and a baguette from a friendly patisserie (it’s very odd that you hear a lot of french here, then you remember that you are still close to France and most probably, at some stage in their history they were French, then Spanish etc etc ), ate it sat on a bench by the Christmas market chalets and then walked down the length of the central boulevard, crossing lovely fountains and statues before arriving back at our car park alongside the river.
Heading out of Tarragona towards Salou we drove through a really ugly industrial area, everywhere you looked were big chimney stacks and huge metal buildings. I suppose you can’t sustain a city without it and it has to go somewhere.
Tonight we are parked up in a camper-only parking area, no facilities but also no cost, nice and clean and getting quieter as the road noise dies down.
We’ll have a walk to the beach in Salou tomorrow, supposedly a 20 minute walk, we know Meg for one, will appreciate that
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