December 7th, 2019
Today I got an early start to go on a day trip to the coastal town of Tossa de Mar. I caught a local bus from a stop close to the hostel, then got off and walked to a main bus station in the city. From there I caught a bus to Tossa de Mar. It was a several hour journey but had very pretty scenery as the highway hugged the coastline. Once I got there, I headed right to the beach which I had read was ranked by National Geographic in the top 25 of the most beautiful beaches in the world. What made it so stunning was the beautiful, clear, turquoise water with nice sand, surrounded by dramatic cliffs and a castle that sits over it and seemingly guards the beach. It was Saturday and unknowingly I stumbled on a great Christmas street fair. It was full of vendors with artisan crafts, a stage with live music, food, beer, wine and cheese. I had a beautiful sunshine day and thought to myself how lucky I am to be here!
I was in search for a coffee and some breakfast but walked by so many booths pouring local cava (a sparkling wine from Spain) with just a box for a suggested donation of 2 euros. I couldn’t resist and thought ‘why not?’. I was given a glass and strolled through the rest of the street fair.
After that I walked up a pathway to get dramatic views of the beaches and coastline. There was a beautiful path with gorgeous views of both the city and castle as well as the coast. I spent time exploring the trail, walking through the old city and taking about a billion pictures. This was really a beautiful place.
On my way back to the bus stop I went back through the street fair and got the most delicious snack. It was called raclette and is basically a huge wheel of cheese that they broil the top of and scrape the melty, gooey cheese onto a piece of bread with some diced pickle and onion.
It was so delicious and once again, I thought this couldn’t get any better as I sat outside looking at the beach and enjoying the live music from the stage nearby.
Since this was a small town they have limited transportation options so I could either leave at 4pm or 7pm on a bus back to Barcelona. I went for the 4pm so I could get back to the city early and maybe join some new friends from the hostel for the rest of the evening. For whatever reason the 4pm bus was canceled so I had to wait until 7pm. I always say you never know where the day is going to take you and you have to be able to just roll with it. So, I went back to the beach and stayed until sunset.
It got really cold after dark so I kept moving and explored other parts of the town by walking. Not wanting to spend a ton of money eating and drinking in a bar or restaurant for several hours, I just roamed around and eventually found a grocery store and got a few snacks.
Finally, 7pm came and I got on the bus back to Barcelona. I chatted with an American lady who was living in Barcelona and going to school. She was nice and let me use her battery pack charger so my phone did not die before I got back to the hostel. In the end we exchanged numbers as she wanted to get together again while I was still in Barcelona. It reminded me that when you are traveling alone you never really have to be alone as there always seem to be plenty of people who want to hang out.
I was so tired from all the walking by the time I got back to the hostel, I again declined invitations to go out. The hostel was hosting a family paella dinner though and I went down with one of my dorm mates and ate dinner at the hostel with some sangria. It was really good and fun chatting with all the other travelers. I ended up playing some games with a group that was there and then went to bed when they decided to go out and continue the party.