Sunday 22 April 2012  - Following the Mediterranean

Day 10 and 148 to go -  Glory robbed in grand final against Brisbane. BUGGER.

So tonight’s accommodation sees us holed up at Platja de Capi Corb. The van is parked only 5m from the pebble lined beach. I can hear the gentle waves crashing rhythmically. Million dollar views and it is all for free. Oh the joys of campervanning. We are not the only ones here enjoying this spot there are 4 other vans cashing in. Why wouldn’t you?

Last night we did venture out to one of the local bars and watched the second half of the Barcelona v Real Madrid soccer game. Had we realised earlier it was being played in Barcelona we would have tried to get tickets but oh well the pub would have to do and it was entertaining. I was told by Paul to keep any support for Real Madrid to myself for fear of being attacked by the locals. Paul was in his element as he supports Barcelona. The locals were obviously passionate and broke out into song regularly. The most entertaining was the one local going for Real who was obviously giving the crowd much grief seeing his team was winning. I just wished we had subtitles so we could understand what was going on. It was still a laugh and a great way to spend out last night. Barcelona 1 – Real Madrid 2.

This morning we packed up the van in readiness for heading out. I skipped off to the showers when I realised that Paul had found a problem with the van’s porta loo. On our first night he didn’t think it was working properly and today he found out he was right. He went to empty the canister only to discover that there was shit everywhere. Literally. So while he was dry reaching sticking his head in the hole cleaning out the muck into a plastic bag I had a shower, escaping any possibility of having to clean up that problem. GROSS!

With a clean van we made our move out onto the highway again, heading south for Tarragona. Following the backstreets through small villages until arriving at 11.30am. Tarragona is right on the coast winding around the hillside. As you come into the town you pass many Roman ruins including an amphitheatre. We found somewhere to park the van. I think because it is Sunday the streets are somewhat empty which is great for us.
I made lunch while Paul sought out the cold and flu tabs and antibiotics. He has been struggling with a cough which has left him with a very sore throat and today he was feeling achy.

We walked along the port area and beach front before heading to the amphitheatre. It is a large open aired arena right on the coastal strip. Very impressive as so much of it is still in tact.

We then went up the hill to the Roman Circus Praetorium. This was built in 69 – 79. It was terrific to be able to wander around and see all the old Roman artefacts and to climb to the top of the tower for the magnificent view along the coast. 

With Paul beginning to fade we made our way back through the town finding a pharmacy for cough syrup and then a small café for a ham and cheese croissant. The GPS got us back to the van and after sorting out where we were heading we plugged in the GPS and followed it to our next destination 120km further down the coast.

The roads were fairly quiet and it was a relatively gentle drive thankfully as Paul was not completely with it. We did however see many girls sitting in plastic chairs at the numerous laybys. They were there looking for customers to entertain. I couldn’t believe how obvious and brazen it was. It would be like seeing them on the trip to Busselton! All the lonely truckers would have someone to cuddle up to.

We finally found ourselves arriving in the seaside town of Alcossebre at 4.20pm. We drove straight to the waterfront and parked before getting out and walking along the coastline. It is obvious this place is a summer getaway and would be overrun by tourists in the summer, but right now most things are shut. We did not mind this at all as it allowed us to get around easily both walking and with the van. We looked for places we could stop the van for the night, there were plenty.

After a return trip of about 5kms, (I am so glad I bought new sneakers but I am sure they will have no tread by the time we get home) we got back in the van and drove further south to a spot right by the beach. Beautiful.

I cooked up dinner. A wog sausage, egg and salad roll, with a fresh baguette picked up from the café earlier yum! To improve digestion we completed a quick reconnaissance of the area around us before returning to the van. Paul called it a night at 7.45pm while I was happy to sit up and listen to the waves and take stock. Hey we’re in SPAIN!
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Sorry pictures  to come as it is taking way too long to load and I have a whole week to catch up on!! I am posting photos on Facebook so you can check them out there.
I have now added everything and it is all up to date again. PHEW