Au Revoir Saint Tropez and Hola Catalonia!  We’re traveling in this part of Europe because neither of us has ever been to Spain.

We docked in Palamos, Spain in the Girona province of Catalonia. Today, we tour the Costa Brava. This is the Spanish version of the Riviera. I asked what Costa Brava meant, and our guide said, “brave or wild coast.”

The Catalonians have their own language which seems to be a mix of Spanish and French. For example, in Spanish, you say Buenos Dias. In French, you say bonjour. In Catalon good morning is bonodias.

Our first stop was Tossa de Mar or Tossa by the Sea. Located between the city of Barcelona and the French border, Tossa is an ancient fishermen’s village with an important historical background, that has become a well-known tourist destination on the Costa Brava. It is also known as the blue paradise.

While there, we stopped near Catalunya, a small chapel built in 1593 built by a sailor. Nearby was DiMare.

A Roman City

DiMare was a Roman city from about 1 BC until around 5 A.D. We stopped to see some Roman ruins that were being excavated. Here they also found a very large mansion with fresco floors. It had the name Teresa on it and they believe that’s where the name Tossa came from. So I guess Tossa de Mar means Teresa by the Sea.

This Roman villa ruins found in 1914 are called Els Ametlleres and dates back to the first century AD. It was one of the most important Villas in the Roman province of Tarraco.

Tossa De Mar

We stopped at another church in Tossa De Mar that was built between 1755 at 1785.

Love the streets and different architecture of this city.

The Old City

We walked all the way into the heart of the city to where the old medieval city still exists.

We loved how the streets were paved    

There was a square named after Ava Gardiner.

The movie she filmed here was “Pandora and the Flying Dutchman”.

 

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She is the reason I always loved the name, Ava. She was beautiful, and my oldest grandchild carries her name, though I’m not sure the name goes back to Ava Gardiner.

We spent a good bit of time in this medieval part of the city.

 

A Catalonian Garden

Next, we went by bus to the Jardins de Santa Clotilde. These are gardens built on a cliff near the sea.

Here, the whole garden is full of mythology, especially the statues.

This garden was one of my favorites.  All green and…

No flowers.

In addition, the former owners home overlooked the garden which is now public. The family sold it to the state.

Today, we were supposed to go to Barcelona for a tour called Gaudi’s Barcelona, but this is a national holiday. It is Columbus Day in Spain, so they worried about problems in Barcelona regarding Catalonian nationalism and terrorism. Sometimes rioting and terrorism happen around holidays.

In short, they canceled our trip to Barcelona and the trip to Costa Brava was what we did instead. Barcelona is the capital of Catalonia.

By the way, they celebrate Columbus Day in Spain to commemorate the founding of the Americas. It is a big deal over here.

Also, Catalan nationalism is a big deal right now. The region of Catalonia, much like one of our states, has voted to secede from Spain. There seems to be a standoff between the president of Catalonia and the Prime Minister of Spain. Spain threatens to take over the Catalan government. There are Catalonian flags everywhere.

Interesting stuff!