Adios, Au revoir, Auf Wiedersehen, Adeu, and Goodbye

We have spent the past 2 days just hanging out and seeing the towns. We ended up taking our laundry to a man who did it for us since there are no Laundromats here. We also went on the bus to the downtown of Roses and somehow ended up on the main shopping street. Too bad for me that the shop owners strictly adhere to the siesta rule and almost every shop closes for 2 hours—the time that we were there! The buses also take a siesta so we were left to walk home, only 1 ½ miles or so.

It has been so windy here that we have had to stay inside sometimes. Today though was a beautiful day so we spent our last day here out on the sand, we got into the Mediterranean and enjoyed our sunny, breezy day.

Our 4-star hotel has hosted one convention after another all week long. There has not been one day or night of peace and quiet. They cater to the convention group and not individuals. We asked if we could have a towel to take to the beach and they would not give us one. It would get sand on it! We asked what we should do (they have a pool too and no towels lying around) and they said we should go buy one! It is kind of their same attitude towards us during mealtimes too. We can’t sit here, we can’t sit there and we can’t go there. Finally I asked where we could sit to eat our breakfast (that came with our hotel package) and a kind waitress fixed a table for us. Unless you are a convention “groupie”, you are basically no one.

We have also realized that the Costa Brava is a multi-cultural resort area. Most of the shop employees speak to you in French first and then Spanish. Many owners of the shops are also German. All menus are printed in Catalan, Spanish, French, German, Dutch and English. I guess many come here to experience beach living without the price of the French Riviera. They come here to experience food that they don’t eat in their countries.

We have tasted scoops of mayonnaise on all kinds of food; bread, French fries, baked potatoes, & macaroni.

We have had paella of every kind; vegetarian paella, sea creature paella, paella with pork knuckles and last night’s paella negra or better known as squid ink.

We have had fried sardines, steamed mussels, stuffed mussels and Jim’s favorite, mussels in vinegar with chopped peppers, onions and tomatoes. We have eaten our year’s worth of olives. We have had Tapas and we have tasted the best melon in the world. In spite of all the wonders of this region, I know that I am anxious to get on the cruise ship tomorrow and get some regular food.

Enjoy the sunset with us from the Costa Brava.

 

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