Spain's Costa Brava: A Seaside paradise

Rick Steves always suggests taking a vacation from your vacation and today we found the perfect spot: The Paradore De Aiguablava on the Costa Brava in Spain just south of the border of France.

Leaving Barcelona was hard. It's such a fun vibrant city with so much to see. Not only that, our hotel was an amazing value and truly felt like a four star.

We headed north out of Barcelona on a late morning train and were thrilled to actually get seats with some room to spread out. In no time at all we arrived in Girona where the subcompact we rented turned out to be a big tomato red Mercedes. With a GPS we wound our way through the countryside dotted with olive trees to Aiguablava. Our parador is amazing. Perched high in a cliff above the Mediterranean, our view is of the harbor, mountains, and a small seaside village. We couldn't be happier and not only that, there's a cool breeze too.







When I was in college I spent two summer semesters in Madrid. The sessions always ended with a trip to the Costa Del Sol on the south coast of Spain with high rise hotels, discos, and airplanes that flew over the beaches dropping beach balls. I thought it was wonderful, but now that we're older I prefer a more tranquil Setting. Waves roll gently on the sandy beach, boats bob in the waves, and up in the hill are houses, olive groves, and small hotels with stunning panoramic views.

Tonight we had dinner at the Parador's restaurant on the beach. It had outside tables and terra cotta pots with candles lining the steps to the sand. Darkness falls here earlier than in Scotland, but that's okay. Our day ended with all the lights glittering up on the mountains with the sounds of the waves drifting up from below.