Tuesday 17 September

Paul took Lottie out, was gone for ages, came back and announced it was one of the best dog walks he’d ever had, all along the coast.

After hanging up a washing load to dry, we set off to cycle to Sant Carles de la Ràpita, a fishing town to the north of us. I was hoping to cycle along the coast but we had to do most of it along the road, fortunately there was a wide strip of tarmac outside of the main road.

The sun was out, it was perfect weather.

After 8 miles we arrived at our destination. There was a lot of holiday accommodation leading into the centre, but it was very quiet. There were several lovely sandy beaches which had been raked, but not many people on them. None were dog friendly. We found the tourist office next to the port/marina with a lovely girl in there who pointed us in the right direction of the old part of town, and the shops.

Despite all of the holiday accommodation we found the town to be very Spanish, not touristy. There were normal shops selling the items that you would expect in a Spanish town, fruit shops, opticians, shoe shops and a few bakers with lots of pastries. After a wander around we stopped for a light lunch and a drink, juice for me and a beer for Paul. From a menu we picked a Serrano ham bocadillo and potatas bravas. We got a plate of sliced bread with tomato and a slice of ham on, delicious. The idea was to have the potatoes with the ham but we had eaten the ham by the time a plate of chips arrived. Not sure what happened there as we were expecting spicy potatoes. But it was all very nice. It certainly wasn’t fast food as it took ages, but we were very happy watching the world go by.

By the time we got back to the campsite it was late afternoon so we crashed out in the sun.

Tomorrow we’re going to cycle the other way to Benicarlo where there is a market. About 10 miles I think.