Image of Vila Vella Enceinte
Today we did a day trip to Tossa De Mar. We started the day with everyone packed and ready to go in the car at 10:00 AM (Portugal time). We then began the 37 ish minute drive to our destination which included going up and down several mountain roads and passing huge groups of bikers and other drivers that were making some interesting decision making in terms of speed and passing judgment. Finally, at around 11:40 we arrived at Tossa De Mar and headed straight to the beach. On the beach is an breathtaking view of the ocean and Vila Vella Enceinte.
Tossa De Mar is known for Vila Vella Enceinte which is the only example of a fortified medieval town still standing on the Catalan Coast. Almost the entire original perimeter still exists including battlemented stone walls, four turrets, and three cylindrical towers crowned with parapets.
Before beginning the walk up to the Vila Vella Enceinte we went down to the rocks to view the crystal blue waters. Griffin and Kayla both raced to see who could get to the rocks first and Kayla won so the image below is her victory picture.
We then went up to walk the walls of the medieval forturace and enjoy the amazing views of the ocean, beach, and surrounding town.
The Vila Vella Enceinte's highest point now contains a lighthouse and a gorgeous lookout but it used to be where the castle of the Abbot of Ripoll, Lord of the town (this was true until the beginning of the 19th century).
After thoroughly exploring some of the little streets, all the lookouts, and walking the extremely high walls (at least Kayla thought they were extremely tall) we decided to head to the other beach next to Vila Vella Enceinte.
At the beach, Griffin and Gage went and explored the rocks and got their shoes a little wet but had a fabulous time. Kayla and Connor followed behind but decided to not go as far out on the rocks because they felt that they would prefer dry shoes for the rest of the day (its that just graduated college advance thinking).
While we were chilling on the beach, jen decided to explore the castle more and found a super royal bathroom. Which she of course had to try out because now she can say she has gone to the privy. (Parent note: actually one of the nicest and cleanest public bathrooms I've ever been in. AND it is in the basement of a castle!)
See the WC by the motor scooter
Then Jen, Matt, Gage, Griffin, and Connor found some super scary on the side of a cliff stairs and decided they need to have this experience in their life. Kayla did not feel this same need and instead decided to go as high as she could muster the strength for (which was to the height of this photo because it was scary after this part).
So, Jen, Matt, Connor, Gage, and Griffin continued the hike which was extremely eventual because 7 BITCH MINTS WERE HANDED OUT. Basically, what Kayla heard happened was that they went on an interesting trail (sketchy) and some people thought it was a good idea to keep going (Griffin) and some people thought is was a good idea to not keep going (because it was sketchy which Kayla thought the whole thing looked sketchy but you know heights are not always her thing). So, yeah some words were said and Griffin ended up getting two mints, Jen ended up getting two mints, Matt ended up getting two mints, and Gage ended up getting one mint. Who knows how Connor managed to escape without receiving any mints but don't worry folks there's still time. (Parent note: the parent mints were self imposed. They actually help in calming us down when we want to strangle our children. We may need to keep a sully in hand even after the trip!)
The water is such an amazing shade!
While everyone else was off enjoying their hike (except for the mints fiasco), Kayla went for a walk through the castle, the city of Tossa De Mar, and a nearby beach where she climbed on some super cool rocks. She also managed to not give herself a mint so she is still at ZERO MINTS for the trip.
Once we all met up again, Kayla brought everyone to the near by beach so they could also explore the super cool rocks. Also, look how tall they are and Kayla is even on top of them (impressive huh).
After doing a quick walk over all the rocks, Jen and Matt decided to go on another short (1 hour) hike which had a beautiful lookout and most importantly a break from all the children. They seemed to enjoy it.
(Parent note: among other things, Costa Brava is known for a trail that goes along the coast, practically from France to Barcelona. One of the plans for this part of the trip is to hike sections of this trail, which is supposed to be gorgeous. The first hike we took with the kids was disappointing (even without the mints) because after scaling the first major cliff it went inland and we no longer had the great views. Which led to trying to cut over on a tiny trail when led straight down a ravine and led the the various birch mints. But the trail heading the other way along the coast was everything we read about - it hugged the coastline, with switchbacks up to a great viewpoint and then inland and down to protected coves in the rocks and then back up for more gorgeous views. One of the best hikes I have ever taken - very much recommended!)
Once they got back, we headed back to our place in Palamos, Spain for the day. Soon after arriving, Kayla and Connor left to go watch the sunset for the night. Jen (others may have been along but the author of tonights blog is unsure and everyone is asleep while she is writing this) was super sweet and did a quick grocery store run (which was not that quick because she ended up needed to go to two stores). (Parent note: Matt came along for both of the grocery runs. Apparently 30,000 steps was not enough for him, either! We had planned on chicken fajitas again (which we had our first night here) but the first store only had 2 packages. We had 4 the last time and it was not enough, so we went to another store to see if they had more they did not, but we fortunately had previously purchased rice, and we had bought soy sauce at the first store, so we bought frozen shrimp at the second and Matt made delicious shrimp fried rice for dinner. Fried rice was on our future menu ideas, since Kayla had been talking up Connor's fried rice skills, but Matt had to step in because Connor was on his daily sunset walkabout with Kayla during dinner prep time. And even Connor had to admit that Matt's fried rice was amazing!)
After Kayla and Connor returned from watching the sunset and Griffin returned from his workout, (parent note: I know Griff took a 45 minute shower, but not so sure there was a workout before that. He certainly took a nap in the car and again on the couch when he got him, which can be exhausting !) we all had a delicious dinner. We then finished the night watching some top gear and insuring that everyone goes to bed at a reasonable time so the bitch mints count is hopefully lower tomorrow.
Until next time
Kayla :)
BITCH MINT COUNT:
Jen: 3
Matt: 2
Griffin: 6
Gage: 2
Connor: 0
Kayla: 0
Also, if these are not correct they will be updated soon. So, don't forget to check back again tomorrow. :)
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