A slow sort of morning – we’re not planning to go far today, so we can take it easy.
We drove up to Prades, about 30 minutes up the road (the satnav was wittering on about having park up and walk in over an unmade road – an obvious glitch in the matrix). It was another cool morning, but the sun was trying to shine through.
It was another nice ride through pretty countryside and we soon arriving in Prades, which looked very interesting – we parked just out of town, after limbo-ing under a height barrier and paying for a parking ticket. We walked down the main street and then turned down a little side street only to pop out into a fabulous little square.
It was full of people milling around and there was a great atmosphere- finally a little town that was buzzing and had a vibe. Lining the edge of the square, were numerous cafes, filled with people drinking coffee with friends and family. We spotted a sign for the tourist information – we’re after a map of either Catalonia or Spain so we can continue to chart our journey – and headed down there. Alas, they only had maps of the immediate area and so the search continued – these maps are being very elusive. We returned to the square and started to wander down the pretty streets, admiring the beautiful buildings. We came across a little shop that looked quite touristy and so I went inside, introducing myself with my request. The old woman behind the counter pointed at some maps, before engaging with another customer. These maps weren’t right either, so I went to ask another question. She looked at me as I took a deep breath to start talking, but just turned to a new customer and then answered the phone. Mmmm. I wasn’t impressed – I put the maps back and walked out. As my daughter would say “Rude!”
There were quite a few cyclists cycling in town, this time the lycra clad ones with streamlined bikes, going around in small groups of three or four riders. Obviously this was road bike country and these guys were heading for some exercise.
We decided it was coffee time and sat in one of the cafes overlooking the square, enjoying the sun’s warmth. We asked for two big coffees and bless him, the chap obliged – we were very happy and showed our delight, making him laugh.
Afterwards we had another wander around, enjoying the vibrancy of the town, nipping into shops to purchase wine, olive oil and cakes – we had quite an armful. We fancied lunch now so decided to nip back to the Van to drop off our wares and come back unhindered. We were gone ten minutes max, but in that time, the cafes had got even busier. We noticed that people were still just drinking and not eating in particular. A couple of places we discounted as a cool wind was whistling up a side street straight onto their outside area, another one had a cosy enclosed awning, but he was turning potential customers away and a third told us we couldn’t eat outside, only in the restaurant upstairs – but it was full. How difficult was it to get somewhere to eat.
So we sat on a bench and contemplated our options. It was coming up to 1:30 and everybody seemed to be happy just hugging a coffee or a beer. We didn’t fancy being the obvious tourists, eating in a sea of drinkers. We suddenly realised how cool the wind actually was as we sat there (the sun had disappeared behind a veil of cloud and had lost some of its heat) -and noticed everybody were in winter jackets, the cafe patrons looked distinctly hunkered. As lovely as it was, with the sun shining, the fabulous ambience and surroundings, we came to the conclusion that we didn’t want to get cold (wusses) and made an executive to head to the campsite, check in and rustle something up in the Van.
https://www.catalunya.com/en/continguts/territori/prades-2-1-431166
Prades Park campsite had a few extra facilities than your average campsite with a spa and restaurant attached. It was rather nice and we went to find our allocated pitch – it was quite a busy site with most rows full of campers. We found ours and reversed in, slightly surprised to see the motorhome opposite decorated with tombstones, skeletons and a ghost who periodically wailed. What surreal dimension had we wandered into here?
Out of the wind, the sun was quite warm and we ate lunch outside before I headed off to do some laundry. On the way there, there were various children all dressed up in Halloween costumes, all very excited and chatting away. What was happening here – Halloween was a week away, but here all the small people and some dads in ghost outfits. Crikey, were we to expect knocks on the Van door tonight as this lot went around trick and treating? All we could offer was kiwi fruit.
We eventually came to the conclusion that the campsite must host a Halloween themed weekend, as a little while later, a little road train came tootling through playing music followed by most of the ghouls, skeletons, witches and other ghostly bodies I had seen earlier. They then headed off around the corner to the pool area, where they had a little party. Some of the guests had also decorated their holiday homes with pumpkins, cobwebs and tombstones and with everyone milling around, we wondered if there was a “best decorated holiday home” competition going on too. Whatever it was, it livened up the campsite with everyone wandering around.
We spent the afternoon and early evening relaxing, making periodic dashes to the see how the laundry was doing, checking out the little supermarket (very well stocked) and the on site restaurant. As darkness fell, the motorhome opposite to us, lit up their pitch with lights making their Halloween decorations glow and even more spooky, the eyes of the wailing ghoul glowed red. It was quite an attraction and drew quite a few people to admire. Luckily, none of them knocked on our door and so we’re stuck with the kiwi fruit.
We’re stating here for two nights, so plan to go for walk out into the countryside, following a couple of advertised routes to nearby attractions. So another slow morning, leisurely breakfast and a wander – perfect for a Sunday.
