Day 89: Costa Brava.

We've been hoping to get in one more good beach day before fall officially comes.  Luckily, Barcelona is only an hour drive from Spain's Costa Brava.

While there are a cluster of small towns around this stretch of coast, we decided to head to Tossa de Mar, as it seemed to have some wonderful hiking trails along with its beautiful beaches.  

We started out the hike further inland, with a beautiful path as we ascended up to the peak, Coll del Sastre.  Just as we were supposed to be rounding our way to the coastline, a little rain storm came upon us.  Luckily, we were passing a campground and took shelter there for a bit.  (As did the cutest Spanish family.  They entertained us with pine cone soccer and cheers for the next half hour.  They also told us we must keep going on the coastal trail as it is "fantastico!".)

The clouds left as quickly as they had come in, and we headed out again.  

Costa Brava means "Wild Coast" or "Rough Coast" and it surely lives up to it's name.  The trail was quite steep at times, and the cliffs so dramatic! 

As we'd hoped, the trail dropped us right at the edge of Platja Gran, the main beach in Tossa de Mar.  And with just enough time for one more good swim in the Mediterranean.