В прекрасной Каталонии In beautiful Catalonia

Spain visited for the first time. We rested in "Pi mar 3" with my son in August 2008. It is located in the pleasant town of Blanes on the Costa Brava, right by the sea on the promenade, which mainly influenced my choice. We liked the hotel in general. The room was small but comfortable: 2 beds, built-in wardrobe, TV, safe, take your hair dryer with you, balcony, normal bathroom. Everything is certainly not new, but in good condition. Whoever has complaints about the views from the window, the view of the sea and the embankment must be paid, because in the season of the influx of tourists you can get another view. The hotel itself is a multi-storey building - a hollow box. And we lived just in a room that had a view from the window to the opposite rooms. But this did not bother us, because in such rooms at night it is much quieter than in rooms overlooking the embankment, and we were extremely rare in the room / there was no time to sit there, because Spain is such an interesting country! /. The service at the hotel is decent, polite, they know a little Russian at the reception. But it is better to have at least a little knowledge of English or German. Rested in the hotel Spaniards, French, Germans, Russians, Dutch. The hotel has 2 restaurants: one is for tourists to eat, the other is mainly for evening entertainment. Almost every evening there were all sorts of show programs with songs and dances, also every evening there was either a disco of the 80s or Spanish pensioners danced their dances until nightfall / by the way, very cool /, the rest of the people also visited dancers. In general, all the entertainment of the hotel for people of mature age. Pi-mar in Blanes, in my opinion, is the most musical hotel, in other hotels in Blanes it is somehow quieter. The hotel also has a swimming pool / on the roof /, a gym, the pool was never used, because the sea is right next to the hotel. We walked around the evening city in different places, everywhere, in the sense of security, calmly, no one will offend. I liked it very much. For young people in Blanes there are inexpensive night discos, the main thing is to be sociable so as not to go there alone. My son met the guys and visited several institutions there, he liked it. Some events were constantly held in the town: concerts, sports races with the participation of locals and vacationers, carnival processions. The Catalans, along with their families, do not sleep until late at night, stroll along the promenade, sit in cafes and restaurants, in general, vacationers and locals are mixed there. The same picture and on the beach. We liked it very much, including the fact that there were few compatriots. The beach - municipal - was very clean, large, there was always a lot of free space. Sunbeds and umbrellas are paid. There are showers on the beach. The sea is clean, often wavy and somewhat cool, although the weather was +32-36. On the Costa Brava, they say, the winds often blow, and so it was. But in such heat, it was to our advantage, the main thing was not to get burned under the warm breeze. Food in the restaurant for a huge five! Variety was constant. A lot of vegetables, fruits, various cold and hot soups, meat, fish, often seafood, an abundance of desserts. Drinks at lunch and dinner were chargeable. Drinks were in our room, purchased from local supermarkets. The shops of the first line by the sea are the most expensive, as elsewhere. But if you go a little deeper into the town, in supermarkets they are many times cheaper, including a variety of Spanish wine, bottled and on tap. . Also in the town we got to the ending sales, bought cheap clothes of good quality for ourselves and as gifts. In addition to shopping and the beach, they were engaged in trips on excursions. We went from Capital Tour, we bought excursions from them. The first - to France, to 2 towns of Narbonne and Carcassonne /80 euros per person/. Who has not been to France, go, it was interesting. Then 2 times went to Barcelona. We visited the old city, the Sagrada Familia, Park Guell, an aquarium, and, of course, singing fountains. Everything was amazing, we constantly did not keep up with the group, since there was little time for everything, and it was simply impossible to break away from such beauty. I envy those who move around Spain on their own, for the first time I did not dare to do this. In all the excursions where we were, the guide, of course, gave a few hours for free time, but this was very little! So keep it up! Another excursion was to the mountain monastery of Montserrat. I also highly recommend. The monastery is located in the picturesque mountains. We walked around the area, took the funicular even higher into the mountains. Then, going down to the monastery, we visited the temple, where we got to the performance of the boys' choir. We admired the kilometer-long line to the statue of the "Black Maiden" - the national shrine of Catalonia. According to legend, she is considered miraculous, so pilgrims go to her with their prayers and requests. We didn’t stop, we visited the Museum of Fine Arts with paintings by Spanish, Catalan and other painters, then we bought a mini-copy of the Black Madonna to take home in the same shop. There are no complaints about the excursions, everything was on the level, the stories are very interesting, the guides always patiently waited for all the gapers. From the trip to Spain we have an excellent, good memory. I would like to visit Spain again, and more than once, because this is a very beautiful country, rich in sights, natural beauty, in which interesting, friendly and friendly people live.