Johnsons Journal

Pauline and Ken: two adventurers, countless stories, endless inspiration.

Over the past decade we have been discovering Spain. We started with Andalusia in 2015 followed by Green Spain two years later. Then Valencia for the Moors and Christians Festival and as I write this I have also been watching the terrible devastation wreaked in Valencia and the South and East of Spain by the floods. It’s hard to imagine when seeing these pictures the colourful fiesta that we saw in those same streets. Our latest tour was to the Catalonia region where our Tour Manager for all these holidays, Danny, was born and raised. We were based in Pineda de Mar at the Sumus Stella Hotel and Spa, about an hour’s drive from Barcelona and a short walk from the beach, railway and centre of town.

After a late arrival at the hotel due to hold-ups at Barcelona airport we were glad of the relaxed start to our tour the next day. Blanes, just 30 minutes drive away has been popular with the tourist trade for many years and is regarded as the start of the Costa Brava. When we arrived, the tourist land train was waiting to take us through the town and then up the steep climb to the top of the cliff and the Marimurtra Botanical Gardens. There are spectacular views along the coastline from these gardens which have more than 4,000 plant exotic species. Parts of the garden are steep with many steps but there is a level accessible route and a café in the garden with picnic seats. We had a short talk about its history and founder, Carl Faust, before setting off to explore. The land train took us back to the town for free time and to enjoy a tapas lunch in one of the many bars and cafes along the sea front.

We had a panoramic tour of Barcelona the next day ending at the harbour where some of the group joined Danny for a walk along Las Ramblas before we set off for the Sagrada Familia for a guided tour during the afternoon.

The Basilica is still an ongoing project.

Conceived in the 1880’s and then taken over by Antoni Gaudi in 1884 it is nothing short of a fantasy. Slow progress was made after his death in 1926 but the building is now almost complete with only the main spire to finish. The interior feels more of a tourist attraction than a place of worship though. Perhaps this will change in time.

Continuing our theme of art, we headed for the town of Figueres the following day and the Dali Museum. Surreal, quirky, strange, overwhelming, all these things but there were also what you would call ‘normal’ paintings. A formidable talent. You need plenty of time to browse and appreciate it all. The town itself is a pleasant one with plenty of little shops and cafés . After lunch we continued to Besalu, a medieval town with cobbled streets and old buildings accessed from the coach parking place via a 12th century Romanesque bridge across the Fluvia river.

Monserrat, is the symbolic heart of Catalonia. The Benedictine monastery of Santa Maria de Monserrat is set on an amazing rock formation. You can get there by road or by a rack railway. Along the street at the base of the rock, where the Basilica is set, are cafes and stalls selling local cheeses and honey. Then in the afternoon a complete change. I had said we didn’t want a distillery/wine tour as we have had so many and they are all the same. However, Danny persuaded us that the Cava Codorniu winery founded in 1551 was different. It certainly was.

After a short introductory video we were taken underground (there is a lift or several flights of stairs). The bottles of Cava (they can’t call it Champagne) are stored in these caves and we were able to explore them on a land train. There is also a collection of old hand operated machinery for putting corks in the bottles and we were told how this used to happen. Then it was time for a tasting which resulted in many bottles being purchased to take home.

Sunday, a lazy free day with a late breakfast, shopping in the town, a walk along the beach and watching the IRON MAN contestants on the beach roads, lunch and then in late afternoon another visit to Barcelona. This time we visited Park Guell (designed by Gaudi) before going to the Palau de la Musica Catalana. We had a light tapas snack in their café and afterwards, a highlight of the holiday, a Flamenco Gala Performance at 9pm. With the late night arrival back at the hotel, a half day tour of nearby Girona was planned the next day. As we drove there Danny pointed out the dry riverbeds which the locals actually park their cars in and which over flowed due to the floods a month after our visit.

Finally we headed into the countryside to a Maisa (old farmhouse) for a typical Spanish lunch. Eight courses and free flowing wine. Happy we all were but how anybody (and there were some) could eat another mouthful at the hotel in the evening amazed me. A wonderful end to our holiday.

Two weeks later, courtesy of Fred Olsen Cruises, Ken and I set sail on an unhosted Educational trip to Northern Spain on board their ship ‘Bolette’. Our departure from Liverpool was delayed by 10 hours due to storm Ashley, but it was a wise decision by the captain. Even tied up on the Mersey the ship bounced around as if we were at sea. Meanwhile Ken and I enjoyed a meal that evening at the Colours and Tastes Restaurant which serves Asian food. After the meal they came in with a cake, as it was my birthday, and an invite to the Hotel Manager’s table the next evening.

During two days at sea there were various talks including one from a retired finger-print expert and Scene of Crimes Officer. We joined a CSI Workshop on the last day at sea and learnt how to take fingerprints and then dressed up in CSI white coverings, gloves and masks, dusted for prints and attempted to name the culprit. Great fun. The first Port of Call was

Getxo. From here you can go to Bilbao and San Sebastian. We took the shuttle bus into Getxo then walked down to the Old Harbour, wandered up and down the narrow streets and, at a tavern, enjoyed several Pontxos (tapas on sticks). After walking back along the coast road to the ship we spent the afternoon basking in the warm sunshine on our balcony. Gijon was our next stop where we joined a shore trip to Covadonga and Cangas de Onis, which we had visited when we did Green Spain with Danny. Finally La Coruna with its Hercules Tower, a 2000 year old Roman lighthouse, still in use today.

A big thank you to Fred Olsen. Being unhosted we had a ‘real customer’ experience. We liked the ship and I am looking at their 2026 brochure to see if anything will appeal to my group.