Thursday 28th April L'Ametlla de Mer to Cambrils

Well last night was quite a night. Great fun watching the Barca win, L'Ametlla de Mer is definitely a Barca town, everyone went totally nuts, fireworks everything. And then I had a plumbing disaster.

You know sometimes the water keeps running after you have flushed the toilet, really annoying if your trying to get to sleep. Common problem, all you have to do is lift the lid and adjust the fitting where it drains from the cistern and it's sorted. That's what I did, but it didn't instantly cure the problem and I touched (no more than touched) the floating thing which controls the water coming into the cistern. It disintegrated and suddenly there is water, straight from the mains, shooting right across the bathroom. The little stop cock next to the toilet just went round and round without doing anything. It was amazing how quickly the bedroom floor was covered with water and how quickly it was going out into the hall.

Slightly panicking, I pulled my shorts on, put everything on the bed and rushed down to the porter.   He was very grumpy, watching the Mourinho interview, and was clearly the only person in L'Ametlla de Mer who was a Real Madrid fan. Eventually screaming at him had an impact and he agreed to come up and investigate. He was not happy. His tried to reconstruct the toilet mechanism but it was impossible given the force of water. He temper was not improved when I asked for another room.

After getting himself soaked he went down somewhere and turned of the water for the whole hotel and rang up the manager. The manager was clearly a Barca fan, in a good mood, accepted that I wasn't helping and found me another room.

Saw the porter this morning as I was dashing away from the hotel and he didn't seem to recognise me, fair enough, didn't need to remind him about how we had faced adversity together.

Today's walk was a 40 kilometre walk along the coastal path. I don't completely understand why the E4 comes down to the coast. It is a change but dragging you along a largely built up coast line is not necessarily the best route for a long distance walk, particularly when you could have stayed up in the mountains on Spain's oldest GR trail, the GR7.

The first bit wasn't too bad, very similar to end of yesterday's walk, along a low cliff with villas very much in the background. You then arrive at a very exclusive marina, at Sant Jordi en Alfamat, and the route is around this and through the suburbs. You then get to Calafat which has a lovely beach at the end of which is a nuclear power station and then a gas power station. Another big detour which takes you alongside a new highspeed railway line and over two motorways.









Eventually you arrive at Hospitalet de l'Infant. Originally I was going to stop there but it was only 2.30 so decided to do another 15 kilometres and make for Cambrils. The nature of development had now changed from villas to blocks of flats and these went right down to coast. Lovely beaches and nice bays but very ugly blocks of flats.



Endless blocks of flats

One thing I did find interesting interesting were the republican coastal defences dating back to the civil war, quite a lot along this stretch of coast.


Republican coastal defences

Flats were then replaced for several kilometres by caravan and camper-van sites. I thought these were nicer, very multinational with the Dutch particularly well represented. Flats re-emerged as you approached Cambrils, so many in fact that I started to wonder if there was going to be any hotels. There were of course but right in the old centre of town. I say old, a picture in reception of the hotel shows old Cambrils with just a handful of houses. The coast north and south is totally empty. The picture was taken in 1962.


Approaching Cambrils


2 comments:

  1. John I could imagine yourself swiming in the pool of your bedroom or even up in it for not beeng drought. What an extraordinary experince, did you take a foto of the instant? It would have been good to remember, not just your surprised and nervous face.

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  2. A real hobo does not try to use a toilet ...
    Menno

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