Thursday, October 1st - Cambrils, Spain

Well, when I started this day off I certainly didn't know it was going to involve the town of Cambrils but it did.  So just how did that happen?

First of all, the blogging all day yesterday obviously really took a lot out of me because I slept for 11 hours!  I woke up at 9:15 but rolled over and went back to sleep for another two hours, and I think I was in bed before midnight and I didn't read at all as my eyes were too tired.  Either I was totally exhausted or I am coming down with some bug.  

Anyway, I got up and cleared some e-mails and then had breakfast and lunch at the same time since it was already after noon.  I did a bit more work and decided to go to three places while it looked like the rain would hold off for an hour or so.  I was going to the tourist office to ask them about some concerts that were on their list of activities, then to the bookstore to see if they had any English books and then stopping at the grocery store on my way back.  I headed out the door and as soon as I got to the tourist office I realized my mistake.  It was now siesta time so everything was closed.   

I decided I really needed to get some exercise so I went across the street to the promenade and started walking to the south.  I had not been to the end of that beach so it seemed like a logical choice.  Well, that beach let to another and then another and I just kept going.  Eventually I started thinking that I must be getting close to Cambrils as the towns just seem to run into one another so I decided I'd keep going.  Someone had told me that if I went to Cambrils I had to be there around 4 or 5 p.m. when the fishing boats come in.  It was now going on 4 so I decided to keep going.  I had no idea whether the promenade would go all the way but so far it had been pretty good.

The beaches are all slightly different but they all have lovely sand.  It was a windy day and we are still having a lot of storms so the seas were really rough.  At a couple of points where the waves were really high there were people out in the water with their surfboards.  I didn't really see any great surfing but there was one skinny little guy who was pretty quick to get up and could stay on most of the way in.  Another of the better surfers was really a stand-up paddle boarder.  He/she got out to the waves a lot faster than the others (although I have no idea how they stayed standing going over the waves!) and then, because they were already standing, they just turned their board around and surfed in on the waves.  They were definitely getting a lot more rides than the others.

There were a lot more people on the beaches than I expected.  It was only in the high 60's but when the sun was out it did feel very warm.  Most of the beaches were just fine but in some cases there was a lot of debris on them from the storm.  In a couple of places in Salou the sand had been piled up by the river to keep the debris from the land from going into the see (I think).  Strangely enough, when I got into Cambrils it was the sea that was coming up and over the promenade and flooding the streets.  I only once had to make a detour and go back a city block but there were a lot of close calls. 

At one point I came across a three-storey tower that was once part of the communication system on the coastline.  It was pretty modern looking, maybe 20th century, and just plain white and it was not open so there was nothing to see except the exterior.  There was another tower in the town of Cambrils, which was a 17th century watch tower used to defend the town against pirates.  It is made of stone and has much more character.  I did not go over to see it but it now has an art gallery inside and you can go to the top to enjoy the view of the harbour.  

In several places along the way there were rock walls or jetties built out into the water.  Several people were fishing from these but the waves were really pounding the one side so I'm sure some of them were getting wet.   As you come into Cambrils there is a pedestrian bridge over the mouth of a river.  There was not a lot of water in it now but the bridge was very much appreciated all the same.  Probably after tonight's rain there would be a lot more water there.

As you enter the harbour at Cambrils there is a statue.  it is apparently two mermaids rising high out of the water and three smaller fishermen below them with their baskets of fish.  It is dedicated to the fishermen from 1911 to 2011 but I didn't get the significance of those dates.   The marina is really large and has some incredibly expensive pleasure craft in it.  There are also some smaller boats and of course there are some tour boats.  At the far end, close to the dock where the fish market is, you find the fishing boats.

It was at least 5 p.m. before I got there but I could see people around so I just followed the crowd - all just tourists like me and all gawking at the fish and the fishermen and taking pictures.  Once I figured out exactly what a fishing boat looked like I could see about a dozen of them.  They were all at different stages of their work.  Some seemed to be finished and just rinsing out their boats.  Others were loading their carts with the boxes of fish to go to the market, and others seem to have just arrived and were still sorting the fish.  It was indeed very interesting to watch and, contrary to what I expected, it didn't smell fishy at all.

I'm not exactly sure of the process but I guess the boats go out each day, do their fishing and then come in between 4 and 5.  They tie up and then begin the chore of sorting all their fish and putting them into individual bins according to type and size.  Then they eventually pile all the bins on a wagon which they manually wheel into the fish market and from there someone buys the fish.  Once the fish are off the boat they wash the boats down, sort out the nets and get ready to start over again the next day.  It seemed like a pretty slick process (no pun intended).  For a while I wondered if the people from the fish market were out doing the sorting and putting them in the bins but I finally decided that these were the fishermen or their helpers.  Since I didn't actually see any of the boats come in I don't know whether anyone joined them onboard for the sorting process.

I have no idea what the types of fish were.  I think I identified prawns and octopus but aside from that they are all just fish.  They are all caught with net so it is not lobster or anything that requires a separate method.  Some of the fish go into the bins whole and some of them get cut into pieces although I'd say at least 95% of them went in whole.  The bins are just styrofoam containers and they would come from the market empty and end up back there full.  It would have been nice to see what happens in the market but that didn't seem to be allowed.

A lot of little fish and fish parts were going right back into the water at the pier and I was surprised by the fact that there wasn't a single seagull or pelican around.  I would have expected them to be there trying to pick up some choice morsels.  It was also interesting to see what other things they caught in their nets.  There were definitely a lot of plastic bottles and containers being tossed in the garbage, which is pretty sad. 

After I'd had enough of the fishing adventure I walked up the stairs to the main breakwater or wharf and looked at the bright red lighthouse and took some pictures as I wandered back along the wharf to the shore.  Once at the shore I simply tried to find the closest place to catch a bus back to Salou.  I was not going to even begin walking back, especially given the dark clouds that were rolling in.  The bus ride cost 2 euros and took less than 20 minutes with just a few stops along the way.  The walk had taken a couple of hours with quite a few stops along the way.  I definitely got more than my required 10,000 steps today and when I came back and checked I discovered it was 8 km from Salou to Cambrils via the coast line so I figure I did pretty good for what started off to be a half-hour journey at the most.

I got home, drank a lot of water (hadn't even taken any with me as I was not going to be gone very long!), had some dinner and started into the e-mails and blogging that I hadn't looked at all day, and that was it for another day.

Wow, the thunderstorm that was supposed to come all day yesterday and today finally arrived.  I have never heard more continuous or louder thunder - not even in Ontario.  We don't get many thunderstorms in Kelowna and when we do they are pretty weak compared to those I was used to in Ontario.  I may have forgotten what those were really like but this is amazing.  The thunder started rumbling about half an hour ago and it hasn't stopped.  It's a continuous rumble and then just sudden loud bursts that shake the whole place.  The lightning from what I can see looks like just sheet lightning but there may be bolts appearing where I just can't see them.  Then the rain when it comes is absolutely torrential.  My deck is probably six feet across and when I opened my door just to check out the situation I got totally splashed with water.  It is so loud you can hardly hear anything else and the wind is whipping the trees almost horizontal.  It's the same kind of storm we had the other day but way more intense and lasting longer.  That one did some damage around town and I'm sure this one is going to do some too.  There were tree branches down last time and there were places in Salou where the city brought bulldozers in to keep the debris from going into the beach - at least that's what it seemed like to me.  In Cambrils, the town next door, they seemed to have the other problem where they had the sea flowing into the town and flooding the streets.  It will be interesting to see what the place looks like tomorrow.  The thunder has died down a bit so I think the storm has moved away from us.  It's still windy and rainy but not as bad as before.  Hopefully it's mainly over because I'm sure there was already enough wind and rain to do damage.  

Okay, I just took a chance and looked outside.  The street out front is totally full of water that is running very fast down to the sea.  The streets have at least a six-inch curb on both sides and the water is over the curb and way up on the sidewalk.  It is half way to the door of our building, which is a good ten feet in from the street.  There is no sidewalk visible where the sports bar downstairs has it's railing.  The water is well into its seating area.  There are cars parked on the street and the water is up to their rims.  I wouldn't want to be living in a low area of town tonight or have an entrance door that is lower than street level.  I think there could be some severe flooding for some folks.