No penguins were harmed in the eating of this pizza!

We’ve been on a bit of a trip down memory lane for Ian this week. Before we left home when we were originally planning this trip for 2020, Ian told me all about Pineda del Mar. When he was a child of junior school age, he used to visit here with his parents on holiday. To be honest it seemed very adventurous to me. We were going to the Yorkshire Dales, Somerset and Wales (although we did leave Wales very early as we experienced hurricane level rains for a whole week) when I was that age. 

He told me all about the campsite they stayed at (Camping Bel Sol) and how they used to walk through the tomato fields to go to Pepe’s restaurant and have chicken and chips. I’m fairly certain this memory is so strong because apparently they had chicken and chips every night, and I mean every night! Anything else was far too adventurous. I had been quite curious and, to be frank, baffled when Ian insisted we had a tin of stewed beef, tinned potatoes, carrots and peas safely on board before we left home. Not something we usually eat, so a little odd, but as we travelled he reminded me of the fortnight of chicken and chips, so some variety that used to be carried in the suitcase and eaten as variety to the chicken and chips and to make space for wine and brandy to return home which made a bit more sense - I think! 

Anyway…. I digress. We have arrived in Pineda del Mar and although staying at camping Caballo del Mar which is a fabulous site, it is next door to the famous Camping Bel Sol.

Having arrived late afternoon having not had anything to eat as we wanted to just crack on and get there (in Ian’s words) we were starving. It was 5pm by the time we had booked in, parked up and changed into shorts ( it’s a lot warmer here) and we needed food, but this is Spain we were still in late Siesta time, restaurants don’t open till at least 7.30pm, so we headed to the campsite restaurant where pizza was on offer, yummy pizza, but strangely named Penguin pizza. As you can see Ian was more than happy to order a penguin and we were assured no penguin’s were harmed in the making of the pizza.

It’s Easter weekend and the site is busy, we had no problems turning up and checking in without a booking, but we do seem to be the only British people on site, the Spanish families are here, celebrating and the noise levels high, but it is great to see so many happy people. In the UK sites have a quiet time from 10pm where noise is very much frowned upon, here, 10pm is mid party time. Families are eating out, the football is on everywhere, celebrations and commiserations are loudly exclaimed and the kids are wheezing around on bikes and scooters. It all goes quiet by midnight, and you do get a good lie in with almost silence from 2-4pm for siesta.

Penida is much as Ian remembers. It has the most amazing beach just across the road from the site and the hotels and campsites are all still here, upgraded, but here, as are the tomato fields. We don’t walk through them anymore, but they are still here surrounding the hotels and campsites.

We decided to try and find Pepe’s restaurant, with so much else still here, maybe it is too. If it is, chicken and chips is on the menu.

And it is! In fact the waiter tells us he worked there when Ian visited in the 70’s and the same family still own the restaurant. It’s just as Ian remembers it, a bit chilly for us to sit outside in the evening, but I can see why they went, it is beautiful.

Pineda itself is very quiet, some pretty squares and of course the beach, but not much else.

Being a Catholic country of course, Easter means a lot to the local community and on Good Friday we ventured into Calella to watch the Easter parade. It was so different to any Easter parade I have ever seen, lots of very loud singing, the icons being carried over the heads of the worshipers and what I thought for a moment were very dodgy looking characters.

You can’t really see them here but if you look hard you will see the top of some very pointy white hats, these were worn with long robes, covered the faces of the people wearing them and at first sight looked like KKK costumes.

After a bit of research we discovered these are traditional Easter costumes from this region of Spain and date back to the 12th century, no connection to the dodgy American south clan.

After a quick visit to the supermarket we had delicious lunches where the wine cost less than the bread and we ate outside Agy where the factor 50 needed liberal application.

As Easter weekend came to a close, the campsite emptied and all we could hear was birdsong and the dodgy singing from the entertainment crew at the bar.

Pineda has enabled us to recover from the journey down, rest, relax and prepare for adventures further south.