When we were planning this trip we had many different ideas of what we wanted to do and we ended up using AI (Grok and Chat GPT) to hone in on exactly the right vacation for us – and after we fed them enough information and details they were honestly spot on! One of the destinations that has stuck with us since setting foot out of the plane was our trip to Liguria 2 years ago, otherwise known as the Italian Riviera. We fell in love with the Mediterranean and all of the locations along it.

Knowing that fact, Costa Brava was suggested, and knowing our love to explore and find hidden areas, renting a car and DRIVING Costa Brava was born. So after much research and YouTube videos we secured our rental car and Jeremy got his International Drivers License (however for this, take my advice, take yourself INTO your local AAA office to do this – takes about 15 minutes and $20. DO NOT mail this in – just don’t. Trust me)

Picking up the car was seamless.

Getting out of the parking garage was tricky.

Driving through Barcelona took concentration.

Driving in the countryside along the Mediterranean Sea was a dream!

I love the efficiency of Europeans with their roadways – the roundabouts were so easy and thankfully Chevy Chase wasn’t driving 😉 (where are my National Lampoon lovers out there?! Look, kids! Big Ben! Parliament!) It was an easy, peaceful drive to Tossa and then we had to get our heart rates going again, because, well, driving in a small Spanish Mediterranean village that wasn’t built to have big cars driving through it, is, well, tricky.

But alas, Jeremy was driving and not myself so we were totally fine! Parked in the middle of town and then got our bags out we needed (more on this later) and headed to Hotel Diana, our gorgeous hotel for the next two nights. We love a boutique hotel, and we also love a balcony. A balcony overlooking the Mediterranean AND a castle in a boutique hotel?! Ok yes, yes, that will do!

I will say it now, if there is one spot along Costa Brava that we experienced that we would have stayed longer or go back to, it is Tossa De Mar, so put that in your back pocket. And when you go please tag me so we can live vicariously through you!!!

After getting settled we had a quick lunch downstairs right along the beach where our sangria and paella journey continued. In Barcelona we loved the cava sangria so we continued on that path and also shared a glass of their sangria “tinto” (otherwise known as the red version) for research purposes of course. We had paella negra (paella with squid ink giving it the black color) in Barcelona and we decided to try the paella de marisco (seafood paella) in Tossa. Both were wonderful but we had one more on our list to try before our official review. And then the crema catalana – imagine creme brûlée but not super sweet and more creamy – there you go! Fabulous!

Our agenda called for some exploring and explore we did! We started out heading up to the castle and walking around the medieval village. So many great spots to stop and take pictures and just soak it all up.

And then the gelato… we have a gelato journey too… some of you may find it boring and some, genius.

We have our favorite, and I have yet to ever see it in the states, so if you know better than I, please for the love of all things, share it with me! But yes, it’s Stracciatella, and it is just. so. good. We are loyal to that lovely creamy ball of joy with the dip cone like chocolate pieces throughout. UGH. Seriously it’s that good! If anyone wants to hire us to become Stracciatella critics we are willing and able to take on this task. My contact info is below 🙂

With today being our first full day, and immersing ourselves into these fabulous Spaniards schedules, we had our siesta and then headed out to the oldest bar in Tossa, Don Juan. It is a few doors down from our hotel, opened in 1956 and has just the best vibe ever!

The staff was having a great time together which makes the entire experience so much fun. They completely took care of us and we enjoyed their vermut negre that they make in house and had some of their favorite tapas; the croquetas de Jamon Iberico de la Casa (think cream of ham soup in a lightly fried ball), jamon iberico (seriously melts in your mouth) and the pan con tomate – all amazing!

If you haven’t had vermut and I was to explain it to you I would tell you it has similar flavor profiles to a negroni, but not as high octane. It is served over ice with an orange slice most often but we have also had it with an olive as well as a lemon slice. It’s such a fabulous aperitif, and yes, we brought some home! And just for the record, they are not AS high octane as a negroni but that doesn’t mean that they are NOT high octane. So keep that in mind as you enjoy your second or third glass 😉

We hated to leave the bar but decided to head to a local spot for dinner that Chat GPT found, La Roca, and local it was. We definitely appeared to be the only tourists there and that was exactly what we wanted. We shared a different type of paella this evening, and yes, we have now had 3 paellas in 2 days, but this will now conclude our paella journey. It had a good run and was great, but unlike the stracciatella we can survive not having it at every spot. This one was noodles and not rice (called Fideua), and it’s good to note that Jeremy picked this as his favorite of the three. And yes, we shared a crema catalana. WHEN IN CATALAN…

It was such a great first full day along Costa Brava and had us so excited for all that was to come!

Watching sunrise off of our balcony the next morning was perfection and then we got ready for a big adventure. Breakfast was included at the hotel and they had a wonderful breakfast downstairs at La Terraza. Again with the yogurt, but also so many other offerings. One of my favorite features at these hotel breakfasts that we experienced were the orange juicing machines… oh to have one in my kitchen and not be juicing them all individually… such a treat!

After breakfast we were off! A hidden cove was calling our name and we had a hike ahead of us.

It was still early for our Spanish friends, so our hike was pretty quiet. We were on the way to Cala Bona, about 2 miles from our hotel. The hike was tricky at times but completely fun and the weather was absolute perfection! We were one of 2 couples there and it was perfect. We had researched the water temperature before arriving and knew that going in mid May would mean a VERY crisp temp to say the least. We are Austinites however, and everything is measured in terms of Barton Springs cold, and I will say that the water that beautiful day in May at Cala Bona was warmer than Barton Springs, but still chilly enough that you will lose your breath for a second.

It was a glorious spot for a swim in the Mediterranean and as the morning went on, more people started to appear. I can only imagine in the busy season how packed a spot like this would be, so to experience this as we did was such a gift!

Time to head back, so we started on the reverse hike back to Tossa. We passed so many more people along the way back than we did headed there, it was truly the perfect day to be exploring and explorers were out!

We stopped at another beach on the way back that was a smaller section than in front of our hotel but had fantastic rocks washing up on the shoreline, Platja Mar Menuda. No shells, just fabulous, beautiful stones. Some would be sad by that, but we are not those people. Where are our fellow rock hounders out there?! Jeremy is my mineral, crystal and gem fanatic and he has gotten the entire family into it with him, and it is just so much fun! So you can imagine, we find a beautiful beach on the Mediterranean Sea with glorious weather and ROCKS everywhere?! Heaven.

After our first beach trip we decided to get cleaned up and go eat lunch so we wouldn’t miss it(!!). We found a perfect Italian food spot in the interior of Tossa and shared a salad (I will note here that there are very few vegetables served in Spain other than potatoes that we experienced but the salads we had were all amazing) fantastic pizza and truffle pasta, with yes, some sangria. Have I mentioned no one drinks water?! For a generation that is so hyper fixated on hydration that is not exactly the case (as we have experienced) overseas. So, you know, do as the locals do and all that.

Finished with a cappuccino and yummy dessert and then back to the beach. This time we went to the big one right in front of our hotel, Platja Gran.

We were on a beautiful beach with a castle right beside us, the waves crashing and seagulls “meowing” at us (yes, they sounded like cats, completely bizarre – is that a Spanish seagull trait or just something I have never noticed – no clue – someone please enlighten me with your seagull experiences) and we both took a siesta. Jeremy also curated the most perfect grouping of tiny stones while we lied there on the beach. I love having them all together in a dish at home to remember being in that spot together at that exact time. Heaven.

Don Juan was calling our name again and this time we had their wagyu sliders (delicious) and patatas bravas with again, some vermut. All three of these were phenomenal and dare I say the patatas were the best we had in our entire trip, which is saying a lot! They were cut differently, more like a thick chip but with one side being thicker and they were so. good.

We walked along the beach and found a fun spot for dinner and shared a beef ragu on gnocchi and tried our first white vermut which was served over ice and with a lemon half and was so light and tasty. I would have described it closer to a glass of Lillet Blanc (our favorite french aperitif) than a Negroni for sure.

Another favorite in Spain has been the olives! Almost every spot we have visited has brought out a small dish of the house olives when we have sat down. As Texans we love our chips and salsa but I will take a bowl of olives brought to us any day of the week! So enjoyable and one of the first things I did when we got home was to make our own marinade for our favorite Castelvetrano olives to swim around in 😉 Anyone who wants to join me in this olive obsession here is my recipe…

The moonlight was beautiful walking back to our hotel along the beach that night and we enjoyed FaceTiming our people before calling it a night.

Sunrise is one of our favorite times.

Wait.

Sunrise has always been one of Jeremy’s favorite times and he has converted me to a sunrise lover. So yes, sunrise is NOW one of OUR favorite times – ha!

He looked up on his trusty app (The Photographer’s Ephemeris is the name) where the sun would rise and it was a short walk down the beach from our hotel. We got up super early and walked to Playa de la Mar Menuda and took it all in. I don’t have to even tell you we were the only ones out there but we were the only ones out there.

I really cannot emphasize enough how amazing early mornings are on vacation. I was just listening to a talk Rick Steves was doing about traveling and visiting different “tourist” areas and his advice to enjoy these busy locations? Go early or go late. Experiencing these things without the crowds is absolutely the way to go, unless you just love crowds, then by all means, own that excitement lol! I will be happy for your happiness but will joyfully stick to our early mornings and “off” times :

After our peaceful morning it was back to our hotel to get our things all together and organized for our next spot before checking out, enjoying one last breakfast at La Terraza and hitting the road.

Sad to leave the incredible village of Tossa de Mar but equally as excited to explore more of Costa Brava!

Our next destination?! The quaint, sleepy, coastal village of Begur – where every winding street led to a view, a boutique, or an unforgettable meal!

Peace, Love and Fabulous!