We're Drinking BEER, BEER, BEER! - Oktoberfest
Oktoberfest in Spain? Yes, Yes, Yes!
We took an October beer tour through Europe last year with stops in Helsinki, Brussels, Bremen, Prague, and Calella, Catalonia/Spain. The highlight of the trip was the week we were in Calella for the annual Oktoberfest event the city puts on. What a delight it was to spend a week of nights drinking beer, eating jamon, dancing and partying with foreigners from all over Europe that chose the warm beaches of Catalonia as a destination for a very Northern European celebration.
The town of Calella really puts on a great event with a temporary building placed right on the beach and big enough to hold hundreds of people. Inside, beer and food vendors line the walls with several hundred tables in between. At one end, there is a stage with a constant rotation of bands that play for the event. The bands consist of traditional brass groups playing classic German songs, but there are also some big band music and even some contemporary stuff mixed in. The MC keeps everything fun and entertaining in between the various musicians' sets.
We made our way to the site every evening and stumbled our way back to our hotel singing our best renditions of German drinking songs along the way. Occasionally joined by others making their respective treks back to the comfy surroundings of a hotel bar or pool-side lounge that was still open.
Autumn in Catalonia
With our nights spent at the festival, we took our days to enjoy the great weather (about 80 degrees Fahrenheit) of October on the Mediterranean. Calella is a charming town with great cafes, beautiful beaches, and some wonderful places to walk. The town's narrow streets are lined with shops selling most everything a tourist might want and the people are incredibly friendly and inviting, but not pushy in the least.
Some of the best food we ate on our October tour was in little cafes serving the famous jamon with bread and half liters of Estrella. It was a great, relaxing way to spend an afternoon. Best of all, it wasn't overly crowded like the summer and definitely not as expensive.
I was even a bit overwhelmed by the hospitality when a cafe waitress insisted on bringing my lunch across the street to the laundromat where I was washing my clothes on day. Fantastic, friendly service.
A Coastline Like my Childhood
I grew up in San Diego, California, which boasts some of the best weather and beaches in the world. Calella and Catalonia in general had the same look, smell, and feel of Autumn in Southern California. The beaches are wrapped by steep cliffside overlooks, and rocky coves form great nooks for sunbathers looking for privacy and perhaps to wear less than their swimsuits.
There were well paved walkways up and down the beach even to the overlooks that rose above the Southern end of the town. A road and a railway run parallel to the shore so renting a car or bike or even taking a train ride to Barcelona provides a gorgeous view.
I'm a big fan of lighthouses for some reason. I can't really explain why, but I love photos and paintings of them and I always grab some photos of my own. This lighthouse sits majestically above the town and still operates at night. It's a great site.
An Annual Tradition is Born
It only took about a day for my wife to convince me to make an annual trip to Calella for Oktoberfest. She has been going there for many years and always in the Autumn. For me, it is a perfect combination of an atmosphere reminiscent of my childhood, an amazing festival that features my favorite beverage, and a beautiful countryside and city (Barcelona) that are rich with history, culture and traditions. We have already begun planning our trip for this year. Care to join us? You won't be disappointed.
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The truth was that I had not heard of the city of Calella, so I proceeded to look for a little more information: it is also known as Calella de la Costa to differentiate it from the fishing population of Calella de Palafrugell, with which it does not save any similar for the urban agglomeration that presents the first, with only one very long beach ... for 2014 there were 18,307 inhabitants (maybe this is what makes it more comforting and attractive for tourists, because it is a small city with all the amenities for a holiday) ...
In the 1970s and until the mid-1990s, it was a very important tourist destination for Central European tourism (especially German, Dutch, Danish, English and French), being popularly known as Calella de los Alemanes (this explains the festival of Oktoberfest), reaching a tripling of population in the high season of tourism (which coincides with the end of spring, summer and the beginning of autumn). At the moment the tourist variety has been extended, getting to receive visitors of practically all the countries of Europe and Russia ...(https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calella)
Definitely very good your post and recommendation @energyaddict22. Greetings.
Wow. That is quite a comment. Thanks so much for taking the time. It is great to meet you too.
Thank you for your support. Greetings.
@energyaddict22 gone through your post and I must admit you had so much fun in your adventure.
Hoping to be like you some day..
@antigenx
Thanks for commenting. We have quite a few adventures. Some better than others. I'm sure you will be writing your own story soon enough. Looking forward to reading it.
It's exciting and much fun to travel. I have been able to travel around my country a few times but I do hope I can travel out, I know it would be fun. Your pictures are nice, a reminder of fun things when you travel.
Thanks for commenting. One of the great things about living in St. Petersburg is the proximity to so many cool places. I'm sure you will enjoy it when you go abroad.
I'll be looking forward to enjoying fun places when I travel abroad.
I loved the place that you share, the beaches looks like very great, well my friend i do not drink alcohol nothing, specially in beverages may be in some medicines for cought ir cold maybe, but i would like to share with drinker friend, because when they are drink a Lot i AM the driver designer, and i loved enjoy the food with them share the beverages, very delicious like your first photo, here usually uses ribs, seeds, meat.
well i hope you enjoy this great places with family And friend.
best regar @galberto
Thanks for commenting! I have the greatest respect for those that will be "designated drivers" for the rest of us. The food in Spain/Catalonia is wonderful and I think I gained 10 kg while there (the beer also probably contributed). All the best to you.
Wow i love to travel too maybe someday when all is nice nd good. I have just had a second hand experience of an Oktoberfest through you. Plus if u please have a picture of the Tenerife sea in Spain pleeeaase can you reply and tag me to it. I just want to see how blue it is...... I love a song by Ed Sheeran " Tenerife sea" which just talks about the blue in the water....... Thanks for the post @energyaddict22. Plus tag me to the picture @kamiikazer
Thanks for commenting! I hope you have the opportunity to visit Spain someday soon. It is a great place to visit.
Tenerife is in the Canary Islands and I haven't been there at this point. It isn't on my list of destinations in the next 2 years, but I'm often surprised at where I end up traveling for one reason or another so maybe I'll make it there. BTW, I like the Ed Sheeran song as well.
Owk maybe someday we might make that tenerife trip a reality..... u have a good music taste the song is lit.
That looks like a simply grand time, and you got lovely photos. How I miss the beach!!
Thanks for commenting. It was a lot of fun for us. How far is the shore from your place in WV? We used to go to Ocean City, MD and Rehoboth, DE every summer when I lived in PA. Fun times down there.
It's about 5-6 hours to get to the coast from here, but unfortunately I'm really spoiled about beaches after living on the FL Gulf Coast for 10 years. Virginia Beach is a letdown when you've gotten used to pure white sand! The beaches in your photos look more like my style :)))
I think you would fit in nicely on the Spanish sand. The twins would have a great time too. ;)
Ohhh boy yes they would! When it comes to Europe, maybe one day....but meanwhile I'm hoping to get down to FL in the next few months to get my periodic dose of sand, salt and sun :)
These are wonderful photos! It looks like a great time. I haven't been to Spain since my days in the Navy. I loved it then and I would have loved to have gone back but never did!
Thanks for commenting. Sorry for the delay in replying (somehow missed it). I always wanted to travel around Europe when I was younger, but never made the time. I was always working and then came the kids. Now, my wife and I have the time in the Fall and Winter to travel more and we are trying to make the most of it. I hope you find an opportunity to return sometime in the future. All the best to you.
You are quite the traveler. I too have had an attraction to lighthouses since my youth (I suspect it had to do with one of the Hardy Boy books I read when I was about 6 or 7).
It was strange seeing the walkway between the shops, realizing there are no cars (not big enough), only a bike and scooter? That in itself would make for an amazing experience.
How did you find the costs there contrasted to the U.S. or Russia?
Oh wow! The Hardy Boys, yes. Maybe I get my fascination from that too. Never thought about it. Great point.
Many of the small streets won't accommodate cars, but most of them do (with very little room for error). However, bikes and scooters are definitely preferred by most of the locals. It is very hospitable for pedestrians.
Costs aren't too bad if you go in the Autumn like we did. The weather is still great, but the hotels have better pricing. We did an all-inclusive hotel and the food was good. However, Barcelona can be a bit pricey especially for some of the attractions like those related to Gaudi. I was appalled by some of the prices and the wait times. There is plenty to do in Barcelona without visiting these sites, but "to each his own". Compared to the U.S., Spain is very affordable. Compared to Russia, nothing in Europe is affordable. lol
Your beer tour through Europe sounds like something fun that I would like to do with some of my friends. I imagine that drive around the coast offered some amazing views. I really like the photo with the lighthouse. Nice post!
Thanks for commenting! Yes, it was a really fun trip. We will return to Calella this October, but no beer tour this year. We are going back to the States in September. I want to take my wife through the Southwest on a car tour and to visit family in California. I credit my wife with the lighthouse photo. She takes much better pics than I do. ;)
This would be nice to do yearly and I hope you get to do it . I was inspired by your pictures and comments . I never really thought about the city of Barcelona , Catalonia . I hope to make a trip to the Med on day and will put this on a stop
That's a good plan. You can travel many areas of the Med on a decent budget. I suggest Autumn as it is much less expensive and crowded than Summer. I also suggest Malta if you can go. Great island with wonderful people. It is one of the most hospitable places I've been. I hope I can continue to provide some good ideas on destinations. ;)
look forward to other destination .
I haven't traveled since the military and look forward to getting back out there to just enjoy the places