A trip down a rusty old memory lane

September 11, 2011 Kylie Fuentes

There's something magical about going back to your 'pueblo' - or wherever it was that you grew up. Some things are exactly the same, but others are so vastly different.

My long awaited visit back to good old Cambrils Mediterraneo finally happened and it did not disappoint! I hired a car in Barcelona (a trusty Seat Ibiza) and drove to my home town. Took me a while to get used to the left hand drive (Barcelona city isn't the best place for me to learn) but in no time at all I was on my way.

Stereo blaring with great pop songs, windows down & sunglasses on, the trip down the Autopista was over too soon. Oh, I should say, when I hired the car the girl nicely told me that all GPS systems have been booked (yep, none left in all of Barcelona) so I have to navigate old school. All the way to Malaga & back again. Sweet.

I'm actually quite impressed with my navigation skills. I managed to find my way from Tarragona to my old hood all from memory! When I got there, I visited all the old traps & had lunch in the chiringuito (which looks much much fancier now).

My brother specifically asked that I go visit La Casa Grande - this old crappy apartment block that underneath had our local corner store. I went & wow it looks as depressing as ever. Still a neighbourhood eyesore!

To top it all off, while I was walking along there were a group of about 4 little girls selling bracelets on the paseo. They were so cute & chatty that I had to buy one of their wares. A bargain at 1 euro..