As the car broke free from the Barcelona traffic and gathered pace towards my destination, I glanced out the window as the signs whizzed past and was struck by a sense of deja vu. Pineda de Mar… Lloret de Mar… these were names that evoked memories of my first-ever foreign holiday, aged nine.
Back then, it took two days for my family to reach Spain’s Costa Brava by ferry, train and coach but now it was just a short flight and hour-long transfer to reach my base camp – regional grande dame Hostal de la Gavina in S’Agaro, near Girona.
