The day after I returned from camp Chad and I left for a "mini break" in Barcelona, Spain. My recent Spanish refresher course at camp came in handy for sure. We didn't have an agenda which was great....just enjoyed the time together, slept in and managed to see most of the amazingness that Barcelona had to offer.
Our first full day there we decided to head to the beach. Since we haven't seen much (or any) sun-bathing weather in Dublin we were both anxious to soak in a little sun and maybe get a tan : ) We walked along the boardwalk to the Olympic Village to buy some beach mats and then found a spot in the sand. I had heard rumors that the Spaniards were not a modest folk...ie it was perfectly acceptable for women to be topless on beaches. Well, let me tell you it took me by surprise for sure to see so many half naked women walking around without a care in the world. I suppose when you're used to it it's just no big deal...moms, grandmas, kids....didn't matter how old, young, fit or not-fit. Needless to say I kept it all concealed beneath my bathing suit.
Once you were able to look past the excess flesh, the beaches themselves were pretty nice. No comparison to Hawaii for sure, but the sand was soft and warm and the water cool and refreshing. No shells to be found though....always disappointing to me.
 |
| Beautiful blue water of the Mediterranean Sea |
 |
| Busy beaches!! |
 |
| walking along the boardwalk to the Olympic Village |
After spending most of the day out on the beach we headed back to the hotel for a quick nap before dinner. For dinner we decided to head to Las Ramblas....the main strip in Barcelona. We stopped in a little cafe and had paella (a traditional Spanish rice dish) for dinner. Chad was brave and ordered the "Arros Negre" which is prepared with squid ink.....yuck!!! I had less exciting, but much tastier, chicken paella.
Las Ramblas was a very touristy area and other than this meal we really tried to avoid it. It was filled with people trying to sell junk and cookie cutter restaurants which all had the same menu. We headed back to the hotel with plans to visit the Gothic Quarter the next day!
No comments:
Post a Comment