Day 41: Barcelona Beaches

Sunday - June 27, 2010:

Since we barely made it to bed before the sun was up the night before, we slept until 10:00 and were out of the room by 11:00. Now this time situation always poses the question, "Do we go straight to lunch or get breakfast and a later lunch?" Oh the choices! Well, we all unanimously agreed that Subway would hit the spot -- so we skipped breakfast and went straight to lunch! Fabulous choice, it was so good... Again!

After lunch, we started to walk towards the beach because we planned to lay out all day -- I know it's summer, but you wouldn't be able to tell by the color of my skin. I need a tan like the desert needs rain. So today was the day to change that! We took the scenic route to te beach, stopping in little stores along the way. I know I've said it, but I have to say it again -- Barcelona is so pretty!! Especially when we got down by the sea and by Port Vell, the wide sidewalks were lined in palm trees (my tree of choice) and the port was decorated with tons and tons of docked sailboats. Now I was feeling like I've made it to the beach.

{Emily, me, Kasi and Becca in Port Vell, about to head to the beach}

{Port Vell}

Once we got to the actual beach part, we staked us out a spot and laid down our 2 spare bed sheets we were using as towels (Shhhh... Don't tell Equity Point!) Oh, and did I mention that this was a beach that allowed nudity? Yes, we got the true international experience of laying out on a nudist beach... Not something I would choose to do again definitely. So we tried to keep our eyes closed and fall asleep, and we did that for a while until we got asked by a nice, young, American guy if we could watch his stuff while he went in the water. We said yes and were flattered that he found us to look trustworthy and not like pick-pocketers. But before he left his stuff in our hands, we chatted with him for a while. Y'all, he was the most interesting person. He goes to school in Washington, but he has taken a year off to travel all over the world. He started off by telling us he took off from school and worked in a ski resort for two seasons (something I've wanted to do for a while) and then he has studied abroad in Ghana. After he got done in Ghana, he traveled all over working random jobs to get by. He stayed in Egypt for a while, and India and other parts of Spain. In each place he either stays with people he knows or stays in a hostel, or sleeps on the beach (not kidding, he did it in India)! Isn't that crazy? And we asked him what inspired him to do that and how he does it alone and he said, "I've just learned you've got to do things" and "you can't wait on other people." So simple, yet so profound. And it inspired me so much -- it really opened my eyes to the world and it's possibilities. Maybe this summer won't be my last summer of spontaneous traveling...

The rest of our beach time was fairly uneventful. Luckily we were blessed with good weather, so it was hot enough to lay out but not too hot to be miserable. Have I mentioned the weather in Spain? Ok, well the weather is interesting because it is hot, but not like humid hot -- and there's a good breeze, so that helps!

{The crowded beaches of Port Olympic in Barcelona!}

{You could get a Henna tattoo on the beach -- this sucker fell for it!}

{Yes, it is legal to walk around Barcelona in the complete nude. This man takes advantage of this odd law and parades around the sidewalks of Port Vell daily. We were "lucky" enough to see him! And yes, he is tattooed all over -- not a thread of clothes on besides that fine hat and pair of sandals!}

We left the beach because we needed to go back and get ready. On the way back our stomaches started growling, so we stopped and got a falafel pita! Now I'm still not really sure what a falafel exactly is, it's kind of like a hush puppie-ish thing... It's delicious!! So we ended up ordering a falafel pita, which is 4 falafel things in a pita, then you put all these toppings on it. My personal choices were hummus, a yummy couscous medley, some pica de gallo type mixture and tazitki sauce. It might be the messiest meal I've ever eaten, but it was well worth the mess!

{Walking back from the beach...}

{This pub was going nuts because there was a soccer game on. Just goes to show how into The World Cup these Europeans are}

{Walking back... it was further than we thought!}

{The Christopher Columbus statue at the end of La Rambla}

Once we were back, we got ready because we were going to try and see a bull fight. We figured since we were in Spain, we might as well try and go see a real bull fight (we didn't know much about it. But Victor and his friends had highly discouraged us from going to see it because they didn't support it, but we went on). So we got the people at the front desk of the hostel to map out our route to the arena, so we got that and set out on foot at 7:00 for a 7:15 fight. Well the matadors must be serious about starting on time because when we got there at 7:20, the ticket office was closed and they wouldn't let us in. We were literally so depressed! Barcelona and no olè?! Well, I am thinking it's a good thing we didn't get to go in because as we were hanging out outside the arena trying to decide what to do, people started walking out crying. It really must be as gruesome as Victor's friends had made it out to be! I'm thinking I don't have the stomach to take that kind of show, so we counted it as a blessing that we were late (that's a first)!

We left there and walked to dinner -- a much more lighthearted environment! Dinner was a definite score in the Barcelona books! It was this cute restaurant, called Rosa Negra, on this busy street next to the Cathedral -- our biking tour guide had pointed it out ad we cruised past it Saturday (again, word-of-mouth reccommendations pulled through for us). What made it great was that it was decked out in 50s decor -- I promise you it had an Astro Turf bar! The food was delicious as well, so Rosa Negra was a winner all around!

{Trying to navigate our way around Barcelona}

{What to order, what to order?!}

After dinner we all decided that our sweet tooth was killing us, so what do we do? Head across the street to Barcelona Crepes for a dessert crepe. Now, I've wanted a dessert crepe all summer so this was pretty exciting. The place was so cute, I wish I had taken more pictures of it! So we walk in, sit down, drool over the menu and finally decide on chocolate and strawberry crepe with vanilla ice cream (you have the right to be jealous). I swear the people in there probably thought we were crazy because all we did was hysterically laugh the whole time! I don't know what was with us -- I think we were all delirious and tired, but all I know is that we had a good time! Not to mention that my crepe was out of this world and I probably could have had 10 if I didn't think the other girls would have to roll me out of the restaurant and down La Rambla.

{Lindsey and her delicious tea}

{I love how we are all laughing in these pictures -- hopefully you can tell how delirious we were!}

{The. Crepe.}

Once we got our act together, paid up and got out of Barcelona Crepe's hair -- we meandered our way back to Equity Point Hostel, stopping to take some pictures along the way (I can't decide if I like the sidewalks better during the day or the night -- both are so beautiful).

We called it an early night, wanting to be rested for Monday! Good decision because I barely remember washing my face I was so tired. How did I find the energy to crawl up to the top bunk? Some how I managed it and I was out like a light switch!