Beaching and Om Nom Noms!

No trip to Barcelona is complete without a trip to the beach!!

After sleeping in a bit, checking out of the hostel, we promptly headed to the beach. For some reason we didn't have the foresight to put bathing suits under our clothes, but we were perfectly content wading in the water getting splashed by the waves.

First of all...the water and the beach were sparkly!!! Black and gold flecks in the water coated us in sparkles, it was very pretty!! We spent a good couple hours catching sea shells and just enjoying the cool water in the 27+ heat. I think we got many odd looks...as everyone else was in swimsuits or tanning on the beach, while two obvious tourists are making a scene playing in the water fully clothed.

For the rest of the day, we basically got lost and wandered around. Really we were in search of the cathedral all day, and took many hours to find it. It didn't help that we kept running into these churches, thinking it was the cathedral, only to realize that despite being built before 1353, the lovely church we were in was not the cathedral. We did eventually find the real thing though.

Otherwise, the things I remember most is what we ate =) H and I have a tendency to just eat our way through attractions, and today was no acceptions. Here's a sample:

- croissants at the Sagrada
- Gelato whenever we wanted. Kiwi gelato, yum!
- went to the food market in the afternoon. We easily walked that place 4 or 5 times looking at all the food....we had mango/kiwi juice, sangria, chorizo, cheese, a cracker, chicken something that starts with an e, couchettes, and dragonfruit, yum! Honestly, the fact that the market was closing down as we got there is probably what prevented us from buying even more food...
- Back to the Harbour, where we had paella, lamb steak and fries, salad, and whiskey cake, with wine and sangria of course
- grabbing tiny, very very strong coffees without sugar


Then trudging back to the bus for the overnight back to Madrid. What an intense trip, I'll have to calculate how many kilometers we walked that day! My overall impression of Barcelona is very very touristy. Lovely and charming in its own way, but not what you think of when you think of classic Spain!

Currently I am writing this in Grenoble. More on my adventures, like missing my train, later.

- S