It sounds a bit like a bad movie sequel. Well, here I am again. I don't think I've ever been to the same city 3 times on the same trip before, never mind specifically flown there all 3 times. Still it's a wonderful place so no complaints. I am still running into plazas and inte3resting streets I hadn't come across before, like this church square and this quaint walkway across the narrow laneway - both of which are only a few yards away from where I'd walked previously.
I had a slow start this morning. I went to a bookshop we'd been to last time and bought myself a decent Spanish - English dictionary as well as a book about the Norte Camino (the north route of the Camino) for Marianne. Then it was off to the El Cortes Ingles department store and some other "incidental" shopping.
I finally decided enough was enough. I really don't have the genes for shopping. Football shirts and books is about my limit. I think my brothers got the shopping genes, the older one in particular. It was quite hot by now so I thought I'd go to the beach. To my surprise Barceloneta is only about 20 minutes walk from the bottom of Las Ramblas, or a 10 minute walk from the Barceloneta Metro station. So I opted for the walk and walked there from the hotel. It was a lovely day so why not?
Like everything else in Barcelona the beach is wonderful. It even comes with its own sights (not all in photos) so it wasn't even the end of the sightseeing! The sea was calm and refreshing, really nice - it didn't even take long to adjust to the water temperature.
The beach is great as long as you don't mind being asked every 30 - 60 seconds if you would like to purchase:
- A cold drink (offered by an army of guys walking up and down the beach), with beer, Coke, Fanta and water being on offer.
- A massage (offered by various young females walking up and down the beach).
- Beach clothing (mostly shawls) on offer by a small army of people walking up and down the beach.
These people are mostly not intrusive though so you learn to just ignore them after a while.
I did get a little bit lucky though. A woman about 20 metres away from me had stuff taken from her. You should have heard her shout obscenities as her very fit looking and muscular partner chased the thief down the crowded beach. The thief would have had a 50 metre head start but he had no chance. The guy caught him and held him until the police turned up. Luckily for the theief, the police turned up straight away (they seem to be on constant patrol), before the woman caught up to them otherwise I think she would have turned him into pulp. She wasn't a small woman and quite capable of it I think!
Tomorrow is my last day here. I think I will start with the Tibidabo in the morning and then the beach (minus camera this time) in the afternoon. According to the BBC tomorrow is supposed to be sunny, 21C to 30C. According to barcelona.com we are expeccting "
Sprinkles early. Morning clouds. Mild" (with a picture of rain). I liked the word "sprinkles" to describe showers so I had to throw that in! I'll find out tomorrow which is right but I suspect I'll be at the beach!
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