A day at the beach, an evening in Barcelona

We spent most of the afternoon at Sitges, a beach town located about 40 minutes from Barcelona via rail.

Today was our first full day in Barcelona, and we had a great time visiting the beach, walking along The Ramblas, visiting a market, shopping for souvenirs and visiting the Sagrada Familia church at night.

We only have two full days in this gem of a city, so we started the day early by making a day trip to Sitges, a small beach town located along the Mediterranean Sea about 40 minutes from Barcelona via train. 

Sitges was the first beach I visited in Spain when I traveled here as a student, and it is still my favorite beach in Spain. The water is warm, the sand is just like the beaches in Florida and the surrounding scenery is stunning, as a myriad of small and narrow streets in Sitges all lead to the beach. Today was an ideal beach day: clear skies, sunny, warm but not hot temperatures and a breeze. We could not have asked for a better day to swim, soak up the sun and enjoy the beach. Here are a couple of pictures from Sitges.

Sitges

Sitges

Sitges

We spent about three or four hours at the beach and then went into town to find some lunch. We went to La Oca for some rotisserie chicken. Sra. Bailey took us to this same restaurant when we visited Sitges on our high school trip, and I still think they serve some of the best rotisserie chicken I have ever eaten. Here is how they prepare it.

Lunch at La Oca in Sitges

After lunch, we caught the train back to Barcelona. We returned to the hostel first to shower and afterward decided to explore Las Ramblas. La Rambla is Barcelona's most famous street. It is lined with restaurants, cafes, stores and more, and it is always filled with pedestrians. It was crowded tonight as Chris and walked. 

Las Ramblas

While walking along Las Ramblas, here are a few of the sights we observed: 

• Several men sitting on a bench just watching passers-by. 
• Several men selling these little devices that are about 1 inch long and shaped like a tube. You put them in your month and use them as whistles. They make the most annoying sound in the 
• People dressed up as wizards, dragons, princesses, skeletons, etc. -- complete with make up, face paint, glitter and costumes. They find a spot on the Ramblas and stand as still and as quiet as one of the Queen's guards ... until someone drops a coin in the collection box they have sitting in front of them. Afterward, they do something. The dragon, for example, makes a quick move and flaps his wings toward the person who deposited the coin, often catching the person off guard and causing him to jump, scream or scurry off.

We visited the Mercat de Sant Josep de la Boqueria, a famous public market in Barcelona that is located on the Ramblas. The vendors sale fruit, meat, seafood, candy, flowers and more, and it was very busy as people were walking through and snapping pictures. I'll post some pictures below so you can see just how colorful of a place this is. I visited this market when I was here in 1997, and my friends and I at the time couldn't believe that vendors were selling fruit, meat and seafood out in the open. We had only seen grocery stores before, never a public market. This time, however, I couldn't wait to go back and walk through the maze of a market to see all the sights!

Ham for sale at the Mercat de Sant Josep

Fruits and nuts for sale at the Mercat de Sant Josep

Candy for sale at the Mercat de Sant Josep

Fish 

for sale at the Mercat de Sant Josep

We continued walking down Las Ramblas all the way to the port, where there is a famous statue of Christopher Columbus. Columbus returned to Barcelona after his first voyage to the Caribbean. 

Columbus statue at Barcelona's busy port

A lion near the Columbus statue. The lion is a symbol of the monarchy's power.

We returned to La Fianna for dinner again tonight. We both ordered more tapas ... but could not finish all of the small plates of food. We have eaten quite well in Barcelona.

After dinner, we decided to hop on the metro to travel to La Sagrada Familia to see it at night. We have tickets to see the church and go to the top of its towers tomorrow, but we thought it would be cool to see it at night ... and it was. Work has been underway on and off for more than 100 years on this awe-inspiring church. It's expected to be finished sometime this century, perhaps by 2050. I'll write more about the church tomorrow once we visit it.

Here is one picture of what we saw tonight.

La Sagrada Familia at night

 

Tomorrow, we will tour the church, visit a famous park in Barcelona and spend some more time along Las Ramblas. We take a train to Madrid around 5:30 p.m. and will spend one night and one day there before departing for Lisbon Thursday night.

Thanks for reading!

Justin