The day started out as hot as ever, and J and I collected our beach towels from the hotel and hoofed it towards one of the busier beaches of Barcelona, La Barceloneta. It wasn't that far away, but the heat made the walk nearly unbearable. The only thing keeping me going was the thought of jumping into the waves of the Mediterranean.
The walk itself was beautiful - we came across the monument to Christopher Columbus, Port Vell and one of several beautiful paths that we could take to the beach.
It was a long, hard slog but totally worth it when I saw this:
Heaven.
J and I spied some empty lounge chairs with umbrellas, and I asked around until I figured out the protocol for renting the lot of them. Apparently, you just plop down on them until some guy comes around and takes your money from you. Sweet!
J sat around in the shade reading his book while I alternated between trying to get a tan and frolicking in the waves when I got too hot. It was amazing! Some differences though: (1) about half of the women were topless, and (2) smoking is quite popular on the beach. We were also by a large group of old men playing backgammon while basking in the sun and every so often, they'd burst into song that repeated the word "porque" (English: why). I was very amused and told J that that was what retiring was all about.
After I was done burning to a crisp, we packed up our beach things and headed further down the beach to make our lunch reservation at Can Majos, a restaurant famed for its paella. The restaurant lived up to its reputation and then some. J and I were seated on the terrace and presented with some soft bread soaked in olive oil and tomatoes and a small dish of olives while we waited for our order to arrive. We chowed down on our seafood paella when it arrived, all the while exclaiming over the crispy rice and succulent langoustines. Interesting fact: Ask for beer in Barcelona, and you'll inevitably get Estrella brand beer.
We stuffed ourselves senseless, and we decided to head back to the hotel for a proper wash up. We slowly moseyed our way back to the hotel and ended up power-napping for a few hours. Hey, that's what being on holiday is all about.
It was a bit late when we woke up, but we decided to head to Montjuic anyway. Montjuic is the home of the Olympic Stadium and a series of beautiful gardens that's west of Las Ramblas. The first thing you see when you arrive is the art museum, which was absolutely beautiful all lit up at night.
We headed towards the gardens, but we arrived a bit too late and they were locking up the gates. The security guard we came across very kindly told us that we were free to walk around to take pictures but to take care as the area got dangerous in the evening. We very gladly heeded his advice and headed back to the Museum area, where La Font Magica was about to happen.
During the evenings, the huge fountain in front of the Museum has a fantastic light and music show. It's not on every night, but we accidentally timed our visit just right to catch the show, which started at 9 PM. People were already staking out seats at least an hour in advance, but J and I managed to snag a great viewing point for the 15 minute show.
It was a fantastic end to an amazing day, and J and I agreed to return to Montjuic the next day to visit the gardens properly. Did I mention I love Barcelona?!
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