Sitges and San Juan

  Sitges, Catalonia, Spain
Tuesday, June 24, 2008

On the weekend of June 21 we decide to take full advantage of the glorious weather and spend a lot of time at the beach. On Saturday we went to one of the Barcelona beaches called Bogatell and just relaxed. There were a lot of people with the same idea, but it was still easy to find a spot. On Sunday, we packed a day bag and headed on the train to Sitges, a great little seaside town about 45 minutes from Barcelona.

Andy and view of beach front

It was such a great day out because the weather was perfect and the atmosphere there is so chilled. We started by hanging out at the beach for a few hours under our new umbrella. It is the only way I will be able to be a beach goer with my fair skin! Then we wandered to the old church and through some of the quaint narrow streets to the other side of the town with even more beaches. We found a great little shady pub to have lunch at and then wander through the town. We had icecream later on the grass near another beach but we were asked to move - oops!

Cute narrow street

After wandering, lounging and hanging out at the beach some more, we called it a day. We took the train back to Barcelona and enjoyed the sunny evening. Monday was a work day but there is a really important holiday called San Juan on Tuesday, June 24.

One of the girls I work with had a party on the night of June 23 which was a lot of fun. Her apartment has a terrace on the roof that can be used by all tenants so she claimed it for the night and about 25 of us drank, ate and watched fireworks until the wee hours of the morning. On the way back to our place on the metro, it was like being in a night club on wheels. All of the kids that had been at parties were now off to the beach to continue their celebration. I think it is even more festive than New Years Eve. We tried a special cake for the occasion called Coca - very sweet and yummy. Today is just a chilled out day (June 24) as everyone recovers. But the kids are still setting off fire crackers so we have to endure the booms every few hours!