Beach day!!! Jumped out of bed today and for once it was me rushing Jeff and not the other way around. Dragged him down to breakfast in his swim suit, drank an entire pitcher of coffee and off we went. We walked by the Arch de Triomf and the Barcelona zoo on the way to the beach. You go from old historic city to modern hotels in a hurry as soon as the beach comes into view. The beach is PACKED apparently this is a European vacation Hotspot. No one told me :p

After today I don’t know that I would ever come to Barcelona just for the beach. Let me explain, the sand was imported for the 1992 Olympic games and although our pictures make it all look like white sandy goodness watch out! When you actually get down to the water the sand turns to large pebbles very reminiscent of the Nice shoreline in France. And oh hey, by the way, the water is C.O.L.D. As most of you know I prefer bath water like warm situations, this was not that. However as I camped out on my Towel in the shade of our rented umbrella I enjoyed the best people watching we have had all vacation. Speedos are the norm for the locals and board shorts are worn mostly by us and the British.

Pina- Colada in hand I watch Jeff perform his best baywatch moves and enjoy the tourist drama involving the vendors wandering around yelling Cervesa! Massage! Water! Sangria! Do not make eye contact. DO NOT. Blood in the water, don’t be that guy. Oh and watch your stuff, this is not a beach where you can leave your valuables lying around for long periods un watched. I left our towels to cool off for a couple seconds and Jeff’s sunglasses walked off ( I am still trying to console him).

(Jeff making the magic happen)

Afternoon cocktails in the library with the best tapas of my life, (chicken tika masala- I know I have an Indian food obsession).

Tonight we went to L’antic bocoi del gothic which is a tapas restaurant recommended by Phil’s ‘rents. It was better than the meal we had last night (And last night was twice the price). It was a little hole in the wall serving (traditional Catalina dishes) something that looked suspiciously like pizza, however it had bacon on it so who was I to argue. The wine was a smooth tempernillo table wine, Jeff was in heaven. The dessert was apple tartin which was very different. The streets were packed as we walked back to our hotel. Gothic quarter tomorrow!