Busy days in Spain

We've spent a few busy days in our little apartment in Barcelona.  Lorraine and Bill have had a few problems sleeping, as the apartment is directly above a very busy, very noisy tapas bar which opens late and goes all night.  One night we decided, after a drink or two in our room at 2.00am, that if we can't beat'em we would join them, so we toddled downstairs to mingle with all the beautiful young people intent on keeping us awake.  

Well, we tried to get a drink at the bar which was manned by only two people, and after waiting around 20 minutes we gave up.   On our way out, Lorraine gave the doorman a piece of her mind (I think she may have been just a little bit inebriated), then we moved on to the nearby Irish Pub where they were very happy to serve us - we poured ourselves back into our apartment about 3.30am, a little the worse for wear.

When travelling to new places, I love to visit the local food markets to get a snapshot of the 'real' town, where people meet, eat and buy their groceries.  I find it fascinating to see 99 varieties of chillies hanging in bunches in a stall that sells only chillies, or a stall that sells 200 different versions of ham, chorizo, bacon and cheeses.  The Mercat Boqueria in Barcelona was wonderful - food was beautifully presented, if you wanted to buy a freshly squeezed fruit juice, there were so many varieties all lined up and sitting in shaved ice - lovely.  And olives - I really dislike olives, but I'm travelling with 3 people who love them - so of course we had to buy some to go with the beautiful fresh prawns and cheeses that we bought from the market to have for dinner that evening.  

After picking up our car from the railway station on Thursday we went for a drive down to Sitges, about 40mins south of Barcelona, where Trevor and I had stayed on a previous trip to Spain.  We walked around the marina and had a delicious pizza and a couple of Caipirinha cocktails and beers for lunch.  Afterwards we had a swim in the Mediterranean, where Trevor and Bill tried really hard (seriously????) not to look at topless young (and not-so-young) ladies.  The water was very refreshing in the 30 degree heat.  We then drove into the main town, had a look at the beautiful church and the interesting shops before heading back to Barcelona.  A good day out.  Next day we were leaving Barcelona and heading for Valencia for a couple of nights.