July 18^th, 2012

Day 60: Barcelona, Spain

After a great night of sleep, we woke up and packed our things to set out to find our next place to stay. We made our way there pretty easily and were soon settling in and getting our stuff ready for the day!

We’re staying at a place called ‘Mr. Bruc’s Bed and Coffee.’ Essentially, the people who runt his place are geniuses. It’s a flat in the center of Barcelona that has been converted to a hostel- there are a few guest rooms with max. 20 or 21 bed spaces (I think), even some that are twin beds for a couple to share. There’s a lounge area and an open air patio as well, with 2 bathrooms and a kitchen to boot. It’s a pretty nice place, and definitely a great way to make money (even though it was really cheap!). The people who run it are so nice and were so willing to give us tips on the surrounding area as well as things to do.

Anyway, after we got settled in, we set out for the beach! We took only our towels and a bit of money with us for fear of getting pick pocketed at or on our way to the beach. It seemed like a great plan until we realized that we had no map, no familiarity with the area  or the city, and no clue where the beach was. Using Stephen’s logic, we headed in the direction that looked like development stopped after a certain point… i.e. where the land hit the ocean. I think we took the roundabout way, but we eventually found it and decided to grab something to eat at a little café by the water!

After lunch, we made our way onto the sand and scoped out a nice location. For the next 6 hours (accidentally), we were on the beach, in and out of the water, and applying and reapplying sunscreen so we didn’t have a repeat of Monte Carlo sunburns. I say accidentally because neither of us wear a watch and we had no cellphones so we lost all track of time. A blessing, really.

The water was gorgeous- not too cold but certainly refreshing and incredibly clear! It made me really excited to go home and have beach days on the regular J Granted, it wont be the Mediterranean beaches that I’m now used to, but Narragansett is right up there in beauty and comfort!

After we found our way home from the beach, we got changed and then headed out for some paella! This is literally what I’ve been looking forward to since we decided to go to Spain. I LOVE paella and after having it at Tina’s in Ireland, I was really looking forward to having some more in the place where it originated!

I looked up a restaurant that had great reviews on yelp, we mapped it out and set off. As fate would have it, it was closed (whomp whomp). We did find another restaurant pretty close to the area though that had decently priced seafood & chicken paella and settled on that! We ordered a pitcher of sangria as well and tucked in for a delicious meal.

The paella was incredible- the rice was perfect and the combination of mussels, shrimp, clams and chicken was delicious. I was very happy with our selection, overall! I can’t wait to have it again, and may be reaching out to Tina soon to get her recipe so I can cook it at home (Tina, keep an eye on your email!)! The restaurant also gave us a free glass of champagne after our meal, which was an unexpected but wonderful surprise!

One the way home we stopped at a supermarket and picked up some wine to have before we went out! As suggested by a friend, we planned to go to Razzmatazz, a 5 room warehouse club that is a must when you visit Barcelona. The club didn’t disappoint, and even though all of the various rooms weren’t open, Stephen and I had a great time dancing to the eclectic mix of music they were playing- 80’s, rock, house and top 40.

We got home around 5:30 or so and hit the hay!

Favorite part of the day: Paella! One of my favorite things about the countries we’ve visited on this trip is how much food is part of their culture. At home it seems like food is just food, but here- to eat a traditional dish is to really experience a pat of the culture that you’re a part of. The paella was delicious and I’m happy that we were able to get some local flavor while in Barcelona J