After such a long day Saturday, we decided to enjoy a relaxing day on the beach. The weather was hot and the beach was really crowded. Topless sunbathing is very popular in Spain. In fact we found out that nudity is legal anywhere in Spain...as long as it doesn't cause a disturbance! However, the part of the beach we were on was mostly just topless. However, further down the beach even more skin was exposed...
The funniest thing about the beach in Barcelona is all of the people selling things. There are tons of guys carrying little coolers and calling out, "beer, cerveza, coca, coca light, fanta, aqua...". There were also little men carrying colanders around with pieces of coconut. There is absolutely no way I can write the words/sounds they were saying while walking up and down with their coconuts. But if you happen to see Trey sometime, please, PLEASE, ask him to demonstrate. It is priceless! You also could buy jewelry, dresses, have your hair braided, or for 5 euros get a massage (not sure why anyone would want oil rubbed on them when they are all hot, sweaty, and sandy...).
Except for this very annoying American who droned on and on and on about herself to the other girls she was with (Matthew and I can tell you her entire life story!), we had a very relaxing day on the beach.
Sunday night, we took the metro to Port Olimpic to meet Francesc, the owner of Vell Mari, a 41 foot Benetau Oceanis sailboat. I had found Francesc on the internet and we planned to go with him for a sunset sail along the coast of Barcelona. Francesc suggested sailing along the coast to a little village called El Masnou. El Masnou is not touristy at all, in fact the girl that worked at the front desk at our hotel said that is where she goes when she wants to go to the beach. The village is about 15 km from Barcelona. As we sailed, we were heading straight for some very dark clouds, and we could see the rain coming over the mountains towards the ocean. Luckily, by the time we got close, the rain had moved out past where we were going and we were able to benefit from the clouds that created a beautiful sunset. We even saw a double rainbow as the rain clouds moved out over the water.
After watching the sunset, Francesc docked at the El Masnou port and walked us along the port and pointed out several restaurant options for dinner. We chose his top recommendation and he headed back to the boat as we headed in to eat. The menu was only written in Spanish and Catalan (the local Spanish dialect). Between the little bit of English and the little bit of French spoken by our waiter and the owner, it was decided that they would just create a meal for us. So, with a great bottle of local white wine and our fingers crossed, we waited for what would be brought to our table. All of the dishes brought out were served on big plates that we all shared. We started with the traditional tomato bread, a salad with some type of fish on it, and another salad with strawberries, goat cheese, and honey. Next came fried "minnows" as Trey called them (we think they were anchovies, or maybe sardines, not really sure!) and ham and cheese croquettes. We also had the traditional Spanish cured ham, jamon. Along with the olives, bread, and wine, we were stuffed!
After dinner, we headed back to the boat. It was a beautiful night and there was an almost-full moon for our sail back. Francesc turned some music on as we sailed. It felt so surreal sailing along the Mediterranean, on our own private sailboat, being serenaded by Andrea Bocelli. What a magical night!
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