Here comes the sun

Well, the sun decided to come back to Barcelona on Sunday which means I don't have a lot of exciting news to report since I have spent the majority of the past 4 days on the beach - and loving it! I decided that since this is my last full week solo (thank god!) I would make this into my own little personal beach week. Only MUCH tamer than the ones I had 15 years ago!

On Sunday I took a train about an hour north to a town called Sant Pol de Mar which had been recommended by the owner of my flat. It was nice to be at a beach that was much quieter than Barceloneta (though still plenty of people) and the town was cute, though I didn't do a ton of exploring. It started off as an interesting adventure when I went to the wrong train station. Thankfully the kind attendant instructed me on where to catch a train to the correct station and then which train to take from there. Pretty sure I've nailed down the metro system and hopefully the train system will be next.

On Monday I rented a bike again and peddled back up to Badalona (the right name of the town I've mentioned previously). It was fun - a nice sunny day for a ride and I found a quiet spot on the beach to relax. And when I say "quiet" I should clarify that it's all relative - I am not exaggerating when I say that at any given time of any day of the week there are literally thousands of people on the beaches here. Very entertaining, if nothing else.

Yesterday I had a fun experience figuring out how to do laundry here. It actually wasn't too difficult once I located a laundromat but it was expensive - 7 euro for one load! That's about 9 bucks. Now I can see why most people around here do their laundry the old fashioned way in the sink and hang the clothes out their window. Worth every penny though to have clean clothes!

Spent the majority of today on the beach outside of my flat. Started the day with a cappuccino at the restaurant next to my flat and then went to my local bakery for my bi-daily baguette (thank goodness I am walking everywhere and running a fair amount b/c it seems like I eat a lot of baguette!!). I am eating my now somewhat typical lunch as I type - a tomato and goat cheese in olive oil & balsamic and some baguette. Yuuummm!

I may actually try to take a break from the beach tomorrow (TRY being the operative word there) and then would hopefully have something a little more exciting to report other than my endeavors to work on my tan...