A la Playa

After three awe inspiring days in Barcelona, I am happy for a change of pace.  On my fourth day here, I was invited by my friend and former colleague, Gloria Hewitt, to visit her and her family in Sitges, a small beach town about 30 minutes outside of Barcelona.

Sitges is on the coast, just below Barcelona.

Sitges, (pronounced "SEET-jes), is a city known for it's film festival in October, Carnival in February and for being one the world's most gay-friendly towns.  It also, according to Wikipedia, is thought of as the "Saint Tropez of Spain".  I was excited for an adventure to travel to see Gloria, who currently lives in Sao Paolo, Brazil, and whose parents live in Sitges.  She was spending the month there with her children and family.  

Thanks to Carlos, I planned my day to take a Renfe train to Sitges via the main station in Barcelona.  Getting there was interesting because I attempted my first ride on the very complicated subway system.

After a lot of wandering around, asking questions,  and attempts to read subway maps, I finally found my way to the Sants Estacion and onto my train to Sitges.

I'm waiting with a crowd of people, all hopefully going to the same place that I am.  Multiple trains come to each platform.  I was nervous...

All the trains coming... and I don't see one with Sitges on it.  ???

I finally get on the right train, and find that I have some travel companions.  Getting these big fluffy girls to jump up on from the platform to the train was scary, but they made it.  I was surprised to see many dogs at the train station.  All well-behaved and likely getting on a train.  No rules against it!  Winnie would LOVE a train ride... as long as she could stick her head out the window!

Also on the train ride to Barcelona??  A musician, playing a trumpet along with a digital musical accompaniment.  His song of choice: "When the Saints Go Marching In"!  I had a flashback to my first ride on a train in Paris, back in 2008 (I'm pretty sure I wrote about this), when I was on my way to see the Eiffel Tower for the first time, and there were musicians on the train, playing the SAME song!  Very coincidental???  Or is that the basic playlist for train musicians throughout the world?  Additional songs on this train included, "Jack the Knife" and "Summertime".  I really enjoyed the entertainment and was glad to contribute some money to his music career.  

In a short 30 minutes, I arrived at the Sitges train station and was excited to see Gloria and her daughter Leila waiting for me out front!  It was a great welcome and I admit I was glad to see a familiar face, even though it had been nearly 10 years since Gloria and I had last seen each other in person.  We started walking around town, making our way down to beach where she obliged my only agenda: to eat paella! 

One of the cute narrow streets heading toward the beach.

We searched the ocean front restaurants for an air conditioned restaurant (there were none, and it was HOT!!), and settled on Hotel la Santa Maria.  

Me and the lovely Leila.

Gloria and I (we met at Coldwater Canyon School when she was as a first year teacher, 15 years ago).

For the love of paella...

Paella is usually served for a minimum of 2 people and is cooked to order.  The wait was about 30 minutes but it was more than worth it.  After lunch, a few bottles of water, and reminiscing about the past, we got on our way to explore the town.

Winnie wouldn't have been happy about this... 

We walked for a few hours, and explored the beautiful town.  Had it been cooler. we might have gone down to the water, but it was so hot and so after a cab ride to the edge of the town, we ended up at her parent's house (which had air conditioning).  Her parents we lovely and welcoming and I got a chance to meet Gloria's son, Maximo (nearly 2 years old).  It was nice to relax and spend time with her family, but as the day went on, I realized that I had to catch a train to make my way back to Barcelona.  

After we said our goodbyes, Gloria walked me to the local bus, and she made sure to tell the bus driver to take me to the bus station (turns out everyone on the bus was going there too!).  The ride back was a bit more hairy... crowded and I had to stand, but navigating the subway to the Placa de Catayuna seemed much easier on the way back.  Once I got back to the apartment, I realized that I was too tired to go out to get dinner, and so I skipped eating and decided on an early night to bed.  I had to shower and pack to get ready to leave Barcelona, which I was doing the next day... and headed to San Sebastian.  A new adventure awaits me...!!!