6/20 After only a few hours of sleep thanks to my comical late night trip to the airport to look for my luggage, Lee and I took a 5€ train to the beach at Sitges. It was a neat, double-decker train which gave us super views as the railroad is within meters of the Mediterranean for about half the journey.

Sitges is the highlight of the coast south of Barcelona . It was established as a holiday town in the 1960´s but has since become more of a youthful, party spot and resort which has brought much higher prices. Day-trippers from Barcelona get off easy though since the beach is free and only a 5 minutes walk from the bus or train stations. The town center is relatively concentrated with narrow streets and small shops.

The main street though actually isn´t a street, it´s the beautiful promenade along the sea. This promenade is very wide, lined with palms, and pristine with next to no trash in sight. The city has gone to great lengths to ensure that the beach is clean with nice rubbish and recycling bins every block as well as dispensers with plastic bags for those walking dogs. Every morning I would hear the street cleaners and garbage trucks at work early and then I would see sidewalk cleaners and trash collectors out in force. They were all easily spotted due to their neon green uniforms with many having small electric trucks or carts . I think Al Gore would approve.

Where Dubrovnik last summer had an amazing natural beauty, the beauty of Sitges is man-made. The town has a great design with the small town center and then surrounding residential areas. The big promenade is great for people watching as everyone from the elderly to kids on bikes or rollerbladers can all safely enjoy it at the same time. I estimate that the promenade is about 5 km long and essentially runs the length of the town.

As usual, Lee and I picked about the furthest beach to avoid the large crowds in town. It was quite a hike to get there but the cove had better scenery than the large, flat beach in town. The beach was made up of small pebbles so we rented lounge chairs for 8€ each. Lee went for a couple of swims and said the water was quite a bit warmer than our other beaches but it was also rough.

The town of Sitges doesn´t have much in the way of sights apart from the beaches . The main landmark is the Eglesia de Sant Bartomeu i Santa Tecla parish church which is visible from almost anywhere in town. There are plenty of high end restaurants and boutiques for the international jet set crowd (definitely not us). A lot of Sitges allure comes from the way the town has managed to retain it´s small town charm while still being a big hit with the ¨in¨ crowd. I just loved how gorgeous the beaches and town were and can´t wait to come back for a longer stay next week.

6/24-7/3 I was up early with Lee and took the MonBus (no idea why it´s called that) from the Barcelona city center to Sitges. Without checking online I don´t know how anyone would know where the stop is since it looks just like a regular bus stop. The bus trip was fine and not as long as I expected. The train to Sitges was still not operating due to the derailment the week before.

There was not the level of activity on the trip this week since Lee was gone . I basically recovered sitting in a lounge chair on the beach reading the whole week. My routine was quite boring - up early, go into town and walk around different sections, Internet, walk to beach, read, to bed early.

I stayed at the Hotel Alba which is in a residential area about midway between town and the best beaches. It´s about a 20 minute walk either way which has been pretty inconvenient since you can´t even get a Coke anywhere around the hotel. My hotel is one of only a handful of hotels in a residential area since Sitges has done a great job of separating the residential areas from the old town/tourist area. My room has been nice though since it has 5 large windows creating a nice breeze on the warm evenings (and my own bathroom!).

The books I read this week were:
Devil in the White City, Larsen
Kill all the Lawyers, Levine
The Overlook, Connelly
The Quickie, Patterson
The 6th Target, Patterson
The Woods, Coben
Promise Me, Coben
Numbered Account, Reich (in the middle of)

I´m glad I was able to find some of these at bookstores here since I had run out . I have no more books again and hope to find a couple at the Barcelona airport. The books have generally been what I call ¨beach books¨since they are quick, easy reads requiring little thought. My favorite of the bunch was The Woods. I´ve become quite a fan of Harlan Coben. The Woods was entertaining and had plenty of plot twists that kept you thinking. Kill all the Lawyers is quite funny and a great sequel to Solomon vs. Lord (perfect for those that like Carl Hiassen).

I finally ran out of PowerBars and, despite searching everywhere, still have not found any. Breakfast is included with my hotel, but it´s a typical English breakfast with toast, jelly, lunch meats, tomatoes, cheese, and croissants. I went a couple of times and just had dry cereal in the room the others. I´m still hoping I can find PowerBars at a future stop!

The weather has been magnificent all week. There was a brief thundershower last night, but otherwise it has been sunny with just a stray cloud. It´s not humid at all and temperatures have been around 80. I´ve managed to get a decent tan and haven´t gotten burned yet thanks to SPF 30 sunblock.

For those that haven´t heard of Sitges here are some factoids:
roughly 40 kms SW of Barcelona (30 minutes by bus or train)
4500 hotel beds (more than half 4 star or better, but not mine)
became popular in the 1960´s as the only center of counterculture in mainland Spain (while Spain was still under dictator Francisco Franco)
it has to be about the cleanest city I have ever seen; there are cleaning crews out every day, recycle bins every block, plenty of signs, and conscientious locals
almost 35% of the 30,000 ¨locals¨come from the Netherlands, England or Scandanavia and their children can attend the international school here
Sitges property prices approach those of London (most expensive in Europe)
home to major Carnival, roughly during Mardi Gras
17 beautiful sand beaches most with quality diplomas and blue flags awarded by the EU

Sitges has many upscale shops and boutiques . I saw a ¨Speedo¨for 72€ and later a t-shirt for 76€. The Europeans here are very fashion-forward and well-dressed. Even if they are going to the beach they tend to look stlyish. In the evenings it´s as if everyone is going to formal night on a cruise ship. I don´t think they are even dressing up, but that is just their normal evening attire. What amazes me too is how warmly people are dressed. Europeans may have a sweater or jacket on while I´m sweating profusely with shorts and a tank top. You can definitely tell the Americans from the Europeans.

As in Barcelona, Catalan is the official language of Sitges. I was at a total loss as to what people were saying most of the time. Everyone can speak Spanish as well, but Catalan is a source of pride much like French is to those in Quebec. There is a strong French influence with Catalan and the words are generally softer than Spanish words. Even knowing some Spanish it´s difficult to figure out Catalan words where Spanish words are often recognizable . One amusing aspect to Catalan is the lisp; they say Bar-the-lona and Gra-the-as, instead of Barcelona and Gracias. To me it´s like the whole region has what Cindy Brady had!

Sitges is definitely a night town with lots of bars and clubs. Virtually nothing opens before 10 am except for the bars/cafes. I´m not sure if the bars ever close. I´m hoping people are there in the morning for their coffee and newspaper and not still there from the night before.

I´ve spent considerable time planning for the future stops on my trip. I like to book a place to stay before I get there and, with it being July and holiday season, I´m encountering places that are either full and/or very expensive. I´ve also checked train and plane schedules. The low cost airlines here are only low cost if you book at least 7 days in advance.

One thing I have not seen during the last month in Portugal and Spain is a tennis court - not hard, clay, or anything. With so many good players from Spain they must play at country clubs where I haven´t been rather than starting out on city courts.

It´s been more than a month now since a visit to the gym and I can definitely see and feel a difference. I´ve enjoyed very much not going to the gym though. By living on Coke Zero and trail mix I´m trying not to totally let myself go.

This past Saturday the masses arrived! I had been in the Cybercafe and when I exited to the street it was mobbed. I couldn´t believe all the people. It is the first Saturday of the traditional summer holiday season and, with perfect weather, everyone has headed to the beach.

I really loved my time in Sitges! It is small enough so that you can walk anywhere, you are close to a big city and major transportation hubs, the city is super clean, it has great beaches and wonderful weather, and it has a relaxed and welcoming atmosphere. It would definitely be more fun to visit with family and/or friends! I´d like to return so just let me know when you´d like to visit Sitges and I´ll happily tag along!