David's Diary: Saturday, February 9, 2002

Sitges, Spain

Sitges, south of Barcelona on the Mediterranean coast of Spain, has fine beaches separated by the Església de Sant Bartomeu i Santa Tecla parish church. The church is located on a promontory and the old part of town rises gently inland from the church. We walked from the marina into town and explored some of the narrow streets. We then joined the throngs on the main beach out for a Saturday stroll.

By 1:30 we were all hungry so we found a nice seaside restaurant. We are still getting used to Spanish eating habits. At 1:30 there was only one other table occupied in the restaurant (usually this is not a good sign when picking a new restaurant). But because the Spanish almost never eat lunch before 2:00, we were just early. By the time we left at 3:45 the restaurant was not only full, but there was a lineup outside waiting for tables in the sunshine. In Canada, most people eat lunch at 12:00, so it has been a big change to get used to eating lunch after 1:00. None of us can ever last until 2:00.

Beach Treasures

After lunch we walked the length of the southern beach in Sitges until the beach walkway abruptly ended. Along the way we stopped to dig holes in the sand, throw rocks in the ocean, and to collect a few shells. Allen enjoys showing off his shell and leaf collection once we returned to Dragonsinger. After five hours off the boat visiting Sitges, we were all ready to do some reading before dinner and have an early night.