We woke up bright and early this morning with an incredible thirst for water because we were told not to drink the tap water. We walked to the market-chain-store that Manuel was proud to refer to as the “next biggest thing in Spain.” The market was underground and was quite damp and dank and smelled of rotten fruit and the fish market that was at the back. We both closed our eyes and had to hold our breath as we passed the dried meat section that, I swear, sported more taxidermy animals than I’ve ever seen (even after living in Idaho!!). They had a single leg of literally every animal you could imagine, hoof and all, hoisted on a countertop viewing rack. We quickly grabbed what we needed and somehow made it out alive. Smells really get to me sometimes.
Walking around the small shops in the village made us realize that Spain is really more lax on their work hours than America. No banks or “service” stores are open on weekends and all shops and vendors were closed until 11am. There were a few small pastry shops that caught our attention on our way home because of the brightly colored window displays and the aroma of sugar and rising breads that wafted out the doors and onto the streets. We ate fruit and chocolate turnovers until our hearts were content.
We headed to the beach just before noon and decided to take up some freshly-combed sandy real estate. We were some of the first people on the beach and the heat from the sun was still fairly mild. Now began our first siesta of the day. I like that siesta is a perfect combination between sleep and fiesta because sleep definitely feels like a party! When we woke up the population on the beach had grown tremendously. We were now surrounded by greased up tourists and topless ladies.
The ocean had a sweet smell to it that aria pointed out was probably sun-screen residue, but I’d like to think it was something more magical. After taking a dunk in the clear blue sea, I came across my first impulse buy. A beautiful Spanish tapestry, carried by a kind-looking man, caught my eye all the way from the other side of the beach. I waved the man over and he literally came running over to me to make his first sale of the day. He draped several tapestries out in front of us, but I felt love at first sight with the first one I laid eyes on. I absolutely had to have it.
Realizing we were slowly morphing into lobsters on the beach, we headed back home for our second siesta of the day. I completely understand the need for a mid-day nap, because lying in the sun and playing in the waves really takes it out of ya! 😉 We slept from 3-5pm when we decided to find a traditional Spanish meal for supper. The seafood platter entitled “Piella” looked much too good to be true–just as it turned out to be. It was really fishy and a little on the chalky side in terms of texture, but we were famished and had just dropped $25 on the meal, so we had to eat it. After we left, Aria notified me that she had almost puked multiple times during our meal. I felt the same thing, but didn’t say anything because once someone says something about food being bad, it’s all downhill from there. We got waffles and ice cream to wash down the leftover hint of baked seafood.
We wandered down the main bar strip and found some friendly, flamboyant bartenders that told us to come back to the clubs at 3am-6am. As we sipped our deliciously sugared-mint-mojitos, we realized that Sitges has a mostly if not entirely homosexual population. We assumed this factor would be perfect for dance clubs! Our third siesta of the day took place from midnight until 3am and as you can tell, our sleep schedule is a little off. We knowingly went back to the “gay bars” that were recommended to us. We were ready to cut some rugs and dance the night away. However, no rug-cutting occurred as we were turned away from the clubs. Not only were we not gay, we also weren’t men, so they basically wanted nothing to do with us! I guess there truly is a first time for everything.
