The Doctor Said Rest. We Took the Vespa to the Beach.

Today was an adventure in living in Barcelona.

Next week, I will be receiving treatment for a disease that I was diagnosed with in August 2025.

I do not act sick!
I do not look sick!
But yet I am.

Today I wanted to experience the best of this wonderful city with my partner, husband, lover, and friend, Maximo.

He wakes up much later than I, this being the current sleeping pattern. I leave the warmth of the bed around 6.30 am and settle in on the couch with my pillow and blanket.  Making my morning cup of jasmine tea, contemplating my day as I listen to the gentle breathing and snores emerging from the bedroom.

Sleeping late

Today, it was going to be around 75 degrees, a perfect day for going to the Sant Miguel beach in Barceloneta. 

I didn’t want to swim or sun. I only wanted to feel the warm wind on my face and feel the sand on my naked feet.

[So rarely these days do we experience walking barefoot on the grass or in sand.]

Early in the morning, lying on the couch, drinking my tea, I started to look for a good place for breakfast and coffee. I discovered a restaurant close by called  Coco Social House, their gluten-free pancakes sounded really good. This restaurant is close to Lesseps train station.

Ready for the day

At 13 hours, we were ready for the day. We are learning to navigate the city on a Vespa. Even though it was a warm day, we wore boots and jackets. We prefer to arrive warm and not totally disheveled by the wind.

When we ride the Vespa, it’s always nicer to take the slower, less crowded streets. We’ve only been actively riding for two months, so the odometer reading is 25 km. We are finding our center of gravity, and slowly the wobbles are disappearing.

I have learned how to get on the bike without throwing out a hip, and how precarious riding in the back seat is. I always thought I didn’t move, but apparently, I am a wiggle worm. Now I’m concentrating on only shifting my body at lights.

Even though he knows the city, Maximo is learning to ask for directions. Barcelona, the city is a hodgepodge of mostly one-way streets. My phone is leashed around my neck and hanging out in my vest pocket for easy access. When we are stopped at the lights, we go over the route.

Breakfast

Our first stop for breakfast was pretty easy to drive to. We are still figuring out the bike parking  as the number of bikes is far greater than the allotted street parking. Many sidewalks are requisitioned as makeshift parking as long as you stay off the street. Luckily the corners all have ramps making the access simpler.

We parked about a block away, and immediately noticed this long line of people waiting in line. Another person or two handing out white sheets of paper.  Turns out today, Sunday Bulgaria was having an election and all these folks were waiting in line to gain admittance to the Embassy of Bulgaria to vote.
Initially, I thought it was the lineup for the restaurant. Pretty funny as sometimes there are these amazing lines that wrap around the buildings and haven’t quite figured out what they are..

Finding the entrance, we said, Dos personas, por favor . The next question was do you want to sit at a high or low table.

Maximo and I looked at each other,  spontaneously and responded, low with extra cushions please.

Funky spaces

Small space with cafe funk, maybe 20 tables in a long corridor shaped space and in the tables,  of course the QR code menus for wifi and food. 

After looking at the menu, we ordered coffee and the protein pancakes made with almond topped with homemade vegan chocolate and fresh fruit with maple syrup.  Yum yum.

Finishing up breakfast, Maximo was chatting up the waiter who is from Argentina. Most of the servers in Barcelona are either from Argentina, Ecuador or Venezuela so the language learning curve is non-existent.

Paid the bill

We paid the bill, and now the meandering line to vote is totally gone, and as typical the street does not show much debris from the waiting crowd.

Returning to the Vespa, we exchange our bags for helmets and go through the newly acquired procedure for ascending the bike. All comfy, and cozy, we embark on the cross town trip to the beach.

Again on a Sunday, the streets are less crazy, traffic almost seems calm. Arriving at the beach, we found parking across from where we were to meet up with a friend.

We made arrangements

As we made previous arrangements to meet up with a friend, cell service at the beach is totally inconsistent as she was close to us, but never connected up. Another time.

Having packed a couple of Turkish beach towels, we found a semi shaded spot and planted ourselves laying out the towels on the raised surface of the covered area that was perfect for what I wanted.

Removing my leather boots, my feet burrow into the sand. Back and forth until they were totally submerged in the sand. Laying down on the towels with the sun shining, a bit of the wind blowing off the water, my body breathes out a sigh of contentment. 

Breathe in, Breathe out

Breathe in and breathe out.
Feet in the sand
Sun and a gentle wind on the face.

The wind is gentle and even warm. The din of voices whispers and shouts depending on the wind.

I close my eyes, and feel the sun on my face. Breathe in, breathe out.

The wind is diminishing

The wind is weakening while the warmth of the sun increases.

Now I am just a woman sitting on the beach, Maximo reminisces about the last time we were on this beach.

I am happy. I am content. Just sit. Listening to him recollect my son’s visit here a month ago. The weather was much cooler then and the beach was not as crowded.

Here we stay seated for an hour or so. Chatting. Breathing and listening to the public service announcements in three languages. Catalan, Español and English. The prerecorded voice talks about only buying products from official licensed vendors and what the consequences will be from buying from illegal vendors and being caught.

My personal favorite announcement is the one that states there is no smoking allowed on the beach. This rule is the primary reason the beach is so clean and debris free.

Hard not to eavesdrop

It’s hard not to eavesdrop on the ongoing surrounding conversations.
These conversations are spoken in Catalan, English, German, French, Russian or Ukrainian. Listening, it’s hard not to realize that Barcelona is home to many as well as  a sought after travel destination for others.

The beauty and scale of the city  have all contributed to Barcelona’s extensive tourism.

This is still April, in another month before the tourist population doubles leaving little free space as the city fills to capacity.  The city government approved a new nightly tourist bed tax that doubled the old one, and the large cruise ships ports will be reduced from 7 to 5.

The mixture of folks, both the locals and the foreigners augments the city’s likability allowing lots of small businesses i.e. restaurants, bars, clothing stores, nail salons and pharmacies to thrive.

Beach time is over

Our beach time is over, we collect our things and return to the Vespa.  Once again changing the bags for helmets, we climb on and this time head to Port Olympic. The section of town that was upgraded when Barcelona hosted the summer sailing Olympics in 1992. The iconic twin towers — the Mapfre Tower and Hotel Arts — were built as part of the Olympic Village to house athletes, and Frank Gehry’s famous golden fish sculpture sits at their base. These spectacular sculptures are visible from most beaches.

The restaurant where we are having an early dinner is El Cangrejos Loco.  This area was the main venue for last year’s America’s Cup. This international event promoted another round of renovations and improvements making the waterfront of Barcelona an attractive alternative to the old town areas.

Finding the location was a bit challenging as we missed the turn off the first time but figured it out on-the-second go around.  We parked close to the restaurant parking in the nearly empty motorcycle parking.

Searching for the elevator

Searching for the way to the second floor, without climbing fifty steps, we found the small glass enclosed elevator.

The views here are magnificent especially at the time of day we arrived at 17.30.

With the low lying clouds, perhaps a little fog settling over the city, the low angle of the sun created sharply defined contrasting areas of sun and shade. Perfect for photos.

As I was expecting a lot of cangrejo [crab] on the menu, because of the name of the restaurant, I found myself a bit disappointed. Only two items on the menu were crab. Crab ravioli  and fresh crab.

I order the dinner

Maximo received a call from Buenos Aires, I read the menu and ordered for us. Pan con tomate, calamari, salad with asparagus and a fresh cooked crab. The food was fresh, tasteful and plentiful.  After sitting and eating at this marvelous vista, it was time to leave as the weather started to look a bit ominous with those low lying clouds holding the possibility of rain.  We didn’t want to experience rain while seated on the Vespa. 

Now traveling in the reverse direction, we stayed on the smaller one way streets arriving home after 25 minutes.
It was great to get home just as the sun was setting. Taking the elevator up to floor 1+, we both realized we were a bit exhausted from all the fresh air and walking.

Great day to be alive

It was great to get home just as the sun was setting. Taking the elevator up to floor 1+, we both realized we were a bit exhausted from all the fresh air and walking.

What a wonderful day of being alive and grateful for all the experiences and flavors that we delighted in.

Links:

https://cocosocialhouse.com/#home

https://www.barcelona.cat/es/que-hacer-en-bcn/banos-y-playas/playa-de-sant-miquel

https://www.barcelona.cat/en/what-to-do-in-bcn/bathing-and-beaches

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