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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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Barcelona: Rediscovered

Remembering to be a tourist once again.

Maybe it takes a family member visiting you to remind you of your early days of discovery your chosen city.

After those initial days, you find yourself getting accustomed to city living and becoming a local.

My son, who lives in Washington state, came to visit us for two weeks. It was his first venture leaving the United States in many years. He even had to renew his passport. As a good mamá, I bought his ticket and arranged his travel. Seattle to Frankfurt, Frankfurt to Barcelona via Lufthansa. Glad his routing took him up and over the northern hemisphere as the world has gotten a bit crazier since I bought the ticket in January.

His flight was a bit late but ultimately arrived on time and with his luggage. The only hiccup was that he thought we could enter baggage claims as you do in the US to meet him. It took a few back-and-forths on WhatsApp to get that straightened out.

Here in Europe, we wait for our arriving guests outside the baggage claims area. In the USA you are permitted in baggage claims.

Finally we saw him exiting the baggage claims. With a big smile and a grand abrazo and all, we claimed him.

As he hadn’t slept during his 28- hour journey, we took the normal airport bus into Plaza Cataluña, where we transferred to a taxi twenty minutes later, we arrived at our apartment in García. Total travel time is about 45 minutes from El Prat airport to our home using the Areobus to Placa Catalonia and allowing the gentle decompression process to begin.

Home sweet home.

To an American eye our apartment is tiny as he said, our whole apartment could fit into his living room. The size of the scale and cost of living would be topics of conversation over our time together.

During the next two weeks he would visit Sagrada Familia Church with Maximo and take the elevator up to the newly finished areas. I chose not to walk as my knee was bothering me.

He also got to visit Casa Batlló, by himself as we sat across the street having a coffee and tapas as it was a beautiful sunny day.

We also did Park Güell as a family on another beautiful warm day. The staff there is amazing as my knee was really feeling bad, so they obtained a wheel chair for me making the experience much better for all.

Zack wandered all over the park as Maximo and I chatted. No closeby cafe until you exit the park. The city vistas are awesome on a clear day. Many large tankers are parked out there riding high in the water signifying that they are empty. All these wars affect peeps in different ways no matter what your belief system is.

We even went to one of my favorite Gaudi buildings called La Pedrera for an art exhibition called the Nabis.

The Nabis were a group of avant-garde French painters active in Paris from 1888 to 1900, recognized for their flat areas of color, decorative patterns, and Symbolist style. These painters were influenced by Gauguin’s palette and began painting intimate domestic scenes, everyday items, sometimes mystical or decorative styles.
Very easy on the eyes. Paintings with lush intense colors, lithographs and black and white woodcuts.

This show was enjoyed by both my son and my partner, and afterwards we went for a bit to eat at one of our favorite restaurants, Secrets. A plate of fresh vegetables smothered in a house made creme fraiche, chicken with lemon and a side of mushrooms too. My son has the burrata burger with sweet potato fries.

We discovered a new restaurant as we are all meat eaters, especially after living in Argentina for many years.

Maison de Carne was a space my son discovered when touring the Sagrada Familia Church. He overheard this couple extolling the fantasticness and tastiness of this restaurant. We actually went twice.

The space viewed from the street view features a cooler full of hanging bone steaks, making your mouth water with anticipation.

The only thing on the menu is steak, a rib eye cut that is cooked medium rare. Punto. Delivered to your table with a little hibachi for additional cooking. The meat comes with an excellent green salad and french fries. Bulk wine is served from magnum bottles. Starter is small, sliced rustic bread with a delicious pate. The pricing is good.

My partner and I split a steak as we were fascinated as my son finished a whole one on his own!

Another night we ate at a wonderful local restaurant Desbaux which is two blocks from our apartment. Another night we went to the Garage, a made to order fresh pizza place. Not gluten free but so delicious I am happy with a bit of knee creaking.

We walked and cabbed all over the city. Most days the weather was a warm early spring day with a few rainy days. On those days we were all happy to hang out at the apartment and do our own thing, cooking dinner in the evening together.

Evenings at the apartment brought lively if slow paced discussions – my son does not speak Spanish and my partner’s English is still growing. Out come the phone translators making the conversations a little slower than normal. But remembering language is for communicating, makes it all worthwhile.

My son shared some of his observations about Barcelona. The food quality here is very high and the prices are not.
The women are always looking good here.
The pace of life is too slow here, as being late is endemic here.
The quality of the people’s relationships here is far superior to anything he has experienced.

And in general people are caring and take their time with everything.

Links:

Secrets

Maison Carne

Barcelona tourism

La Pedrera

Featured

Baguettes, Bocadillos, and Bad Knees — Bread Life in Barcelona

In this city, it is common to see people carrying a baguette. They walk back from the bakery with their baguette to their home or office. Older women are seen walking with their grocery carts, often having loaves of bread sticking out. Children can be seen on the street using a baguette as a sword and enjoying a mock battle.

When walking the streets of Barcelona, there must be at least one bakery or panadería on every block. The types of bread offered vary widely depending on where you are in the city.

The long, thin loaf, which looks like a French baguette, is called pan de barra. It is a long, hard, drier version of the baguette, making it perfect for a bocadillo – the delicious sandwich that is the staple of Spanish cuisine.

The other staple of Catalan cuisine in Barcelona is pan con tomatoes. This pillar of Catalan gastronomy is prepared by toasting bread – often peasant bread and rubbing it with ripe “hanging” tomatoes, garlic, extra-virgin olive oil, and salt. It is a simple, inexpensive, and traditional dish, served in almost all tapas bars and restaurants in the city as an essential accompaniment.

Bread is not just for breakfast; it is suitable for any time of day. On many mornings, the lines at most bakeries stretch out the door, many sell out in the early.

A great deal of wheat is grown here in Spain; no GMO wheat is grown for human consumption, in line with the current EU policies.

The wheat grown in Spain is soft wheat for breads and animal feed, and durum wheat, used for pasta and semolina. Spelt wheat is still cultivated, as it has been grown in Spain for centuries since Roman times. Unfortunately, it must be harvested by hand because of its hull, making it more labor-intensive. Still, the flavor of the finished bread outweighs the addes cost, to those familiar with this grain.

For those of us who are gluten intolerant is something we look at but do not eat.

I love the smell of bread, especially freshly baked. Vven a delicious sourdough bread – masa madre will catch up with us, causing inflammation in our knees.

Once in a while, we can’t help ourselves as the bread is so delicious that we’re happy to suffer for the flavor, especially when toasted with olive oil or butter. The Spanish always prefer olive oil to butter. Either way, it’s delicious.

These smells are memories. Like a child in a bakery and wanting all the products in sight, that’s what visiting a bakery in Barcelona is like. There are two types of bakeries, one for bread and rolls only and the other for cakes and cookies. The variety of forms and flavors is inspirational.

But in the world of breads, there is a wide variety of flours, shapes, and flavors. I would love to say I know them all, but I do not.

What I can tell you about the gluten-free bakeries that we have discovered in this city. It is not hard to be gluten-free here, though for me, it’s a choice, as I somewhat intolerant of gluten but not celiac.

One of my favorite breads is called masa madre – sourdough. One bakery in particular does the most amazing bread. Oz Bakery, we used to live down the street from this cafe/ bakery. Unfortunately I cant eat s

until my knees revolted and I was creaking constantly. The smell and taste are fantastic, but unfortunately, I can’t eat it any longer.

Or let me rephrase, I won’t do that to my body anymore. Once in a while, it’s a delicious treat.

Personally, good bread is a necessity in daily life. We are so lucky to have discovered Jansana Bakery. This is a strictly gluten-free bakery that folks with celiac love. It was started in 1940. We go there once a month and buy bread and treats for a month. Thank god we have a good-sized refrigerator with a freezer. Five loaves of sliced country bread, chocolate-dipped small palmiers, apple pie in the French style, and a few cinnamon rolls.

This feast, removed from the freezer as needed, makes eating wonderfully satisfying – and my knees stay quiet.

The flavors are comparable to regular products. In Spain and most of the EU, there are no additives in the food; the flavors are wholesome and cleaner than in many other places.

I love the bread here, especially with good butter or ghee. The Spaniards wholeheartedly prefer olive oil. I am trying to make the switch, but it’s difficult when the butter tastes so good. Eating healthily is easy here with the abundance of fresh markets and the proliferation of markets.

Imagine a fresh farmer’s market every day, that’s the way the fresh markets operate here. Loaded with fresh vegetables, lots of ripe tomatoes, chicken, steaks, pork freshly caught, fish and lots of varieties of cheese. Think of 25 different vendors gathered under one roof that are open six days a week. From early morning until 20.

Normal supermarkets, depending on the chain, run the gamut from budget to expensive. One great local chain is Veritas. It has everything fresh and organic, and is especially good for olive oils, soup broths, and fresh fruit.

Eating well here is simple way of life.

So we must eat!

Bon provecho.

Links: https://www.gimmesomeoven.com/tomato-rubbed-bread-pa-amb-tomaquet-pan-con-tomate/

Catalan Tomato Bread (Pa Amb Tomàquet)

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

Sleeping late

Ready for the day

Breakfast

Funky spaces

Paid the bill

We made arrangements

Breathe in, Breathe out

The wind is diminishing

Hard not to eavesdrop

Beach time is over

Searching for the elevator

I order the dinner

Great day to be alive

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Barcelona: Rediscovered

Remembering to be a tourist once again.

Like this:

Baguettes, Bocadillos, and Bad Knees — Bread Life in Barcelona

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Sleeping late

Ready for the day

Breakfast

Funky spaces

Paid the bill

We made arrangements

Breathe in, Breathe out

The wind is diminishing

Hard not to eavesdrop

Beach time is over

Searching for the elevator

I order the dinner

Great day to be alive

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