Watching the world go by

One of the things I love about the Spain is that everyone is on the streets socialising, always. Even the grandparents get out to mingle... in fact, they're the ones who usually lead the charge.

In Salou the oldies were out in force just sitting down on the waterfront watching the passersby & having a good old chat. You can't really see it here, but they all get dressed up in their best outfits too, especially the women - I mean jewellery & hair done and all!

There was literally hundreds of couples and small groups of cute old people sitting on benches the whole way down the strip. But they were so skeptical of this chick with the big freakin camera, that they were eyeing me off the whole time... As a result, my pics are few & far between. I wouldn't want to mess with a granny!

A trip down a rusty old memory lane

There's something magical about going back to your 'pueblo' - or wherever it was that you grew up. Some things are exactly the same, but others are so vastly different.

My long awaited visit back to good old Cambrils Mediterraneo finally happened and it did not disappoint! I hired a car in Barcelona (a trusty Seat Ibiza) and drove to my home town. Took me a while to get used to the left hand drive (Barcelona city isn't the best place for me to learn) but in no time at all I was on my way.

Stereo blaring with great pop songs, windows down & sunglasses on, the trip down the Autopista was over too soon. Oh, I should say, when I hired the car the girl nicely told me that all GPS systems have been booked (yep, none left in all of Barcelona) so I have to navigate old school. All the way to Malaga & back again. Sweet.

I'm actually quite impressed with my navigation skills. I managed to find my way from Tarragona to my old hood all from memory! When I got there, I visited all the old traps & had lunch in the chiringuito (which looks much much fancier now). 

My brother specifically asked that I go visit La Casa Grande -  this old crappy apartment block that underneath had our local corner store. I went & wow it looks as depressing as ever. Still a neighbourhood eyesore!

To top it all off, while I was walking along there were a group of about 4 little girls selling bracelets on the paseo. They were so cute & chatty that I had to buy one of their wares. A bargain at 1 euro..