SITGES

A beautiful day to head to the beach.  Stiges had been recommended to us by "Sharon's Jeweler". Just a short train ride away.  We opted for a cab to get us to the train station where we bought our tickets and hopped on the train.  We were sitting pretty comfortably when the conducter came by and looked at my  tickets and asked where I was  going.  I answered  "Sitges".  He shook his head and I pointed at my two friends behind me and said we were all going to Stiges.  He just shook his head again and said this train doesn't stop in Stiges.  We just sat there and guess what - laughed.  Finally he came back and said "Two minutes, girls".  We guessed we were being thrown off the train.  I looked at the young man sitting across from me and asked him if he spoke English.  He said yes and he had been listening to our whole saga.  He explained that this train had gone through Stiges but only hada limited  number  of stops and one was not Sitges.   We were on the fast train!  Armed with that info we knew we just had to catch a train back to Sitges.  We had enjoyed our train ride to St. Vicenc de Calders and the young man suggested we just stay on the train and go to his town which was a lovely place to visit.  I explained that we were being thrown off the train.  

We caught the R-2 train to Barcelona and experienced a very slow ride back to Sitges.  This train stopped at every little town including eventually - Sitges.  You'd think we'd learn by now, wouldn't you?  However,  the ticket agent had given us the platform and the time of the departing train to Sitges and we followed his instructions to the letter, I'm sure.  Oh good, someone to blame besides ourselves.  

Sitges is one of Catalunya's most popular resort towns.  Because the town beautifully mingles sea and light, its long been an artists' colony.  "Here you can still feel the soul of the Modernista..in the architecture, the museums, the salty sea breeze , and the relaxed rhythm of life. "

Stiges basically has two attractions - the Old Town and its long luxurious beaches.  

We headed to the beach first.  

Sant Bartomeu i Santa Tecla Church is the focal point from the beach.  There are nine beaches separated by breakwaters and they extend about a mile southward from the town.  

We looked at some of the restaurants along the way and finally decided to give this little place a try.  Sandi and I order Paella with shelled shellfish.  It was very good but very rich.  The rice was not like the Paella rice you get in southern Spain. 

This pattern was all along the beach promenade.  

Two fools swimming!  It was nice but still too cold to go in the water in my opinion!

We left the beach and walked up to the old town and just ambled along the streets. 

Finally made it back to the train station and caught the slow train, but the right train , back to Barcelona!