Sun, sea, and salty goodness.

You should see the Med under the brilliant afternoon sun! Green-blue, almost glowing, sparkling, with tiny white boat sails off in the distance. It looks like a dream ocean, like something from the imagination. Beautiful.

Myself, Lurid Arcive, and M. all spent the weekend in Sitges, a seaside town round the coast from Barca. It was excellent. We arrived on Saturday afternoon and were lucky enough to find a room in a fairly pleasant little hotel (spaces are limited at this time of year). Having dumped our stuff, we had a slightly overpriced meal at the Pic Nic cafe and then went for a dip in the Med. Haven't been sea-bathing since I was a kid, so I had a great time, sploshing around and trying not to get my glasses knocked off by the more boisterous waves. The beach was crowded and there was quite a bit of litter floating around, but otherwise the water looked pretty clean.

After salting and sunning ourselves satisfactorily, we all sloped off down the shops and stocked up on beer and fizzy drinks. (Not touching the minibar). Then we adjourned to the hotel, where we sat around on the balcony, lolling on sun loungers and jawing idly as the sun got lower and the air cooled. Come the evening, we set off on a bar crawl. We started out at Parrots (gaybargaybargaybar), then just kind of sauntered up and down, stopping at various points for beer, food, and in one case a slightly disappointing ice-cream. The best part of the evening for me was walking along the rocks with an overpriced six-pack just after midnight, then drinking beers as we watched a little flotilla of catamarans set out onto the black waters, their white sails ghostly against the sky. I don't know what they were up to-- perhaps there was some kind of licence-related night sailing requirement being fulfilled. It was a rather poignant sight.

We passed a rough night, thanks to the minestrations of the local gnats, then got up and fought the other residents for scrambled eggs and coffee. Then we went and flopped around on the beach, chugging back fizzy water, lemonade and beer, and snacking on peanuts, cheese and brioche. Myself and M. developed a hopeless crush on one of the drinks sellers, a handsome fellow with long dark hair and muscular arms. Yum. (Can the self-loathing, XYers-- you blokes are nice to look at.) Swam. Basked. Re-applied sunblock. More swimming. More bask. More beer. More suncream. Zizz. More swim.

Eventually we decided to call it a day. We pootled around the town a bit, then headed back to the sticks to nurse our sunburn.

So long, Sitges. We'll always have... Parrots.

*Crickets chirp*
*Frogs croak*
*Tumbleweed tumbles*
*Bell tolls*

Aww, c'mon, guys.

And then Monday happened, and M. went to live somewhere else where she didn't have to sleep on the floor, and today I went into town, got hot and tired, completely failed to find a job, and somehow had a tenner nicked.

Bah.