BARCELONA, SPAIN, May 18, 2007

Jeanene left this morning, so we're down to four. And it's out last full day in Spain. Sadness.

Our plan for the day was to head out to a neighboring town, Sitges, to lay on the beach for a while before heading back into Barcelona for our last dinner and night out.

It took a bit to figure out how to get to the main train station, but once we got there it was pretty simple to jump on the train and head out to the pretty little beach town. It was kind of like jumping on the Metra in Chicago to go to Naperville--frequent stops and just 45 minutes away.

We got into Sitges around 2:00 and followed the crowd toward the sea. The town was really cute--hilly, narrow streets, and little boutiques. I'm so used to the crappy beach towns in Florida that it was nice to be in a place that was residential and pretty. And clean! And there weren't junky souvenir shops every two feet like in Daytona.

We got to the beach, covered ourselves in sunscreen (we had all gotten a little sunburned the day before), and layed down in the soft Spanish sand. It was really nice--about 75 degrees, clear, and a little breezy. Perfect.

We were only on the beach for about 1 1/2 hours, but that was perfect for me as I get a little bored just sitting in the sand. We did venture into the water a couple of times, but it was FREEZING. So cold that I lost my breath for a few minutes once I hit chest-high water.

Once we were done with the beach, we had lunch at a beach side restaurant (hamburgers that weren't so mu;ch beef as possibly sausage), and walked around the town a bit before catching the train home around 6:00.

At home, we started the cleaning of the apartment and packing our suitcases. It didn't take too long considering there were 6 of us at one point and we were there for over a week.

Around 11:00 we left the apartment for our last night out in Barcelona. We first stopped by the Groucho Bar for a drink and to reminisce about the last time we were there. We had been doing that all day, really, telling stories of things we had done while we were in Spain--I think we were all sad to be leaving.

After our drinks, we went to go find dinner. We didn't have any place in mind, so we walked around a bit hoping something would strike our fancy. On one street there were three restaurants in a row, and just like Goldilocks, we decided on the third one and it was just right. Actually, it was amazing! The best dinner we had in Spain.

The restaurant, Anima, was incredible. Fusion food that sounded slightly intimidating when you read it off the (moderately-priced) menu but was delicious in person. We decided to split everything and ordered 3 appetizers and 2 meals. Babaganoush, lasagna, sirloin, mushrooms, even the bread was beautifully presented and cooked perfectly. SO GOOD. We sat outside, but the decor was minimalist but warm. And, to top it all off, our waitress was charming and attentive. She didn't speak much English but didn't seem annoyed by our attempts to speak Spanish. Overall, a wonderful experience.

Happy with dinner, we left (Terri with a menu she got from the bartender!) and headed to the Whiskey Museum for one last time. Unfortunately, since it was Friday night, it was way too crowded to go in. Oh well. Back to Groucho.

At Groucho, we decided to pool all of our change since we can't change coins in for US dollars. It turned out to be around 20 euros, which is pretty good! We ordered a round and went for it. The bartender there kept flirting with Rose and eventually brought us all a round of shots. It was a special that night--1 euro per shot and they even had a menu of the different kinds. They were all girly shots, but it was fun to try to figure out what they all were since the menu was in Spanish. My free one (that I DID NOT pick) was the banana one with whipped cream. Some of you can guess what we call that one at home.

Flirting, flirting. Drinking, drinking. And another round of shots--this one was purple with squeeze of fresh lemon, topped with an energy drink. It was good! And I hate energy drinks!! :) Around this time we decided it was time to go. It was almost 3am and we had to get up at 8 the next morning to get to the airport. We left for home, happy with our last night in Barcelona.

Oh, and we paid the whole tab in change. Everything, down to pennies. They much have been pleased.

Note: Pics on Flickr