Sitges is a small city (or big town) south of Barcelona on the Mediterranean coast in Spain. The best comparison is probably Laguna Beach in California. Sitges is only about 40 minutes from Barcelona and well to do people in Barcelona like it for weekend homes, and with recently improved roads even as a permanent residence. It's most notable feature is the Iglesia Sant Bartolomeu i Santa Tecla on the water in the heart of the town.
Sitges has a small old section with narrow streets full of interesting shops and restaurants. There is also a long beach, reputedly one of the ten best in Spain. I was told Sitges had the only gay friendly (as in legal) street under Franco's fascist rule, and that is probably also a factor in the number of galleries and restaurants (and bars). In my brief time exploring I saw some fun street performers, a very skittish alley cat and lots of shops I wish I had had more time to investigate. I did have time for the local version of a pain au chocolate which was generously sized and tasty.
It seemed like a good place to live. There was an active fleet of small sail boats (Hobies, etc) and even in 0C temperatures lots of people out sailing in wet suits. I saw a lot of well loved dogs, many with beds in their owners' shops. I had three dinners in Sitges, from somewhat rustic to pretty fancy, and all of them were excellent. In terms of communication, my Spanish is not that good, and I learned it in Mexico which is sort of like learning English in Scotland as far as the Spaniards are concerned. Of course the real challenge was that the natives in Sitges don't speak Spanish, they speak Catalan.
I way in Sitges for an Accenture meeting and stayed at Dolce Sitges overlooking the town, but it was only about ten minutes and a 9 Euro cab ride to the town. The Dolce was nice as business conference hotels go, but Sitges was preferable for dinner, and fun for exploring.
No comments:
Post a Comment