Saturday, August 15th - Mataro, Spain

Despite the partying going on outside our window, I slept soundly and didn't get up until almost 8 a.m.  I knew I was feeling tired out and obviously I needed the extra sleep - almost 10 hours!

Breakfast at our hotel is not bad.  There is a toaster oven that works pretty well and quite quickly.  They have scrambled eggs and bacon that are supposed to be hot but aren't really even warm.  Then there is more cold food: meat, cheese, bread, yogurt, cereal, fruit, and dessert cakes which I guess they consider breakfast cakes.  There are also juices, tea and coffee of course.  Only a few people were around when we first went down but later more people showed up.  On the weekend, breakfast is served from 8 to 11 a.m. and on weekdays it is 7 to 10 a.m.

I only mention those times because eating in Spain is going to be tricky.  If we eat breakfast around 8 or 9, then we want lunch around 1 or 2 which is no problem.  However, when you want to have dinner you have to wait until 8 p.m.  The restaurants all close from about 4 to 8 p.m. and you just can't get food before then.  We are going to have to change our whole routine to adjust to this schedule OR we are going to be eating a lot of fast foods.

We left the hotel and headed to the downtown area.  It was between 10 and 11 a.m. and nothing was open yet except the pub on the corner.  We were heading for a tourist information place right downtown so just kept walking.  At the town square there were a few outdoor cafes with people sitting at them so we thought things were finally coming to life.  We also found the info centre there and open.

The lady in the tourist office was really helpful with maps and things to do and which beaches to go to.  She was also very apologetic because today is a holiday in honour of Santa Maria and everything is closed.  She must have apologized a dozen times because everything she told us about she had to add, "but it's closed today because of the holiday".  We eventually started finishing the sentences with her, which she thought was pretty funny.  In the end it seemed that today was going to be a pretty quiet one with nothing open and tomorrow being Sunday was going to be pretty much the same.  The real touring would have to wait until Monday.  The good news was that they have an audio guide to go with a walking tour of the main sights in the city.  That will definitely be a good way to do our touring.  We also found a good way to end our time here as that will be the first night of the jazz festival - but of course we can't buy our tickets for that until Tuesday because today is a holiday, nothing is open on Sunday and the ticket office is closed on Mondays.   Between the days when things aren't open and the weird hours when they are open, we should be totally off schedule in no time.

From there we split up with one going to the parks and beaches in hopes of finding some sun and one (me) going to the churches since they were open on this religious holiday.  My first stop was the Basilica of Santa Maria, which is very plain but nice on the outside in front of a small square.  Not only was the basilica open but there was also a service going on.  I sat and stood quietly at the back and enjoyed the music.  I of course didn't understand a word that was spoken but I was pretty sure I recognized them saying The Lord's Prayer.  The church is reasonably large but I don't know exactly how many it seats.  There were only about 50 people spread out inside in the front half of the pews so it wasn't a big turnout. 

The basilica is very nice inside with a high ceiling and a row of small high windows beneath it to light up and highlight its design.  The walls are a light colour with darker trim and a gold design including fake columns on the wall.  The front looked very gold and beautiful with all of the lights on it during the service.  There are pictures and sculptures down the side aisles as well and, although I could not interpret any of the signs to get any more details on the church, the overall effect was very peaceful and it was a great place to spend a few minutes.  

There was a large pipe organ at the back in the loft and there was a smaller organ near the front that was being played by a man who looked like he too should be a relic in an old church.  There was one chapel off to the side that was totally closed for renovations and it looked like it had some beautiful artwork and sculptures in it.  There was a great sculpture of St. Peter sitting and holding the key to the kingdom in his left hand.  He is staring at the key and appears to be leaning on his right hand.  He is in deep concentration and it really made you wonder whether he was lost and unsure of what to do with the key or if he was just  totally overwhelmed by the prospect of what to do or saddened by the fact that he was holding it and what had come before.

I wandered around a bit more and saw a few sculptures and a some small squares with a few people about but generally it was pretty deserted.  I went into the Church of Santa Anna which is also very plain on the outside except that it had a large ornate door and some very fancy windows (all different) and is painted a tan brown with white trim so it does stand out.  It was open and again there was a service taking place so I just remained at the back.  The interior is a crisp white that glistens in the light of the stained-glass windows.  The main decorations come from designs in the plaster around the edges and tops of columns and it has a very relaxing feel to it - much smaller and simpler than the basilica but even nicer in its own way.

From there I wandered around for a bit longer and eventually ended up down at the beach and the yacht club.  The yacht club is huge and holds 1,000 boats of varying size.  It too was pretty quiet, which seemed strange to me because our yacht clubs are generally pretty busy places on holidays.  However, it was a weird day weather wise with sun, cloud, light rain, ... all changing from moment to moment.  I walked out on the pier or breakwater that protects the marina and that was a long walk on its own.  I bet the return trip was probably a kilometre or more, and the whole time I met perhaps 10 people.  One man did stop and talk for a long time but he wanted to practice his English.  Three ladies from Scotland were also in on part of that conversation.  He had lived in California for a few years but now lived in Mataro and didn't get much chance to talk English.

I had lunch at an outdoor spot between the yacht club and the beach - just a quick hot dog and small beer as it was already about 2 p.m.  The beach is beautiful and there were very few people at it.  It was clean and had recently been groomed and the sand is a lovely powder.  The water looked clear and it was relatively calm with just an occasional large wave.  The edge of the water is on quite a slope so it doesn't take long to get into deeper water (unlike Loreto Mexico where you had to walk for half a kilometer to get even your knees wet!).  I'm looking forward to some afternoons on the beach with a book and no pressing engagements.  That is of course if I have enough sun screen.  Even in the cloudy / sunny situation I did manage to get a bit of a burn on my nose and on one arm - nothing serious though. 

Because I knew I was getting a bit burned I walked back to the hotel.  I thought about going to the pool but it is really hot because the sauna and everything is right there.  Instead I sat in the common area or our room and did some computer work until it was time to go for dinner.  We wandered to a lot of different places but no restaurant was going to be open for dinner before 8 p.m. and we weren't sure we could last that long.  Instead of going to the same pub as last night, which we knew would be open, we went to a sports bar in the next block.  I had chicken fajitas, another beer and ice cream for about 11 euros.  (Just to clarify, I haven't really become a beer lover.  It's just a lot cheaper and easier to find than anything else.)  It was nothing fancy but it was good, and we got to watch some of the Rogers Cup tennis on TV while we were eating.  After that we were off to our hotel and another reasonably early evening.