Overview

¡Hola a todos! We're back! Firstly, thanks to everyone who read or commented on the last post. It was great to hear all of your feedback on my travels. Please keep it coming.

I got a ton of private comments asking for this blog to be available in other languages. So, I've recently added Spanish-language support! To switch the language just click the flag in the top right corner of your screen and then select the Spanish flag. If you want to share the Spanish version of this blog with a friend, then feel free to use the following link:

https://jseanpa.tel://es/blog/beach-time-in-pineda-de-mar-catalonia

Finally, this blog post isn't the only part of this website that's available in Spanish! I went ahead and translated all pages. Feel free to take a look around.

Background

This time around I travel to the much quieter Pineda de Mar, Catalonia where I relax on the beach and enjoy a picturesque, beach-town atmosphere.

Where are you right now?

The city of Pineda de Mar is located right along the coast in the northeastern corner of Spain. Remember, we're still in Catalonia. Pineda de Mar is fairly close to the French border, and as you might expect, shares many cultural aspects with its neighbor.

Personally, I got the feeling Catalan was used a lot more here, even compared to the Catalonian capital Barcelona. There were more signs and landmarks that were exclusively in Catalan. I had a good time trying to put together the words to figure out what was going on. In case you were wondering, Pineda de Mar literally means "pinewood by the sea" in Catalan. Again, here's Catalonia on a map:

My Travels

Done with the background, let's get into the travels.

Train Logistics

Since I'll be traveling in Europe for the foreseeable future, I decided to buy an Interrail pass. With this pass I am able to easily move between European cities at either small or free fares. This pass covers medium to larger sized trains, and for any bullet trains all that it costs is a small 6 to 10 euro¹ fee.

Sounds good right? Wrong. Travelling by train in this country is a nightmare. If you want to know something about Spain it's that Spaniards like to have their own way of doing things (much like Americans do). Just with booking tickets using the Interrail pass, Spain has a completely different set of rules for making those reservations I mentioned earlier. Spanish law requires that all passengers book their tickets, in person, twenty-four hours before the departure of the train (at the station that you are departing from). Because there is no online option and because trains are so popular, these tickets sell out fast.

So the question arises, if you're traveling across the country and catching a connecting train in a different city, how do you ensure that you get a ticket for that day. Short answer is - you don't. I learned this lesson the hard way when returning from Pineda de Mar back to Barcelona.

The good news is once you get the hang of making seat reservations in person and getting into the station early, traveling with the Interrail pass is a breeze. Definitely check it, or the competing Eurrail pass, out if you're going to be traveling in Europe soon.

Barcelona Metro

Enough about travel logistics, let's look at some pictures. Here are some nice photos of the Barcelona Metro.

For a city of comparable size to San Francisco, Barcelona's public transit system leaves the Bay Area in the dust. Trains came in a much higher frequency and the cost to travel was much cheaper. Even given the fact I didn't get any discounts on this train, it was only €8 for a three-hour trip - not bad. Plus seats are way nicer and the drive along the coast was very scenic.

Hold on, where have you been staying?

I realize I skipped over my lodgings last post! In Barcelona I stayed in a Generator hostel which is a popular brand of hostels across Europe and North American. Overall it was very clean and the people were pretty nice. Plus nightly rates were very fair for a city of that size.

When I went to look for housing after Barcelona, I absolutely lucked out when my brother sent me a fantastic deal he found for a 4-star hotel in Pineda de Mar, right on the coast! Even more suprising was I could stay there for just €3 more than I was staying in the Barcelona hostel for for. Look at my room:

You'll notice there were two beds (with a third that you can't see in front). I of course slept in a different bed every night. What was also great was that this room was on the top floor, so I had an amazing view of the city and coastline.

This hotel was a quick 5-minute walk from the beach. This made getting around very easy.

Walking the streets

Here's a nice picture I got while walking around. One thought that came to mind when I took this picture is how much these streets looked like they were a painting. The colors are very vibrant and warm, and it seemed to be sunny everyday I was here except the last.

University of Pineda de Mar

As many of you know I'm also studying education, so I love the idea of visiting the local university in each of the cities I visit. Unfortunately, Pineda de Mar doesn't have a university as it's a smaller, beach town. So, University of Pineda de Mar isn't a real thing - gotcha!

Nonetheless, be on the lookout for university pictures at my next stop.

What have I been eating?

Thanks to some great feedback on the last post, I realized I never really explained what I was eating, or more importantly, how meals even work in this country. So let's walk through it step by step.

Spanish breakfast is usually light, a coffee or some pastry. This is in contrast to an English or American breakfast which is usually heavier. Lunch time in Spain though is usually the largest meal of the day. Here, dinner-time types of foods are usually eaten around midday. This includes many Spanish favorites like paella ² for example. Dinner is lighter but still a full meal.

Since I operate on tourist rules, eating conventions are a bit different. Basically all Spanish restaurants serve what's called the menu del día. This is a list of courses that guests choose based on what is fresh and available for the restaurant that day.

Here's a picture of a menu of the menu del día that was posted outside of a restaurant I thought about going to.

Notice that there are a standard three courses - an appetizer, a main course and a dessert. What's cool about eating this way is that all the extras are included. This means a beverage³ of your choice, olives for the table, fresh bread and a pastry with coffee for dessert. All of this is usually €10 to €12.

My expert opinion: a pretty good deal.

What I've been doing is eating one large meal at midday. The problem is el menu del día is only available for a couple hours, usually between 1 PM and 3 PM, so if you miss it you're out of luck!

I'm planning on discussing Spanish cuisine every week. In the meantime, enjoy this meal that I took pictures of. I added descriptions on each picture, so we can be foodies together.

Course 1: Cold Salad with Pasta

This salad was pretty yummy. That sauce you see on top is a mixture of mayonnaise and some house sauce. Also notice the Vichy Catalan, which is a very good brand of Spanish carbonated water. It's famous for its distinctly salty taste.

Course 2: Merluza with Fries

Merluza (also known as Hake) is a type of fish that is extremely common in Spain. In fact, half of all the Merluza eaten in Europe is eaten in Spain! The lemon on the side was a nice touch. Most second courses are served with fries or some kind of side like salad.

Course 3: Coffee with Milk

I've never been much of a coffee drinker, but I'm really enjoying drinking coffee at the end of meals. I also like how the coffee isn't too large. I've been switching through different types of coffee every meal to try to figure out what I like. This meal I only got a coffee for dessert, but sometimes your coffee also comes with a pastry. Again, this is all included in the single price for the meal.

Calella, Catalonia

I also took a day trip to a nearby city of Callela. This was about an hour walk, which was actually quite nice because I got to see a lot of the city. I spent the day browsing local bakeries and I even stopped by the local fish market. Take a look:

I finished off the day with a trip to the beach. As far as beaches go, this one was middle of the pack. But still a good outing either way.

Really nice view of the ocean right? Nope, I got you again! That's actually the Mediterranean Sea. Remember, we're still on the eastern coast of Spain, so to see the Atlantic Ocean we have to cross the country.

Miscellaneous

What have I been listening to?

Yumeno Garden - Last Dinosaurs

This group is so underrated. If you haven't heard of them, they're an indie rock band from Brisbane, Australia. I've been trying to expand my music go-to's, and they've delivered consistently. This a great album of theirs so give it a listen. Also my favorite song by them is Flying, so listen to that too. In fact, I'll just link it below.

Flying - Last Dinosaurs

Trust me, just listen to this.

Where am I headed next?

Next up I'm changing regions and heading to Valencia. I'll be staying in the capital city of the region, also called Valencia. Yes, Valencia the city, in the province of Valencia in the region of Valencia. Not confusing at all.

Closing note

Feel free to add any comments or reactions below. To do so, you'll have to make a GitHub account which is free and really easy. You can make a GitHub account by clicking here. If you want to send something privately feel free to email me at hello@jseanpa.tel. Thanks for reading, it means a lot. I'll see you again soon.

Footnotes

The euro is the currency used across most European Union countries. The euro is worth just a bit more than the American dollar, and right now is exchanged at 1.05 USD per euro. The euro symbol is €.↩
Paella is from the region of Valencia, which is where I'm headed next. I'll talk more about this special dish next post.↩
In Spain, there are no complimentary beverages - even flat water. Every meal you have to buy your own drinks even. The good news is all beverages are pretty cheap by American standards, and usually you only spend about $1.50 USD on your drink, whether that be beer, soda or water.↩