We had a pretty lazy morning with a breakfast of fruit and yoghurt in the apartment. We bought some coffee as the apartment has a coffee machine – but it just tasted like flavoured water.

We all got ready for a beach day with our towels, books, and water.

On the way down to the Marina, we walked past the Basilica of Our Lady of Mercy. Our Lady of Mercy has been the patron saint of the city of Barcelona since 1687. The history of the Basilica dates back to medieval times when the inhabitants of Barcelona asked the Virgin Mary to protect them from the plague and pirates. Legend has it that the Virgin appeared to a merchant, Sant Pere Nolasc, and asked him to build a church in her honour.

Opposite the church is the Neptune Fountain, which originally stood in Bacelona harbour in 1826. In 1912, the fountain was moved to the Labrial Gardens on Montjuïc where it stayed until 1975. In 1983, after eight years in storage, it was finally transferred to its current location.

A lot of the pavements in Barcelona have a flower on them. The “flower of Barcelona” refers to a distinctive, four-petal flower-shaped design on a type of hydraulic cement tile called a “panot”. These tiles have become a symbol of the city. While there are other panot designs, the flower panot is the most well-known and iconic. 

Before we went to the beach, we stopped for a soft drink at one of the cafes so we could use their toilets.

At the beach, we hired two umbrellas and four sunbeds, which the guys installed for us – it was quite windy, so we didn’t want the umbrellas to blow away.

Barcelonetta Beach is one of the oldest and most traditional beaches in Barcelona and was artificially created as part of the city’s preparations for the 1992 Olympic Games. it is 1.2km long.

Mandy and I went for a swim. The water was still quite cold, about 14⁰.

It was a very relaxing day, swimming and sunbathing. The beach was very busy and there were a few people who kept us entertained.

A lady came around offering us a massage, and Mandy took her up on the offer.

After a little more swimming and sunbathing, it was time for a beer.

We stayed on the beach until late afternoon and then wandered back up to the marina. By this time, we were all quite hungry, so we stopped at a restaurant – La Gavina for some food and drinks. For starters we had tuna tartare salad and a prawn and avocado salad. And for mains, I  had a delicious gilthead bream. The food was amazing.

After all that delicious food, we didn’t feel like doing much, so we just moved to a table outside for drinks. We sat and chatted for a few more hours.

On the way home, we walked past the sculptures again.

Back at the apartment we had some drinks and we had our own little party until 1am.

The photo below is the view from our balcony. Most of the shutters down all of the streets have graffiti or street art on them.