--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, TurquoiseB <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > Just for the fun of it, here are a few of the things > that caught my attention this weekend walking the > streets of this Spanish beach town. > > * Music Of The Street Kind. I'm a fan of buskers, > musicians who play on the streets and who not only > make a living doing what they love to do, they seem > to have *fun* doing it. I kinda judge any new town > by the quality of its street musicians. Well, lemme > tell you, Sitges rocks. In the courtyard of the > Palau Maricel there is a guitarist obviously well > trained in classical guitar, Flamenco, and jazz, > and he adds chops of his own to create a dreamy > soundscape that just sucks you in, and is very > appropriate when standing in front of a 15th century > Spanish palace. Just up the street you find a guy > and a gal playing some kind of Swiss metal drum > thingy that I've never seen before, but which produces > a rather heavenly percussion sound. It sounds a little > like what might happen if your steel drum got loose one > night and mated with a marimba and these drums were > their kids. Really sweet guy and gal, improvising 100% > of their performance, just bouncing off of each other > musically, having a ball. It was difficult for me not > to have a ball along with them. > > * Weird Events Out Of The Blue. So I'm walking down > at the south end of the beach last night around > sunset, and I notice a small crowd milling around, > looking out over the beach wall at the little quai > that juts out into the ocean at that point. Curious, > I walked up and damned if it's not a swimsuit model > photo session in progress. I have to tell you, Edg, > I almost got over my inhibitions about the word "God" > and thanked Him right there. :-) *Very* entertaining. > It was a crew from American Vogue, as far as I could > tell, and they were really doing it up, with four or > five photographers working with ten or twelve...uh... > Major Fashion Magazine Swimsuit Models. I don't think > I have ever seen more walking tributes to the plastic > surgeon's and personal trainers' art in one place in > my life. And it was entertaining to watch the Spanish > guys and gals oggling this whole scene, too. They > seemed as amused by it as I was. > > * Clothing Experiments Of The Deeply Disturbed. This > is a beach town known for its liberal attitudes and > its all-night nightclubs. Just walking down the street > you can see someone walk by wearing ten-inch high heels, > a Borat-inspired bathing suit, and a pink feather boa. > And that's just the guys. (Just kidding, but only partly, > because Sitges *is* a big gay mecca.) It's not really > *that* over the top or flamboyant, but there is an > amazingly wide range of creative fashion to be seen > and dazzled by. Later last night I ran into the models > from the photo shoot coming out of a restaurant, and > boy! were they Dressed To Disco. I'll bet a few Spanish > guys had their hearts broken last night, or at the > very least had their standards raised. > > * The Smells. Sitges is a fairly small town that continas > well over a hundred restaurants. Every one I've tried is > not just good, but excellent. You walk by their outdoor > terraces and the smells from each restaurant vie for your > affections and for your Euros. You turn the corner and > this aroma hits your nose, and you can't for the life of > you identify all of its ingredients, but it smalls *really* > good, and you know that you're a goner, and if you don't > stop and eat there today, you will someday soon. > > * The Touchy-Feely Spanish. You might get the impression > from watching French movies and all those bissous (cheek > kisses) that the French are into touching each other a > lot in public. Au contraire, Pierre. It's almost the > opposite. The French ckeek kisses are very chaste and > formal, whereas the Spanish cheek kisses might just get > you a Wet Willie. The Spanish exchange kisses as well, > both men and women, but they're more "real" kisses and > they supplement them with lots of hugs and hand-holding. > It's kinda neat to see after three years in France. The > tendency to touch and stroke and hug a lot extends to > their children, and I'd bet that Spanish kids grow up > pretty happy and fairly well adjusted as a result. > > * The CD and DVD Counterfeiters. They're everywhere. > You'll be walking along a street and look down and this > young guy has a plastic sheet covered with CDs and DVDs. > Curious, you stop to look at them and they're the > *latest* CDs and DVDs, the ones just now appearing in > stores or in theaters. They have covers, printed disk > labels, the whole bit. Counerfeits, but quality counter- > feits. The CDs sell for 2 Euros, the DVDs five. And > when a cop appears in the distance, the guy just whips > up the strings attached to the corners of his plastic > sheet and, like that... (insert Kevin Spacey gesture > at the end of "The Usual Suspects" here)...he's gone. > > * The Sidewalk Bars and Cafes. To Die For. The one I'm > sitting in right now writing this is a chiringuito. I've > been told that this term was originally applied to the > clapboard beach shacks that sprang up along the beaches > before everything got all civilized, and sold food and > drink there. This one actually bills itself on its menu > as the "First Chiringuito In Spain." It could have been; > it's construction screams of having been cobbled together > with scrap lumber and discarded windows. These days it > serves decent tapas and sandwiches and salads and more > than decent wines and beers. But the essential concept > is the same now as it was whenever it was built. It's a > comfortable place to sit out of the sun and enjoy a > beverage in the late afternoon while watching the surf > and watching the people stroll by. And maybe, if you > feel so moved, write about it a little.
I spent a week in Sitges two years ago while attending a gathering for Marantz Europe. What can I say? You nailed this wonderful place, just an hour or so up the road from Barcelona. Catalonian Bliss!
