Huntington Beach and Noia Memories

I had not gone to the beach in California in over three years. My guapa cosina took me to Huntington Beach on a Tuesday afternoon and to our surprise we saw viewer stands being assembled for the U.S. Open of Surfing, yeah! Before heading out to the shore we stopped at the street fair to look at vendor stands selling surfer clothes, yummy treats and produce. 

When we finally got to the water's edge it became clear why I do not like going into the water in California. The sand looks brownish grey when moist and feels concrete hard when wet. Two other things keep me from going in to the water--rough rolling Pacific Ocean waves and seaweed that traumatized me as a child. I admit I am absolutely 100% partial to the Mediterranean Sea. Those clear waters and pebbled beach sense seaweed does it for me. Tanmateix, the one thing California beaches have embedded in my feel good memories of Californian beaches are the unrivaled sunsets. It is the one thing I will not find on my Barcelonan coast.

Another difference making me chuckle was the level of civility in public spaces. Huntington Beach provides pet owners plastic bags to pick up their pet's roadside business. In Barcelona, walking through the streets is like walking through a pet excrement mine field. But I do not know who is worse, lazy pet owners or lazy smokers who throw cigarette butts on the ground as if discarding flower petals to beautify the street. Huntington Beach has posted cigarette canisters on lamp posts to dispose of those irritating filters frequently found on streets, parks, and beaches in Spain. Take note Mayor Xavier Trias!

What are they fertilizing artichokes with?

cotton candy

I need to send this picture to Barcelona City Hall.

I need this in my neighborhood in Sant Cugat as does the city of Barcelona!

The name Barcelona hounds me everywhere I go.

I hated these as a young girl.