Made it to the Barcelonan beach

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On Monday I made it to the beach -- again -- and this time I made my self stay. Apparently I (or my bathing suit) cut quite the figure because everyone wasn't hiding the fact that they were looking at me. Does discretion count for nothing these days! The water was colder than I remembered from three years ago. But that was three years ago and we do tend to re-color our memories. Many people were selling things on the beach but they weren't as bothersome as what I'm familiar in Mexico. Not an irritant at all, actually. Go figure! Anywho, I bought a mojito from this kid who started making them for sell next to my beach towel. Wasn't the best mojito but, hey, it was 3€ and the kid was just making a hustle. Gotta admire that.

Before the beach, though, I took in a back massage at noon and learned that the months of stress were solidifying in my shoulders. I sort of knew that much already but a masseur can only do so much in one session so...I've got to stop thinking of massages as "luxuries" and more as necessities. Because, man, I don't go through Life inactively and maintenance is never a thing to put on the back burner.

On Tuesday I made up my mind to travel to Madrid. I made it up too late and was only able to book a seat on the 4:30 bus. Thing is, it takes about eight hours to get from Barcelona to Madrid via bus. The ride was pretty boring and the landscape is as well. The one cool thing was seeing the bull silhouettes during various points of the trip.

I arrived just past midnight. I was surprised by the lack of facilities on the bus. Why in the hell would you use a bus without a bathroom on an eight-hour treck?! Quite inconsiderate of the company (ALAS), I think. From the bus station I quickly rang two hostels and lucked out with a bed in one. Whew!