СУПЕР отдых SUPER rest

"...Spain is my love. . "
Prologue or sad thoughts out loud...
Another vacation has passed. Again, a painful breakdown upon returning to Russia. Again I sharpen my claws and fangs in order to make my way through our harsh Russian life. I involuntarily compare Spain (in which the economic crisis is raging and everything seems to be bad, where people must die of hunger right on the streets, etc. ) and Russia, where, as we are told from TV, everything is great, living standards are growing, where all brothers to each other.
It is clear that it is good where we are not. It is clear that Barcelona and the coastal towns are not the whole of Spain. They have just as many problems of their own as we do. But for some reason they smile more often, for some reason they do not look at you as a money bag from which you need to get more, for some reason they always help (for free), although often they are not obliged to do so.

For some reason, the streets are cleaner, for some reason there are no drunks on the streets (although the Catalans are not fools to drink), for some reason the resting places do not look like garbage dumps, but like museums (again, free - I'm talking about Park Guell, about magical fountains, about botanical garden), etc.
Returning back to my native Kaliningrad, all 3.5 hours of flight, one thought was constantly pecked in my brain - who are the bastards who turned Russia into a country where one does not want to return. Who will be responsible for the fact that Russian people in Europe are perceived with slight condescension (as we are guest workers from Uzbekistan). Why is the great country of Russia kneeling in the mud, although under the mud are the richest natural resources in the world, and the small but proud Catalonia sparkles with bright colors in an incendiary flamenco dance....

Part 1. Flight and transfer.
We owe in no small part to the excellent work of TO NATALIE TOURS for our luxurious 10-day vacation. As the holiday begins, so it will pass.
It's not my style to praise a tour. operators, but the organization of work is excellent. This applies to their work at every stage, from Kaliningrad to the return transfer. GOOD FELLOWS! ! ! Probably the first of the tour. operators whom I can recommend with a pure heart. (Not as advertising. )
True, one unpleasant, but fundamental incident happened to us at the Khrabrovo airport with our luggage. The point is this. We flew together with my wife and we had one suitcase for two with a total weight of 19 kg. On tour. The agency warned us that the European airline we flew with allows us to take 15 kg per person (+ 5 kg hand luggage). That is, for two, in theory, we could carry 30 kg. Our valiant employees of Khrabrovo airport, arguing with incomprehensible rules, stated that the weight of one piece of baggage should not be 15 kg, i. e. our suitcase had an excess of 4 kg. We were charged 24 euros for it. And now the funniest thing.
We flew back with the same airline, the weight of luggage was 26 kg for two + oversized hand luggage (we bought a beach umbrella 1.3 m). No one even said a word even though we thought we would have to leave the umbrella at the airport! ! !

Here is the first source of my thoughts about the fact that a Russian is a Russian brother (see the prologue). But let's not talk about sad things anymore.
Upon arrival in Spain at about 8-00 (we had an early flight), Barcelona airport struck us with its emptiness. The airport is international, one of the largest in Europe, but it felt like we were alone in it.
Who flies for the first time - do not be afraid of the airport. Everything is standard, everything is clear - it is impossible to make a mistake. The transfer is also standard, although the buses are on "4" (to be honest, Turkey and Egypt are better).
Part 2. Our hotel STELLA&SPA.
Our vacation took place in a somewhat unusual region for Russian tourists. The town of Pineda de Mar is an hour's drive from Barcelona to the northeast.
Along the Mediterranean coast in this direction there are many resort towns that are less popular with Russians. tourists. Totally undeserved, I would say. Most go to Salou and south.
We arrived at the hotel around 10:00. i. e. earlier than the set time for settlement (check-in time 14-00). We were met by a friendly and smiling guy named RAPHAEL. He speaks excellent Russian and will be your assistant until the end of your holiday. There is also a Russian girl Ekaterina working at the hotel. Very pleasant manner of communication, like with old friends. GOOD FELLOWS! Other Catalan guys, unfortunately, did not remember their names (there is a reason to return : -)), they speak excellent English. By the way, looking ahead, I’ll say that if you want to feel comfortable in Europe and in Spain in particular, learn spoken English. Among the Spaniards, it seems to be the second after the native.
Everyone speaks English - even a nice old woman in the market, from whom we bought berries.
So, despite the fact that we arrived ahead of schedule, they settled us around 12-00. Until that time, we left our things in the storage room (to the right of the reception) and went to the sea (more on that later).

The STELLA&SPA hotel (hereinafter referred to as our hotel) has three stars. It was built 50 (!!! ! ! ) years ago, but still continues to delight tourists with excellent service. Very often I heard from those living in the hotel that many of them come here all the time. Five floors, good repair, modern infrastructure - elevators, el. keys, etc. There is a large pool and a small paddling pool for children. The pool has a hydromassage corner. The pool is very beautiful, you can see. what the designers were doing. There are a lot of sunbeds and umbrellas - enough for everyone. Therefore, it is not necessary to undermine early in the morning in order to stake out a place for yourself.
On the territory there are a couple of swings for children (and not only! ).
The composition of the residents is 80% Europeans (most of all Germans), 20% - Russian speakers. All ages, but still dominate from 35 and above. A hotel for a relaxing holiday.
The hotel has five floors, our room was on the ground floor, just above the reception. Rooms are normal and clean. Area - 18 meters. Two beds that are constantly moving apart. Therefore, advice - either read the Kamasutra before the holidays or take some kind of belt with you to pull the cribs together. Wardrobe type coupe, old, but not killed. The TV is small, kinescope, hanging high from the ceiling (you have to get used to it), but there are two Russian channels. And, attention, AIR CONDITIONER THAT WORKS! ! ! ! I was really surprised by this, because the hotel is still 3 stars and I allowed the thought of jambs. The toilet is combined with a bathroom, everything is new, everything is clean. Water with good pressure. SUPER! ! ! ! The windows of the rooms face the street - this is probably the only minus of the hotel.
The Catalans are a cheerful people, a lot of young people. Moreover, we got into the holiday period (Ivan Kupala Day - in Catalonia it is almost a state holiday and is celebrated very noisily - firecrackers, etc. ) In general, it was fun, noisy - we could not fall asleep for a long time. In the morning, I also want to sleep, - the vacation is the same, and the noise of the street, of course, annoyed me. Room cleaning - every other day. The quality of cleaning is good, regardless of the tip.

The most important trump card of our hotel is food. It's excellent. Various. Tasty. Satisfying. Hand on heart, I can say that on this point this hotel can be safely assigned 5 stars. For all tastes - fish, meat, milk, fruits, etc. We took breakfast and dinner. This is enough. A small nuance with alcohol. For breakfast, anyone can pour themselves either champagne or wine (white, red) - it's free, I don't want to drink. But at lunch and dinner, the same wine is charged.
Plus, the restaurant has a large wine cellar, where everyone can order something for themselves to choose from (for money). You can also buy alcohol in the bar on the ground floor - the prices are quite expensive. So another piece of advice! When you check in, immediately rent a refrigerator - 14 euros per week. Opposite the hotel, 40 meters away, there is a shop ("SNARACER"), which sells alcohol and any tourist dribiden (magnets, souvenirs, beach lotions, etc. ).
1.5 l of orange Sangria - 4 euros, 0.5 beer - 1 euro.
Speaking of beer! ! ! The beer here is terrible, like the Russian Baltic 3. I'm pretty spoiled for beer. because Poland is close to us, but I mostly buy draft. Therefore, even in the bars (from 3 to 7 euros for 0.5) I did not like beer in the city.
But back to the food at the hotel. There are themed dinners almost every evening, such as Catalan evenings, seafood evenings, etc. The abundance of food is amazing. Lots of cakes, pastries, creme brulee. I ate jelly.
The waiters are very efficient and unobtrusive, they love it when they buy wine (: -)).
The schedule of breakfasts, lunches and dinners can be obtained at the reception upon check-in. There is another important plus. I already said that we took half board with breakfast and dinner. However, from time to time there was a need to leave the hotel in the evening. So in this case, you can move dinner to lunch. To do this, in the morning you need to warn the reception. Lunches are frankly weaker than dinners in terms of the range of dishes, because the number of people is about 3-4 times less. But you will not stay hungry, but at the same time you will try branded Spanish soups.
Another of the charms of the hotel can be called a fairly high-speed Internet (up to 2 Mb / s).
It is paid - 5 euros - 6 hours. Catching all over. We had 15 hours for skype, surfing, etc. There is a small but! Login and password are given for one device, i. e. if you have two tablets, then the Internet will be on only one.

To solve this problem - contact Rafael, he will help.
As animation, the hotel hosts shows every evening. The place is a bar on the first floor. It is not very comfortable because of the columns. Every day there are different performances - from musical and song, dance. to circus ones - with parrots and snakes. To be honest, we only visited a couple of times - not very....
Part 3. Pineda town, beach and sea.
The Mediterranean Sea is very beautiful and clean. Beach - free urban. You can come in at any time. But! Sunbeds and umbrellas are paid - 5 euros per day. That is, for two - two sun loungers and one large umbrella - 15 euros per day. It seems like not a lot, but multiply by the number of days - and you get a rather big amount. Another tip: in the shop ("SNARACER") opposite the hotel you can buy an umbrella (2m diagonally, 1.3m high) for 9 euros and a large double towel - 15-20 euros. Then you will bring all this with you to our sunny Russia.
From the hotel the beach is at a distance of 3-4 minutes at a leisurely pace, scratching the belly. The beach is large, it stretches for several kilometers. We preferred to enter it through the railway station. A warning! There are a lot of nudists on the beach, especially a little further from the station. Even older matrons (60 years and older) are not shy about sunbathing topless - a sight, to be honest, not a pleasant one. Those who travel with children - think about this moment. Right in front of the entrance to the beach (on the right) there is a chic barchik, where I spent many pleasant hours drinking cold Sangria with ice (11 euros - 1 liter). Expensive, but insanely delicious. A warning! Sangria is a young wine, very insidious. At first it is drunk as a compote. I made a mistake and drank 2 liters (I am 192 cm tall and 110 kg) - the wine fermented in me all day until the evening, with all the consequences. (But this is a separate funny story!!! ).
We were at the end of June - the sea was cold - up to +22 : -). Beach with coarse sand and small pebbles.

The entrance to the sea is gentle, but 4-5 meters - and the neck. For those who want to have fun, water sports - all sorts of paragliders, parachutes, etc. This is noticeably less than in the same Egypt.
It is better to come to the beach in the morning and be there before 13-00. Then the sun starts to beat down and becomes unbearable. For the Spaniards, it's kind of like a siesta - a historically established tradition of an afternoon rest (and this is even with some kind of economic crisis). We usually at this time went to the hotel to lie on the bed or lie in the shade by the pool.
For entertainment, you can also take a pleasure train. Pineda is not a big tourist town, with few small, one-way streets. A tourist steam locomotive runs along it, the stop of which is just opposite the entrance to the STELLA hotel. Half-hour tour - about 4 euros.
Pineda has a main shopping street (such as Arbat) where you can look for souvenirs, etc.
The choice is huge, everything is quite expensive, but we bought all the tourist stuff in the shop, which I have already mentioned. The one opposite the hotel. The prices are cheaper, although the selection is smaller.
Meals in cafes and bars are all very expensive, because they are designed for foreign visitors (Germans). Hamburger - 3-5 euros, small pizza from - 5 euros, beer - up to 7 euros. The food at the hotel is enough so as not to spend money on additional snacks.
On Fridays, a mobile market arrives in Pineda - a hundred vans with goods for all occasions. They are located near the railway station. Vegetables, fruits, clothes, skabyanka, etc. I won’t say that it’s cheap, but we looked after something for ourselves (a beach towel and a hat for my wife). Plus bought berries and fruits that were not in the hotel (exotic).

Part 4. Excursions.
This topic is probably the most interesting, because visiting a foreign country and not visiting the sights of this country is the same as not going anywhere.
But how to choose the right excursions, where to go and where not to go - all this can be gleaned from reviews like this.

At once I will tell the main thing - Spain the country very (!!! ) expensive. Everything is in euro. Therefore, when calculating your vacation, plan at least 500 euros per person for 10 days (this is without chic). This is just my opinion, it may be wrong. I will be sincerely glad if you come back with unspent euros.
As well as any serious tour. operator, NATALIE TOURS offers a wide range of very competent excursions on comfortable buses and even on airplanes. However, most of these excursions (BUT NOT ALL !! ! ) you can quite freely, and most importantly, cheaper, you can implement yourself. All excursions are purchased from a hotel guide (meeting him is a prerequisite for your vacation). We are very lucky with our hotel. Mariam was the guide. A lovely woman who has been on tour for 20 years. business. Speaks Russian fluently.
Very unobtrusively offers trips and answers questions that arise. . We chose two excursions near Mariam:
1. Maritime Museum and singing fountains. This tour combines two attractions in Barcelona. Price -51 euros per person. This includes a transfer from Pineda to Barcelona, ​ ​ a tour of the new areas of the city (rarely anyone brings here), tickets to the sea. museum, and the magic fountains themselves.
The Maritime Museum, believe the resident of the sea city, is gorgeous. The best I have not seen. A huge number of exotic fish, chic panoramic aquariums (I filmed with a video camera - the feeling that was filmed at sea). And of course, the main aquarium is a glass tunnel, where swift sharks (3-4 m), graceful stingrays, and thousands of all kinds of small fish fly over you.
Next - magic fountains (they are also singing fountains). They are located in the Plaza de Españ a and are free to visit. But! The main action takes place when it is already dark, that is, after 22-00.
A colossal spectacle to the chic music from the films "Gladiator", "Lord of the Rings", Madonna, Michael Jackson and others. It is impossible to convey - it must be seen. Water turns into steam, jets of water take on all sorts of shapes, all this is illuminated by hundreds of lanterns. The fountains themselves are 100 years old.

Of course, you can come here yourself to see everything for free. BUT! Remember that the last train from Barcelona to Pineda leaves at 22:00. You just won't see the most beautiful. This tour is worth the money.
2. Flamenco.
Each country has its own symbol. In Russia - matryoshka, in Catalonia - it's flamenco. This dance conveys the character of the Catalans, their outlook on life, their nature.
We attended another event - a concert at the Grand Casino. Price -53 euros per person. Before the performance - a small dinner (a piece of meat with vegetables, something like a thimble with soup and a cake (everything is very modest).
You can refuse dinner, it will be cheaper, but you will sit further from the stage. In any case, sangria and soft drinks are in abundance.
Before the performance, you will also be photographed a million times (without your consent! ) by the theater staff and a little later they will try to sell you your photos. Since there are a lot of people (about 300 people), the photos are not processed in photo editors. But at the same time they ask for 8 euros apiece. Complete nonsense, to be honest, very infuriated. In addition to photographs, they offer ashtrays with your images of dubious quality.
The concert itself is a really chic, professional theatrical production. First, a magnificent tenor named SAM sings, his voice is not worse than that of Pavarotti (I'm not kidding), then there is a dance performance, and finally a guitar show. Some local venerable guitarist really gives out the wonders of owning an acoustic guitar. But! ! !
for some reason, during the performance, the cord from the guitar fell out and while he was trying to plug it in, the music continued anyway. : -))). plywood is still the same. But at the same time, it still left a pleasant feeling.
Flamenco left an indelible impression on its entertainment. Here and passion, and excitement, and a whirlwind of emotions. The production is magnificent, down to the subdued light and the whirlwind of sweat droplets in the spotlight - the director definitely does not get his money in vain! ! ! Too bad we can't take video...
3. BARCELONA.

When I arrived from Spain and talked about my impressions of the holiday, one of my employees asked me what I would compare Barcelona to. The answer came right away - Barcelona is a mature, insanely beautiful woman. Everything is here - tradition and modernity, the passion of city streets and the tranquility of parks, the majesty of Montjuic (mountain) and the open spaces of the seaport with magnificent liners. I'll be back in Barcelona! . . And more than once ...And not twice ...
Natalie Tours offers several interesting excursions to Barcelona (hereinafter referred to as Barç a). But here I will advise you to visit Barç a on your own. It's not hard. Moreover, it's easy. Especially for single tourists in Barca, there are tourist routes on which two companies operate (maybe one, but the names are different). Barcelona tour - bright red buses and BUS TOURISTICK - green-blue buses. Immediately I apologize for my English.
It seems that these are competing companies that provide the same service and their routes, I think, are similar. We used the services of BUS TOURISTICK (hereinafter referred to as buses).
They have three routes - red, blue and green. Red - the southern part of the city. Blue - northern. Green - coastal part. We only covered the red and blue route. But, in order.
It takes an hour to get from our hotel to Barca. The cost of a round-trip train ride is 9 euros per person.
Departure from the railway station, which is located near the beach - you can't go wrong. At the station there is a charming Catalan named Vladimir, who speaks Russian, if anything - he will help. A BUS TOURISTICK ticket costs 26 euros for one day. ATTENTION! If you buy a ticket for BUS TOURISTICK directly at the railway station, then travel to Barcelona is FREE! ! ! This is their promotion, but this promotion is constantly running. Then you get off at Stations - Plaza Catalunya. Don't be afraid to miss a station - the trains have displays with information about the stations. During the hour-long train ride, you will be entertained by singing and playing music. instruments guys - a crisis, no matter how. A couple of euros, I think it’s not a pity to give them ...
Plaza Catalunya is the starting point of all BUS TOURISTICK routes. Buying a ticket for 26 euros, you can ride any BUS TOURISTICK buses on any routes throughout the day. But! I prefer the system, i. e. one day - red route, the second - blue.

These are probably the main attractions of Barca. BUT! In order to see the Sagrada from the inside, you will have to stand in line of 200-300 people (no exaggeration). Therefore, especially zealous believers and lovers of architecture may be worth buying an excursion from the tour. operator, everything is faster and easier, but more expensive.
I also recommend staying on Mount TIBIDABA. You won't find a more gorgeous view of Barç a. Like a nude photo of all of Barcelona...
Green route. We didn't go.
So, as a conclusion, I can say:
- remember that the return train from Barca is -22-00
- remember that if you are late, it is very expensive to get a taxi, it is easier to rent a hotel for one day.
- be aware of thieves and be careful, especially in crowded places.
You don't have to try to go everywhere at once. To meet and conquer such a gorgeous woman as Barcelona, ​ ​ be prepared for a long courtship (for repeated visits). .

Epilogue...
Of course, there is much more to see in Catalonia. Mount Monserat, Aventura water park, etc. I know that Spain will be waiting for grateful guests (the word tourist somehow does not fit) ...Ten days spent in Spain is nothing. This is the first step towards getting to know an amazing, fun, exotic place on Earth - Catalonia.
P. S. Remember one word in Catalan - HOLA - OLIA, but not Olya - this is a polysemantic Catalan word. The main meaning is "hello" : -)