Magnificent.And if it's this pretty at 5:30 pm, then what will it be like to spend the entire day on the beach, under one of those blue-and-white striped canopies, with my feet in the brown sugar sand?
This is the crescent-shaped bay beach, Playa La Concha, that is a half-block from our apartment on Calle de San Martin (add the accent over the "i" for me, I'm too lazy to look it up, and say it like "San Mar-TEEN" for a little Basque flavor). It was gloriously sunny when we arrived yesterday afternoon and the sweet half-moon beach is bordered by two small mountains and a tiny island in the middle. There are swimming platforms several yards from the shore, so you can swim up and dive or slide down the water slide into the bay. The water is crystal clear and there's a promenade that you can stroll for the entire two miles around the bay, from Monte Igueldo to the aquarium (near the statue of Christ on the hill, which reminds us of the famous hilltop statue in Rio) in the Old Town.
If you're like our good friend Habanakane, you can enlarge the images and try to find nude sunbathers, sort of a "Where's Waldo?," the European version. Trust me, though, for every perky and natural non-enhanced tanned set of young girl's breasts, there are three pairs of droopy, saggy, leather-like boobs swinging from ladies older than your grandma. But it's all good. The thing is, it's normal. Raf and I noticed one really pretty 20-something Spanish girl who was topless and just walking along the beach with three friends (two guys and a bikini-clad girl), comparing the tan on her arms with the guy next to her, no weird sexual vibe at all. Just a girl walking topless on a public beach with friends, that's all. So far, we haven't seen any Botox or big silicone boobs or California blonde hair. I wonder if that's the main difference between Americans and Europeans: an acceptance of bodies as normal.
We'll see today... I may join the locals and do as they do, getting an all-over tan. If I'm real good, I'll talk Raf into a Speedo...
I enhanced that photo before I even read one word of this. Damn you know me so well. I think I could love me some 20-something year old Spanish girls walking around topless. Raf might need to ice his eye "balls" down later. I heard that they could turn blue from over exposure.
ReplyDeleteOh yeah and as much as I love Raf...I can do without a pic of him in a banana hammock. A thank you very much.