Spain | Barcelona: A Day at the Beach (8)

That pretty much wrapped up our time in Madrid. Early the next morning, with the darkness still lingering and stars overhead, we set off back to Barcelona. We deliberately chose a different company’s high-speed train for the return trip, hoping to see what was different. Honestly, the overall experience wasn’t all that different from the journey there. The biggest thing I noticed was probably that the seats and carriages were a different color; there weren’t any particularly obvious differences in the facilities or service.

After getting back to Barcelona and taking a short rest, we decided to spend the afternoon relaxing at the beach. Once we got there, though, I saw plenty of sights that went beyond anything I was used to. On Barcelona’s beaches, it felt like you could take a random photo and find quite a few people sunbathing naked in it. That level of openness really was beyond what I’d imagined.

We also came across several little kids who could barely walk steadily yet, and their moms were taking them straight into the sea to splash around. Honestly, if this happened back in China, people would probably call it an absolute outrage, hahaha.

As we walked along the coast, a few French people playing volleyball caught my eye (I found out they were French when we chatted later). I just couldn’t resist, so I worked up the nerve to approach them in my broken English—and somehow ended up joining them for a game for a while. Honestly, there’s something pretty wonderful about playing ball with strangers on a beach in a foreign country. The joy of sports really is simple and immediate, and I had an absolute blast.

As night fell, we happened upon a distinctive Catalan performance: human tower building. Unfortunately, we came across it a little late, and by the time we hurried over, the performance was nearly over. Even though we only caught the ending, it still had plenty of that distinctive sense of being somewhere far from home.

In another lucky coincidence, when we went to a mall by the harbor for dinner that evening, we came across a band performing. The atmosphere there was genuinely great. We stood watching for quite a while before reluctantly tearing ourselves away. As we left, we noticed that one of their instruments was actually made from keys. It jingled and clinked—pretty intriguing, really. That kind of creativity really does open your eyes to something new.

After dinner, we stepped outside into the cool sea breeze and gazed out at the harbor by night and the towering statue of Columbus. And that was how we brought this lovely, laid-back day to a close. Honestly, wandering around without a plan yet finding surprises everywhere is when travel feels most relaxing.