Last day in Llançà...

This past weekend was the festival of San Juan - sometimes considered by Spaniards, or at least by Catalans,  to be the official start of summer. Of course, school holidays also begin around now, and the sleepy town of Llançà that we've come to know this week was suddenly livened up by an influx of holiday makers and weekend guests. "Our" beach below the house, which was almost deserted when we arrived, was suddenly covered with families and sunbathers over the weekend.
On Saturday evening, we went for a pleasant walk along the shoreline/clifftop that stretches from our part of town to the marina and the fishing port. We'd heard that the San Juan holiday would be celebrated with a fireworks display and a bonfire on the beach. Well, there was certainly a bonfire, but the fireworks turned out to be something of a "free-for-all," with families and individuals all doing their own thing - setting off fireworks all over the beach and even sometimes in the street. If you come from a country where "health and safety" regulations have placed limits on just about any activity that could potentially injure someone, it is a little disconcerting to see children lighting their own fireworks while small groups of onlookers stand within "firing distance." 

We enjoyed our cliff top ramble so much, that we plan to do it again this evening, and wander into beachfront Llançà for one last time. Today is the last day of our little break by the sea, and tomorrow we'll be catching the train and heading back to Barcelona. Of course, we'll still be "by the sea" there, but not so obviously so when you're in the hustle and bustle of a big city. As well as connecting with our King's Kids leaders in the city (who will be gearing up for the summer outreaches happening during July), we hope to see one or two of the sights that Barcelona is known for.

No doubt we'll take a stroll down the Ramblas - a long tree-lined avenue that I remember well from a summer outreach I was part of during the football world cup of 1982. Las Ramblas stretches from the main square, Plaça Catalunya, down to the harbour area where Christopher Columbus stands high on a column, allegedly pointing towards the new world. (He's actually pointing in the wrong direction.) Perhaps we'll also have time to see the famous Sagrada Familia church and the iconic structures of the Parque Guell - both of which were designed by the Catalan architect Antoni Gaudi. 

Then, early on Wednesday morning, we'll head to the airport. Carmelita will be heading home to Budapest and I'll be flying back south to Málaga. It's been fun to have this short break before launching into the different ministry activities of the summer.