Old Me and the Sea

(There's a novel for ya!)

Played beach bum again today - this could get addicting. Armed with our beach gear (beach umbrella, towels, bamboo mats, mp3 player, and of course the ubiquitous books), we moseyed on down to la playa to find that the lifeguards on duty at the local beach had declared ours a red zone - no swimming under any circumstances. So we had to move all of thirty meters down to the hotel beach, where they are apparently less concerned for our safety.

The wind was pretty amazing today, creating huge waves that broke far above my head and an undertow that sucked the sand from underneath my feet. I loved it. My bikini loved it less, putting up mere token resistance to some of the larger, crashinger breakers. (It is perhaps a good thing that I was not overburdened with modesty. Plus, it was a beach full of Germans, so one occasionally-mostly-topless American is not going to turn any heads.)

A few random notes:

• Yes, the Mediterranean is still full of salt water, which cleared my sinuses on a couple of occasions when my blind self misjudged the break of a wave and I ended up with a snoutful.
• Now I know what those wave pools are trying to simulate. It's pretty fantastic.
• Sure made me tired, though, and thirsty. I just got done purchasing and chugging a liter and a half of water.
• I managed again not to get burned, although I realized I had forgotten the SPF 45 altogether. I do now have a nice little white bikini tattoo, though. :-)