Beach of Caldes d'Estrac

 It is easy to get there from the Arc de Triomf or Plaza Catalunya it is 45 minutes with the train and less than 4 euros one way. It is not yet the Costa Brava of course, but the village is really pretty and the beach is not crowded at all , it wasn' t even on an August saturday. Normally i don't find really nice these places on the coast before Tossa de Mar, i thought only Sant Pol de Mar is one which is quite nice and calm, but i am very happy that we found an other nice place especially that it is closer than Sant Pol. On the beach you can rent kayaks , paddle surf and there is one chiringuito. There is a small hill with a park in the village so you can climb a bit and get the view of the coast. Many hiking paths begins or ends here , by the beach you find the map, so you can even walk a nice from here to some other villages through the hills. The water and the sand was clean and only very few people on the beach.

MercANTIC on Sundays, Sant Cugat de Valles

 The FCG train from Plaza Catalunya goes every 10 minutes and takes you there in 25 minutes. Sant Cugat is very green and calm place , from the trinstation you have to walk 20 minutes to get to the MercANTIC, you can ask locals about the way, or check this map out:
https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid=218021447853885242224.0004c3c1338de2a90d9b7&msa=0
It is open from on weekdays as well and there is an auction every Saturday, but the biggest market is on Sundays before 15:30. They sell all kinds of antique and vintage stuff , no Chinese towels ect.....There is a great looking restaurant with barbecue , and 10,50 euros menu.The size of the whole place is impressive , and that it is not like Encants at all, it is much better and not so expensive as you would guess.The biggest surprise was the second hand book part, which is a huge warehouse with antique furniture, a bar, and in  July jazz concerts from 12am every Sunday. Amazing!!!!

The villages inside Barcelona part 1.

Sant Andreu de Palomar

Sant Andreu has a history of more the 1000 years and it is part of Barcelona city since 1897 just like the other villages which you can discover integrated in the city : Gracia, Horta, Sants, Les Corts, Sarria, Sant Marti and Sant Gervasi. All these villages were melted into Barcelona when Eixample was biuld, and connected all these areas by it's grid pattern street system. Sant Andreu was industrialized just after that and there were a couple of important factories build , and many little workshops as well. Now it is totally untouched by tourists , and so it feels like a different city if you go there from the Ciudad Vella of Barcelona. The old town part of it is quite big, very tranquil and pretty, with some small gardens , and shady alleys, typical local restaurants and bars with a lot of terraces, especially on the Rambla of the neighborhood.