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Hi Di,

We arrived in Barcelona right in the middle of June, the weather was a perfect 29 degrees. From the airport we took a quick shuttle to the Avenua Diagonal, Barcelona's business meets fashion district. Arrived at Hotel Hesperia Presidente, which was flanked with fashion stores, Loewe being one I had adored to ponder in the flag store window when I was a child in Cairns...well being summer all the prints for Loewe this summer was nautical, navy blue and white, rope prints. Quickly after checking in, my travelling party and I grabbed some Tappas from a quaint little outdoor cafe, so we could take in some "social studies".

The women so perfectly dressed, and I have to admit all wearing pants, they have a very powerful dressing standard in Spain. From a tailored ciggarette pant to a capri, worn back with a wedge or espardrill. Colours were all the usual summer hues, white, light blues and navy. The men wore relaxed shirts and white pants, with a tan jacket and relaced their ties with a cravat or small neck scarf.

The next hotel we stayed at in Barcelona was from the famed shoe company, Camper Shoes. They have designed their own hotel "Casa Camper" and it was simply a breath of fresh air for the hotel industry. With only 5 rooms on each floor, we were escorted to our rooms, when I noticed there was identical room numbers on the other side of the hallway...this was our living room, everyone had an individual sleeping room and on the otherside a living room with all the mod cons, plus something you dont often see anymore, a hand written letter from the Hotel wishing me a pleasent stay. I have attached a photo of the Camper shoes they gave us to wonder around Barcelona in, however I didnt as they didnt match my day tripping ensembles

I would have to say though, all my fashion purchases from Spain, were made in Sitges, a divine coastal town, once famous for it's fishing industry but now famous for the fashion conscious, sunlovers. Well by the day, we relaxed on the beach on our daybeds, as we watched the divine Spanish women with their oh-so-tight physiques and their barely there swimming costumes. Sipping cocktails while we social studied until siesta was over (5pm) when we would all hit the shops for some well earned retail therapy.

Although I was looking mainly for one off vintage tees, I brought a few amazing shirts and tees, for our summer, along with amazing underwear and swimwear. The store of the moment in Spain, after some hard earned redeveloping is United Colours of Benneton, with some amazing basics and the odd must have piece, you would never see stocked here in Australia. This was a big favorite to my travelling buddies.

What was very special in Sitges though, was the vintage Rolex shop, with certified vintage watches, fully restored, dating back as early as 1956. We also stumbled, quite literally on "Taller Antic" which was home to some of the most exquiset antique Art Deco jewellery, along with hair clips, bookmarks, trinkets, picture frames all from this era. Again another favourite with the ladies I was travelling with.

Oh Spain, it was truly somewhere that took me by suprise, the streets are extremely clean, the people extremely helpful, and the pace..well extremely how I like it, a lovely long sleep in the middle of every day (Siesta). Our party enjoyed it so much, we missed our flights purposefully to Italy just so we could savour every last minute of the Catayluna Coast.

Your friend in Spain, Thomas Sidey