Gay Pride

We were already aware that Sitges was pretty much the gay capital of Spain but were not quite prepared for the impact of this until we went down for a family meal with my sister Nicky her partner and both her kids and their partners - we were a little early and decided to venture down this crowded street nearby and encountered what was conservatively 90% men, most of whom were partnered up and enjoying a place where they were clearly feeling that this was their safe place. In the morning we had taken a strange bus ride down town in which the bus basically went in the opposite direction for about 10 min. The girls were all going for a pre-wedding manicure/pedicure. my brother-in-law Neil and I declined the invitation and went for coffee at a nearby cafe and a few minutes into our conversation I was approached by a television roving reporter to be interviewed about my views on the Queen’s demise - which I dutifully did - to appear on Telecinco news in the afternoon. Another 15 mins of fame! Anyway back to the evening where we had a wonderful traditional Spanish meal with all sorts of wonderful dishes with Nicky my sister and her partner and kids. We decided to walk back along the promenade and found ourselves at one point unable to move through the hundreds of gay men gathering together. It felt quite surreal to be literally the only straight couple amongst a crowd so large but it was friendly and everyone was in good spirits. I felt sad that in many ways these men have to gravitate to a place that is accepting of them when they are no doubt somewhat ostracised when isolated at home. A very enjoyable day all in all and an education for someone like me who has lived a rather sheltered life when I see such an incredibly different culture than I am used to.