Watching people in bars

It is inevitable, with summer coming, heat and long days here in the south-east of Spain, it is impossible not to feel positive and full of energy. We are only in mid-May but I can already breathe summer holydays in the air and I have already been to the beach a couple of times.

But do you know what is one of the things I like the most? Watching people in bars. Yes, yes, you got it right, the people sitting at the tables on the terraces of bars, restaurants and cafes. Whether they are on the promenade, in the city center or in some hidden street. People in bars sit, eat, drink and talk: they are carefree! I love watching people in bars because it makes me feel good. It makes me feel a pleasant feeling of serenity and reminds me how much I love to be one of those people too, sitting alone or with friends enjoying a cold drink looking at the view, or eating tapas. For me, sitting in a bar is the ultimate expression of lightheartedness and the same is for the people of Almería. A lifestyle.

People in bars have full lives, but when they are in the bar they want to relax and not think about problems for a moment. I look at them and try to imagine who they might be. What are their jobs? Who are the friends they sit at the table with? What are they talking about? There are those who laugh and joke in company, those who work alone on a laptop or those who silently read a newspaper. There are couples who exchange a dessert, girlfriends who gossip and friends who talk about the last football match. There are those who drink coffee with ice, some a beer, some a tinto de verano and those who may be drowning some sorrow in something more alcoholic. There is all the life in the people who sit in bars.

And nothing, I walk down the street and look at the people in the bars and I remember when I was one of them too. When I had a life, a routine, a group or more of people with whom I loved to go out and spend a few euros on a generous aperitif or on a sophisticated non-alcoholic cocktail. And so just talking and enjoying life, yes because when I'm sitting in a bar I feel alive!

Come on, now I know you will think I'm strange, to tell the truth, I don't know why I love the “bar” lifestyle so much but the Almerians certainly love it as much as I do and maybe even more! The tapas policy here is quite unique; come and your order will always include a drink and a small portion of the food you choose. At a very affordable price, from 3 euros for less elaborate tapas to 5 or 6 euros for more refined foods. Then you can order an extra tapa for € 2 or € 2.50 if you want to nibble on something else but you don't want to order another drink. Then there are the rations, or the larger dishes and that can vary from 6 to 10 euros or of course even more. The fact is that going out here for a tapa is essential.

And here there are bars on every corner, even in the most unexpected areas of the city. It makes me think that if I had the financial possibilities that I once had, I would probably be just like these people I see in bars, who would take every possible opportunity to go there and enjoy life.

For the moment I'm happy just walking around the streets and watching people in bars. Because while waiting to go back to being one of them, even just looking makes me happy. It makes me think of summer, being carefree and having that genuine joie de vivre.