One of the things that we enjoyed most about our vacation this Summer was the beach. I've always been an inland person; I love forests and mountains. However, this Summer we were in very beachy places. It was the first time that I had been on the Costa Brava in Spain. It is renown for its interesting, rocky beaches, fishing villages, and small, sandy coves. Because we stayed in Girona, in the north of Spain, we were about half an hour from a whole list of beaches. It happened to be an extra hot Summer in Spain, so being close to the sea was very appealing. We went several times. We would pack a lunch, get our supplies of towels, swimming suits, goggles, and water bottles, pile into the rental car, and off we would go. One of the beaches that we went to was unusual in that the grains of sand were much bigger than normal. I know this seems unimportant, but for me it was. Once you were dry, the sand just brushed off perfectly cleanly. Magic. There was no hassle of sticky sand in your shorts, between your toes, or in the car. It came off with a quick wipe. And, of course, the views were wonderful. You could look along the coastline and see other towns and villages to the north and to the south. Our children begged us to rent one of those, ..., well, I'm not sure what they are called, but they are like a paddle boat, but shaped like a car with a slide ontop. Crazy! And crazy fun it was. My husband and I did the hard work of pedaling, and the kids had the job of sliding down into the water and making lots of noise. Both of us tried a couple of times, but when we did it, it was like a couple of whales sitting on top of the boat, sliding slowly, and making the whole boat lean to one side.

Grammar notes.

Useful expressions: inland, a whole list of, goggles, to pile into..

1. That hotel is inland. If you want to be right on the coast, you will have to find a different one.

2. There is a whole list of gardening equipment in that store. They have everything you could need.

3. I can't swim in the sea without goggles; the salt hurts my eyes too much.

4. Everybody piled into the tent for the night; there was hardly any room for all of us.