Amazingly I am sitting on my couch, in my flat in Dee Why, watching my television and drinking a cup of tea from one of my own cups. It is raining outside, the sounds of traffic in the street are very familiar and the accents very normal. It feels like I have woken up from a normal night of sleep - Oh I did have a great dream last night though- quite weird and wonderful; I flew to Europe on this airline called Etihad and what was more of a nightmare than a dream the entertainment system didn’t work, I then [View Full Entry]

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Sitting in the departure lounge at Barcelona airport I carefully and patiently unravelled the skin of my clementine. I have become quite the master of the single peel/combined twirl pirouette technique - Fruit in one hand, thumb making it’s away around it anti-clockwise as the turning fruit spins in my hand in a clockwise direction. If clementine peeling was a sport, I would be high up in its rankings! It had just been announced that the flight to London would be delayed for 90 minutes; this gave me an additional hour to sit and twiddle my thumbs (or peel and eat [View Full Entry]

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I needed to drop in a few more photos of my trip around Catalonia on Wednesday and so here is but a small selection [View Full Entry]

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It’s 11.30pm in Barcelona and today sadly is my last day in Barcelona and my last day in Spain. At lunchtime tomorrow I fly out from here to London for the last four days of my holiday. Today has been a lengthy one. It started very early (just after 730am) when I went searching for a coffee in nearby Gran Via. It was then on to the Bus Turistic for the trip to the Torres Vineyards, Montserrat and Sitgues. First stop was the famous Torres Winery (Bodegas Torres), where we discovered how the famous Torres wine is made. We continued onto [View Full Entry]

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I started today at the crack of dawn, determined to get to the lavandaría to get my clothes washed. It had been a few days and although my clothes weren’t beginning to smell, I was down to my second string apparel. The brochure for Wash n Dry stated that they were open from 7.00 am so I charged down to beat the rush (I still didn’t think that there would be many there at 7.30am when I left Hostal Goya.) On arrival the place was completely shut up. 7am- 11pm 365 days a year the brochure claimed, it was near 745am [View Full Entry]

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Once I had sorted out my washing, I headed to Plaza Cataluyna and jumped on the bus turistic for a tour around Barcelona. The Barcelona tourist bus (like so many of its type in other cities) is a great way to see the sights and gain some knowledge of the history of the place. I took the southern route this morning which snaked its way around the southern part of the city up to Montjuic, down via la Barceloneta and to Ribera which is where you can find the Picasso Museum - a museum that I just love. The first part [View Full Entry]

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Its Monday morning here in Valencia, today I’m taking the train to Barcelona- the last leg of my journey in Spain. Valencia was a very pleasant experience and being near the coast (even if I didn’t go to the beach) made a change form the inland cities and towns that I had visited. Valencia’s a great city and its residents are very friendly. I had some lovely food during my stay here and I would recommend it especially if you want to spend some time on the coast and if you are also visiting Barcelona. The trip between these two famous [View Full Entry]

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After a sleep-in (by my standards) I decided I would Valencia’s fresh food market the Mercado Central. Situated only five minutes from the hotel the market is THE place for locals to buy their fresh produce. The market is open Monday- Saturday and if you want to taste the real Valencia I recommend a visit and mingle amongst the locals and curious tourists. From its fruit and vegetables, fresh fish and cured meats (including the ever present jamon) this market has the lot. Of course there are lots of oranges on sale (at less than 1 euro per kg) as well [View Full Entry]

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It is Friday morning and an early start as I check out of the Hotel Petit Palace Italia bound for the coastal city of Valencia about 350km south of Barcelona and the same distance west of Madrid. With its idyllic coastal location, Valencia enjoys a Mediterranean climate, warm dry summers, mild winters, and beautiful beaches. Having arrived in Madrid in my overcoat it would be a relief to pack it away at least for the next few days as I wind up the Spanish leg of the trip first in Valencia and then Barcelona. The train journey took three and a [View Full Entry]

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Yesterday (Wednesday) I took a trip out to the historic town of Segovia. I caught the train from Chamartin Station in Madrid and the journey takes only 35 minutes. It was cloudy and very cold on arrival - about 5c at 1030am. The train to Segovia was fantastic, very comfortable and incredibly fast. Once at the train station at Segovia you need to catch the local bus to the centre of the town. They tend to run the buses at the same time as the RENFE trains arrive. The first thing you see when you hit the old town is the [View Full Entry]

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