Here is one surprising city. I say surprising because you don´t hear much about it but it is in fact a very modern city with a host of attractions. I have a feeling that Valencia has been somewhat snubbed by the country for political reasons, but that's another kettle of fish which I don't want to open. Anyway, there's a riverbed which is now covered and coverted into a 9km stretch of clean and well-planned parkland. Because of that it sits on lower ground to the streets and buildings which gives a feeling of being away from the hustle and bustle [View Full Entry]

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We had to go. It was Bananarama, plus some popular local transvestites were making an appearance. This place is huge, a few floors which play music to cater to every kind of taste. Laura and I were the only ones game enough to go, but we had a ball - gay parties rock! [View Full Entry]

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Went back to visit Gaudí´s La Pedrera, which I would recommended just for the experience of the roof! He´s one amazing architect and has a style and sense of space unique unto himself. [View Full Entry]

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Back to explore the rest of the mountain: the castle (used as a prison for political prisoners before), the Greek open theatre. Plenty of things to see here including the 1992 Olympic Stadium. Huge place to explore and it'll take at least a day to do all the spots. Laura and I took a bus here and for some reason, decided that the furnicular could take us further up towards the castle so we didn't have to hike up. Of course we failed to see that the furnicular was going down, because we were already pretty much at the top, so [View Full Entry]

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Saint Paul's Hospital, still fully functional, by architect Lluís Domènech i Muntaner - building started in 1901. This is an amazing piece of architecture and a World Heritage Site. It's the only hospital I know of where people actually go to just to sit and enjoy the views and relax!! If only all hospitals were this gorgeous. [View Full Entry]

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Went to catch the sound and light show at Montjuic fountains - starts from 9pm and every half hour after. This must surely be the biggest fountain I've ever seen! I don't see how anything else will ever compare to this. Music for the show was a tad tacky but ah.. can't win them all hey. Fountain/water show (don't know what to call it) was really good though! Views of the place at night was great. [View Full Entry]

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The 3rd largest football stadium in the world, and seats over 100,000. Got to see the UEFA Cup!! Wooo! There was a really interesting photography exhibition while I was there - football images from various sporting magazines and newspapers. some terrific shots. Heaps of people waiting for the players to turn up for training, imagine crowds welcoming you everyday when you get to work! Haha. [View Full Entry]

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On the way back to El Hoyo from Avila, we stopped by the Monasterio de San Lorenzo del Escorial. It's an incredibly impressive building, with breathtaking scenery all around. Also including pictures here of the journey and the views on the road in the Communidad de Madrid region. No one could possibly be sleepy while driving around here! [View Full Entry]

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Salamanca has the oldest university in Spain and is known for being a vibrant university town. There´s a little ´game´ people play in Salamanca where the objective is to search out a frog that´s sculptured onto the façade of its University - apparently if you find it without assistance, you´ll have good luck and every other nice shiny happy thing you wish for. Guess I won't be getting any of that because I got help finding the frog! The Casa de las Conchas is a popular landmark here. The façade of this 15th century house is ornamented with reliefs of Saint [View Full Entry]

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Avila's another city with massive Roman walls - these ones even higher than the ones in Lugo, although here they charge you to go up on the walls, and only allow a section of the walls to be climbed. It circles the old city, and in here is also the Convento de Santa Teresa - and in the Sala de Reliquia is an exhibit of St. Teresa's relics include a finger from her right hand!!! We stopped at Avila again at night on the way back from Salamanca to look at the walls from the Mirador. It was here that Laura [View Full Entry]

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