Advertisement
Published: October 3rd 2010
Edit Blog Post
Day 23
Our second day in Barcelona and we are off to be part of the festival and see some of the sights not visited yesterday. Our first challenge, the Barcelona Metro and working out just what ticket we need to buy to get to the La Rambla. The second challenge to find the square that is home to the dance of the Giants; we followed the crowd and what an amazing experience it was, numerous bands and many many tall models dancing to Catalan music. At the end of the parade we split and went our separate ways, only to discover Sally was the only one with information on the events of the day. We all have our own little private memories before meeting again to watch the parade and finish the day with a meal and a view of the fireworks. Only the metro to tackle as we find our way back to the hotel.
Day 24
Time to leave the city and make our way south to our next resting place, Can Gordei. Slight problem, after eating breakfast and packing the cars, Tom’s car is hemmed in, the owner of the offending vehicle has parked
and gone off into the city. Phone call from reception and a promise to return, coffee and endless waiting eventually results in success, the owner returns and is surprisingly mystified as to the problem his parking has caused.
We leave the city by a slightly different route to that selected by Tom Tom and make our way to our villa with pool. The journey is easy but not if you ignore the instructions of both navigator and TomTom. However, a successful phone call back to England confirms we are sitting outside our destination, as if we had any doubt! Climbing over the gate provided some challenge, but paled into insignificance when compared to the race to the pool - it is far too cold at this time of year for those not brought up with the thermo insulation required of swimming in the North sea- but one idiot ventured in.
A truly fantastic view from the terrace made a long day truly worthwhile.
Day 25
A day for doing nothing! We slob, we sunbathe, we swim (well two of us do), we read and we find time to consume some beer, some sparkling wine, some vino tinto and a meal
of roasted vegetables and pasta.
Day 26
Enjoyed our newly discovered Freixenet Nevada so much last night that we make our way to the home of our favourite sparkling wine. Quick check on train times from Vendrell should we need to use it, then for lunch at highly recommended restaurant at Albinyana. What? It is closed as the owners are on holiday until the 6th October! Alternative restaurant adequate with an interesting array of challenging dishes, egg, nuts and red peppers for those with fear of such delights.
But the rest of us had a fab time! Freixinet factory was great but we missed the tour, so went to the shop for a few souvenirs and stocks! We bought Alan a sommelier’s pinafore and, as we predicted, he delighted us with serving our pre-prandial fizz wearing the pinny and very little else…….not an image his former colleagues or his children need to think about really!
We should at this point tell you a bit about the roles we seem to have adopted. Alan is the sommelier in charge of alcohol related issues and self appointed photographer; Elaine is the quartermaster; Tom is the financial director and keeper of the purse; Graham is the route master and chief navigator; Lucie is HR director and peacekeeper and Sally is trouble shooting communicator and pool temperature tester.
Day 27
Great day in Terragona- a lovely town with medieval and Roman delights as well as a super Modern art gallery and a cheap and lovely lunch. How many great days can six people have ….it just gets better and better! Expensive car parking though, especially as Alan fed the machine a 20 Euro note it didn’t recognise. Sally’s attempts to negotiate exit with attendant aroused sufficient sympathy to enable a protracted return to base via the Pont de Diable, that just happened to be under renovation.
Day 28
That must mean we have been away for a whole month! Slobbed around the pool for the morning and read plus set the washing machine in motion. Major concern of the morning, no sign of the black kitten, and its mother is showing signs of distress. After lazy start, we made our way to the seaside and the resort of Coma Ruga in particular. Had lunch, menu of the day, dishes of salad, paella and fish together with a desert all for under 11 euro’s a head. Spent the remaining part of the afternoon on the beach, swimming, reading and soaking up the sun.
Provisions bought on the return journey but still no sign of kitten upon return. We suspect the marauding hoards of dogs have got her and we mourn her loss.
Day 29
Two of us had an emotionally charged day. We drove down to San Salvador , where we found the home of Pablo Casals, that had been turned into a magnificent audio visual museum. Sitting in his music room, being played to by an image of the master himself was spine tingling, and going around the part which explained the civil war suffering and his charity concerts and efforts for peace with the backdrop sound of the cello made us both sob. We recovered in a great Tapas bar and then went for a swim before heading back to the ranch for guitar playing and reading in the sun respectively.
Our compadres however had gone to Sitges and headed straight for the nudist part, where Elaine had never seen so many Willies, and Graham wished he wasn’t wearing his ‘Coq Sportive’ T shirt. It is the gay capital of Europe and they felt positively overdressed and straight! They too had great tapas and enjoyed the beach.
We had yet another great evening, enjoying the fabulous sunset, eating, laughing and playing music.
Day 30
A new month, can it really be October! Decided upon a slobbing out day in preparation for two days of driving down to Granada. Got up late, had breakfast late ahead of an early evening barbecue. Day dominated by mixture of washing, ironing and relaxation. Various books finished, new books started and then the dreaded ‘foskett barbecue’. To everyone’s amazement not everything was burnt and some of the party even claimed they enjoyed what they believed to be meat. Slight delay to proceedings until Mr Antonio cleaned the pool. Then to the packing and clearing up, deep joy and excitement as we plan tomorrow’s route and then as ‘Zebedee said’ time for bed!
Day 32
Watch this space as we catch up on our internet connections and maybe send a photo or two. Have travelled down country and are now in Granada
Advertisement
Tot: 0.338s; Tpl: 0.012s; cc: 10; qc: 46; dbt: 0.1164s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb