Barcelona - The Trip Prequel

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Hello everyone

Last time I saw most of you was at my leaving do at the Horse and Groom a couple of Fridays ago. I had a fantastic time, I hope you all did too. Thanks for coming and making it such a great night. It was a great way to send me out into the world.

I feel it would be improper not to provide a small report on the events of my leaving weekend. When I was approached by 3 of the guys in the office asking me what my plans were before I went away, I simply answered that a modest evening out in the pub would do me. They, however, had other ideas. And the concept of the leaving weekend was born. So the day after my leaving do (that's right - the day after), me and 7 of the guys found ourselves sitting in Gatwick Airport gathering our work-weary bodies for a much needed weekend of resting and relaxation in sunny Barcelona.

A quick run down of the cast:

Jeremy "Money" Trinder - the man in charge of the whip, expert negotiator with Spanish waiters and the teller of some great parenting tales to the two prospective fathers on the trip

Red "Fast Food" Assi - after rolling out of the club at 6am on the first night, Red made the group he was walking with do a circuit of the main square in Barcelona to see if McDonalds or KFC or another of his favourite restaurants were open - failing to believe that they were all closed after the first lap, Red then made the group walk around again to see if they were opening up for breakfast. The howls of protest from the rest of the group were ignored by the hungry scamp. He stayed hungry that night.

Michael "Legs" Kinnear - his legs acted as an early warning system to let us know when we had walked for more then 10 minutes without finding a bar.

Paul "Gun Dog" Lane - an expert at sniffing out the best bars, Paul would be sent in first where he could move his agile frame quickly around the place to see whether it was worth all 8 of us entering the establishment

Chris "T-Shirt" Myers - the lightest packer of the group. Chris had a very simple rule of 1 t-shirt per day, usually emblazoned with some form of American conglomerate on the front. Rumours that he had won the t-shirts in university drinking competitions were unconfirmed.

Niall "Fancy Dan" Carey - always the wearer of the fanciest shirt, the most pristine clothes, the most coiffured hair and the smoothest shave in town.

Dave "Smooth Operator" Brimble - within seconds of our arrival in a club, Dave had bagged himself some doris with his silver tounged smooth talk. Dave stayed on in Barcelona after we all left. Are you still there Dave?...........Dave?.................................................Dave?

The highlight of the trip was our visit to the Nou Camp to watch a Spanish league match between Barcelona and Recreativo. Nothing special from the outside, the Nou Camp is a football theatre from the inside. The emerald green pitch glows from the middle and the steeply curved stands mean that everyone gets a fantastic view. Ronaldinho was on sparkling form that night scoring 2 goals and displaying his full array of tricks. I would recommend a trip there to any footie fan.

One thing that was great to see was how much the lads missed their wives and girlfriends. They spent a lot of time stating how much they missed their loved ones and how they wished they could have been out there with them. Niall took things a little too far when he sent a text message to Jo, his girlfriend. At least, he thought he had sent it to Jo. It was only a few minutes later when Chris reported the arrival of a disturbing text message from Niall that his mistake was revealed. When probed for details of the message's content, Chris diplomatically told us that it was "a bit sloppy". We didn't ask for further details.

As well as appreciating the Gaudi architecture, the museums and the cultural markets, we did find time to check out a couple of bars and restaurants. On the Sunday evening, we were lucky enough to be allocated a private dining room so that our discussion of Spanish politics and economics did not disturb the other diners. It was a room that Don Corleone himself would have been proud of.

All in all, it was a magical weekend and I hope to hear that the concept of a leaving weekend takes off during the next 12 months.

Next time I write, I will be on the trip for good. I just have one major event left before I go (apart from Ian and Rachel's wedding). Soon it will be time to select which of my t-shirts will be making the trip with me. I have brought the final "training squad" of t-shirts up to Yorkshire but they won't all make the final cut. There will be some disappointed t-shirts amongst my collection but I will take them to one side and explain my reasons and tell them to keep working hard and maybe they'll make the next trip.

Don't foget to keep sending me messages. Next stop, California.

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