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Published: August 14th 2007
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The beach at Barcelona
Not great sand, but good for a swim. If you enlarge the photo you are sure to see some topless ladies... Ola!
Since Steve updated you, we had been laying pretty low here in London. Both living through the poorest excuse of a summer that either of us have seen. As I type this Travel blog I am sitting in my jeans and a jumper and the rain is pouring down.
We were lucky enough to have just returned from a week and a half travelling through Spain and Portugal.
The reason for planning this trip was to join Tony and Debbie and others in Barcelona to celebrate Tony’s 40th birthday. Unfortunately getting there didn’t run too smoothly for any of us involved. All of the flights arriving (with the exception of ours) were delayed significantly and we only just managed to make our flight by taking some sneaky back roads to leave a major traffic jam that we encountered. However, despite the delays, we did all manage to end up in Barcelona.
The first bunch of us arrived on the Friday around midday. We dropped our things off at the hotel and went for a walk down Le Ramblers, one of the main streets in town to find somewhere to stop for lunch. Debbie and I had
a (very strong) sangria and most of the boys started with a beer (1 litre beers). Steve and I left them 3 beers later to do some sight seeing. We didn’t really see much as we had left our map in the hotel and it was pretty hot, so instead we checked in and had a siesta before meeting the others for dinner.
By dinner a few more of the group had arrived and we headed to one of the main squares. A beautiful square lined with restaurants and a lamp post designed by Gaudi himself! We feasted on seafood paella which is making me hungry just thinking about it. One member of the group was unable to stay for dinner because the 5 beers at lunch hadn’t agreed with him. It was a lovely evening and we all relished the opportunity to feast outside in great weather till late evening. At midnight we sang Tony happy birthday (the first of many that weekend) and for most of us it was off to bed.
The next day we were all up with the plan of heading to the beach. The rest of the party had arrived so there
Us and Evie
This is the little girl I am sure that you will hear us talk about on our return. A great kid were 17 of us in total. At this point we all remembered the difficulties of gathering 17 in one place and then getting them to another, especially when some members were still working on England time! We had a 9am start and I think we managed to get to the beach just before noon. The sand was a little more like dust, but the water was great for a swim and for a laugh when Tony got dragged in along the pebbles when a wave took him out. He was still removing them from his shorts an hour or so later.
After lazing around on the beach, a few of us went to the aquarium which the guidebook informed us was very good. Obviously they have never been to Sydney’s one as this pales in comparison. Having said that - Evie loved it which made it worth while, plus the penguins were cute.
We all gathered in the hotel so that we could head out to dinner. We had booked a meal at the Hard Rock Café. The food was fantastic and the service even better. The highlight of the evening was when the staff came out banging
The travelling crew
This is all of us on the night of Tony's birthday. Steve is represented by some random spanish guy that jumped in the front of our photo. pots and pans for a unique rendition of Happy birthday for Tony. We then headed for a couple more drinks in a back street bar. The only down point was that if anyone flushed their toilets the breeze would carry the smell from the drains to where we were enjoying our beverages. A great night that was enjoyed by all.
The next day the majority of us managed to get ourselves up and onto the tour bus of the city. Steve and I hopped off when we arrived at the Sagrada Familia, better known as 'the church designed by Gaudi'. Construction started over 100 years ago and is still continuing to this day. I find it hard to describe this building as it is so different to anything else that I have ever seen, but it is amazing. So much detail, almost surreal, worth the trip to Barcelona just to see this building. I know that many people would not feel the same way, but this is the most unique structure that I have ever seen. It is as though someone’s wildest imagination has been made into a church.
We spent quite a bit of time there before
The Sagrada Familia
In this photo we are standing around 200m in front of the church just to fit it in the picture. hopping back on the bus that took us around to the rest of the sights. We jumped off and took a cable car down to the beach which gave fantastic views of the city before wandering our way back to the hotel to get ready for dinner.
We had a bit of trouble trying to get a restaurant to take us all. Eventually found one that would accept us, and they proceeded to start assembling a table for 60 people! Apparently 16 can easily be mistaken for 60, quite a funny mis-understanding that we had a laugh about with the waiter. I introduced the table to Cava Sangria (Sangria made with champagne instead of red wine), which was welcomed by the large majority of diners and much was consumed throughout the evening. We had a fantastic night, largely due to the great hospitality of the staff and the obscene amounts of alchohol consumed. At this point, the only comment that I can make about the rest of the evening is that what happens on tour, stays on tour.
Our last day was quite a relaxing one. Back onto the bus to visit a couple of places we didnt
Olympic Stadium
Tony and I in the Olympic Stadium that is actually built into the ground rather than up from it. get the chance to the day before. We stopped by the Olympic stadium and caught the cable car up to an old fort that had great views of the city. We met with the remaining members of the group for our evening dinner and said our farewells since not too many of them were keen on getting up to see us off in the morning. It was quite sad to see the weekend come to an end, as so much fun was had by everyone. I think we also broke the world record for the number of 'Happy birthday's ' sung in one weekend.
We rose very early and made our way to the train station where we started our journey to Madrid. Although being a long trip, the time passed quickly and before we knew it we were back in the heat on our way to the hostel.
I know it might sound strange, but from wandering through the streets on our way to the hotel, we decided that Madrid seemed more Spanish than Barcelona. Rather than the beach/city/party feel that Barcelona offered, Madrid was a little quiter and seems a little more traditional.
Madrid offered
some amazing architecture with beautiful buildings almost everywhere you looked. So many in fact, that some that we thought were the most impressive were not even mentioned in the guidebook as having any particular significance. We visited yet another art gallery that Steve guided me around. It was actually quite an impressive collection of works.
Whilst in a park where we viewed another bulding, there is a possibility that I have 5 euro stolen from me, but neither of us can figure out if it was stolen or I had just forgotten that I had spent it in the first place. Even so, beware of beggers/pickpockets in Spain!
We visited the royal palace which was very impressive. I wont go into too much detail as it would be hard to explain if you are not there to see it. Among the noteworthy features was the building itself, the armoury collection and the pharmacy.
That night we attended a flamenco performance. Ours was set in an actual theatre (unlike the traditional dinner) and it was great. Their feet move so fast!! Definately worth a look if you are there, although I think I would like to see a
Debbie and the straw
Think this is the longest straw you have seen? So did I till we got to portugal. Stay tuned. more traditional performance next time.
We ate well and were well behaved on the drink, although we were drinking a couple of large bottles of water a day due to the heat.
I will leave it there for now so you have time to digest and have a look at the photo's. My next entry will be about our expiditions in Seville and Lagos (Portugal).
Until then - Adios
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