Advertisement
Friday 15 February 2008 Eight ours later, including a scheduled 45 minute stop in Zaragoza which we didn’t know about, we arrived in Barcelona. Despite being after 6pm the main post office was still open so Michael collected his international driving licence from the Poste Restante while Barbara minded the luggage at the metro station. We then caught the train to Sant Cugat to visit Barbara’s cousin Laura and her family once again.
We arrived to find Paul, Marti and Josep happily playing with their friends Gabriel and Marian (photo). We ate a delicious pasta dinner and chatted for hours over just a ‘few’ glasses of wine.
Saturday 16 February 2008 Early the next morning we headed out to football (photos). We split into two teams. The boys took Paul and Marti to their games and the girls took Josep to his. All of the boys played fabulously and definitely have inherited their papa’s passion for the game. Michael enjoyed a long awaited football-fix also.
After football, we continued north to Lloret de Mar to meet Barbara’s uncle Malachi and his wife Marion. We all enjoyed a delicious lunch at a local restaurant and then strolled
along the beach enjoying the sunshine (photos). At the beach Michael showed the boys - not that they needed much encouraging...lol - how to make mischief (photos).
At Josep’s request we climbed up to visit his sweetheart on top of the cliffs (photo), the sea maiden, and admired the lovely views (photo).
After a nice stroll around the town and the Saturday markets we went to see the cathedral (photo) and found much more than we expected. The cathedral itself is quite beautiful but it seemed the biggest attraction was the jumping castle in the courtyard (photo). The boys played happily and showed off for our camera until it was dark and then we enjoyed a pint at the Picadilly.
It was getting quite late by this time so we headed back to Sant Cugat. The boys were asleep as soon as they sat in the car and we weren’t far behind them.
Sunday 17 February 2008 In the morning Michael continued his weekend of football, going out with Josep-Maria and the boys to watch the Sant Cugat football club play while Laura and Barbara enjoyed a nice stroll through the town (photo) including a
visit to the monastery (photo).
After the football, everyone went into town except Michael who claimed he was a bit too tired. Actually it was all part of a mischievous plot to distract Laura while Michael baked a surprise birthday cake.
In the evening when everyone returned we enjoyed a delicious dinner followed by birthday cake with butterscotch sauce for dessert with special champagne courtesy of Josep-Maria’s own mischief. It was a lovely surprise for Laura as even Paul, Marti and Josep had managed to keep the secret!
Monday 18 February 2008 After a very fun weekend full of football and mischief with Barbara’s cousin Laura, her husband and three adorable sons we packed our bags and, with lots of hugs - and a couple of tears - we said goodbye to Barcelona and to Barbara’s newly discovered extended family. It had been a lovely heart-warming experience for Barbara to have the opportunity to meet her cousin Laura, and her wonderful family including her father Malachi in Lloret de Mar.
An early train took us to Placa de Catalunya from where we caught the airport bus in perfect timing for our flight. We were about
to embark on the next exciting leg of our journey - and a bit of climatic shock - Scandinavia! First stop: Norway...
Advertisement
Tot: 0.193s; Tpl: 0.012s; cc: 14; qc: 67; dbt: 0.0789s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb
