Okay, here we go. We have four days to take in as much of Barcelona and Languedoc Rousillion in France. I love this part of the world so I am excited to go back there again.
This time we have four friends in tow. My best mate Cj (Floodie) and her new hubby Chris, Cj's little brother and his girlfriend Niamh, or Nemo as Cj has christened her.
Floodie is now an American, decending originally from our Emerald Isle, my girl went and fell in love with an American. SO it was only a matter of time before she headed out west to LA to join him and now 8 years later they are approaching their 1st wedding anniversary in April.
As my dear Floodie has been stateside for so long now she spends nearly all of her 'vacation time' flying home to good old Dublin. But it being her home and all it gets a bit old and monotonous flying back here all the time. With this in mind I managed to persuad her to come to mainland Europe with me and my man for a couple of days so she can feel like she's actaully had a holiday. Her enthusiasm was more than enough for me to get my teeth into it and start the planning. Yes I am a little bit of an organisational freakoid. But sometimes these things can fizzle away if you dont grab the bull by its horns and drag it into it's pen. Thats what I did.
Seventy emails and 48hours of surfing later, I have 2 flights (for me and Stevo) Car hire and hotel rooms in Barcelona booked. I got a stellar deal on the Barcelona hotel, a little gem of a place or so it seems by its website, in a great location for only 98euro a night. I barely believed it to but it's true. However I will reveal the name at a later date when I have actually stayed there and the hotel has proved to me that it deserves an honorable mention.
So now the hunt is on for Barcelonas best restaurant. There is 6 of us so I reckon one with a wide variety of dishes and nothing to native. We have a vegitarian who's allergic to an impressive list of different things, a weight concious foody intolerant to diary and poor service! 3 tall guy's with healthy appetites and, well as for Nemo I am not sure what her preference is so, I am sure a good alrounder is our best bet.
The Plan so far...well, we arrive on Sunday 20th of May into Girona airport at about 9.30pm. A people carrier car has been booked so we'll all hop in that and floor it to Barcelona as fast as possible. Thankfully BArcelona is a late night city so hopefully after check in there is still some food action somewhere and I have no doubt we'll find a bar if all else fails!
Day 1: I know I can read your mind, she IS an organisation freak I hear you think, but trust me, this is a good thing. I research and surf and email and find out the best places, I book in advance for smooth holidaying and when you're trying to fit in so much into four days organization is an absolute must or it would be a disaster, so in my defense, my travelling amigos well beneift from my freakish-ness!
I am suggesting we all rise at a resonable hour and hop on and off one of those bus tours until lunch time, which in Barcelona can be as late as 3ish. Coming from Dublin and America where collectively we are used to things being open all the time during the day we need to remind ourselves that eateries do infact close, and to avoid the international yet debatable food hailing from the Golden Arches (yet again as I have made this mistake far too often, I do have a secret passion for a quarter pounder with cheese, or (as its known France and thanks to the filmmaking genius of Tarrantino and Mr. Samuel L. Jackson) the ROYALE with Cheese so I am never too devastated when this does happen however I do like to experience the city I am visiting so old reliable Mickie D's will be carefully avoided.
SO AFTER the carefully planning and scheduling of lunch (just kidding it will be very relaxed dining, spanish style) and if we haven't consumed to much sangria over lunch maybe we could take a stroll through Las Ramblas, possibly do a spot of shopping before returning to our well positioned hotel for possible a siesta, a freshen up and back out to dinner.
Have you guessed yet that I am the foody, noticing that nearly all of my plans revolve around food. Sad I know but its my passion, eating.
After more careful surfing I will hopefully find our restaurant and a couple of cool bars to check out. Hoepfully something with an outdoor patio, a seaview or a nice view of barcelona and a good seafood selection (yes thats me being greedy!)
Day 2: Is our departure day from BArcelona, hit a few of the sights on our way out, Parc Guell I think its called is Gaudi's park and so worth a visit, especially if the weather is nice, its fabulous and funky and like something out of Alice in WOnderland
