That’s Spanish isn’t it? Well, close enough!
Spain was brilliant! Driving from France as we got closer to the border I certainly started to notice the Spanish influence on the architecture, it was very Mediterranean. Well not that I know about architecture, but that’s how I imagined Spain to look like. As we crossed the border you could totally tell that the rules are different in Spain. The main reason I say this is because of the sheer volume of well… prostitutes. Right along the edge of the road as soon as we were in Spain there were loads of inappropriately dressed young (and not so young) women. All I can say is that in that weather they must have been freezing! I must admit that I was a little bit shocked, I’m no prude but I’ve never encountered such blatant “sex for sale”.
After a quick lunch in Gerona (nice place, shit weather) of Spanish omelette in a roll; we pushed on along the coast to Barcelona. It was really dreadful weather that day, and I think my first view of the Mediterranean was not as lovely as I hoped it would be. We managed to successfully navigate our way into Barcelona and my spectacular long distance vision for ridiculously small road signs got us to the main train station to drop off the car. Spanish traffic isn’t quite as crazy as I was expecting, and Jess is an amazingly aggressive driver when she wants to be! We said goodbye to Alison and put our faith in a guy who spoke moderately good English at the tourist information to book us a hotel that wasn’t too ridiculously priced.
The taxi ride to the hotel was well….interesting. The taxi driver refused to acknowledge the fact that I didn’t speak Spanish, no matter how many times I tried to tell him. I had been bullied into the front seat by Emma and Jess and the whole trip he gabbled away in Spanish, only pausing to burst out in loud peals of laughter and slap me on the back and show me a map. He managed to get us lost, twice, stuck down a dead end street, and then left us parked off on the side of the road while he wandered off to get directions. He seemed to think this was hugely hilarious….I didn’t. We finally got to our hotel and it turned out to be pretty nice. So thankyou Spanish guy at the tourist info!
After a little rest we wandered off to the famous Las Ramblas- famous for its blue roses, pickpockets and buskers. I kept a firm hand on my bag! We had an absolutely fantastic dinner of good Spanish wine and the best vegetarian paella I have ever tasted. Its true- it really does taste better in Spain.
The next day was spent seeing everything Gaudi! Yes this was again thanks to Jess our resident architect but I really enjoyed it too. The highlight was La Grada Familia- the as yet unfinished Cathedral. We managed to drag ourselves out of bed quite early to get there and beat the crowds. It is absolutely amazing- totally unlike anything I have ever seen before- and unlike anything I think I will ever see again. Gaudi was certainly imaginative. I think my favourite bit is the ceiling- inspired by nature it is kind of like geometric trees - absolutely brilliant. I tried to take like a thousand photos- but the lighting inside is pretty dreadful for photo taking so unfortunately I really don’t think the pictures I got do it justice. After this we went to the Gaudi park- this is up a bloody great hill more toward the edge of town. Thank goodness for the escalators! The view from the top of the hill was absolutely amazing. And the whole park has various buildings and furniture all designed by Gaudi- it was absolutely packed with people enjoying the brief respite from the rain.
Lunch was at this cute little café halfway down the hill. We went back into town and Jess went to look at another house designed by Gaudi while Emma and I engaged in some retail therapy. Barcelona has brilliant shopping- there was many times I wished that I had an unlimited supply of cash. In the end I had to settle for a few t-shirts. You can never have enough I think! After that, another fantastic dinner- can’t remember what for the life of me (it was too long ago! I’m talking about October lat year people! Yes I am a little behind with things!)
The next day was another day of absolutely dreadful weather- sunny Mediterranean my arse! We took a trip to a free art museum but decided to bag that idea when we saw the line-up- it turns out every tourist in Barcelona was trying to get out of the rain and go to this particular museum. In the end we had another lazy day of shopping. I had another wander down Las Ramblas (and managed not to get robbed again!) and we had our best dinner yet at a fantastic restaurant called either The Office or The Attic- one of those two- either way it’s at the top end of Las Ramblas and it’s brilliant. I had grilled Asparagus with a pepper scum. I was a little worried about the scum thing but that turned out to be flavoured foam. And then a gorgeous fruit salad after- all washed down with a few good bottles of Spanish wine. It was a great last night in a wonderful city. Tomorrow we’re back to France!
