Shagger's Sheepdog Safari An insight into the journeys taken by a young pup as he traverses across the oceans in an attempt to find... something?

Hola,

Well a few k's have been clocked up since the last post and sorry again for the laziness of myself.

Just quickly the train went ok from Denver to New York. A long two days and glad I don't have to do it again. By the way, the train system sucks over in the states, NEVER use it!

New York was cool the second time around, saw the Phantom of the Opera - wish I could sing - I bet the lead guy gets all the ladies.

As for the flight it sucked balls! I got onto the plane which decided it would stay on at the terminal with the doors closed for 2 hours so arriving at Zurich 2 hours late meant that I literally ran for the plane - 11.5 secs for 100m with backpack - which of course meant my luggage didn't arrive with me. Being pessimistic, I thought that the luggage would arrive a month later but to my surprise they put it on the next plane and it arrived to me later that night.

Miquel and Ana were awesome hosts and I hope to meet up with them again some time. They took me out most nights and we partied till dawn on the weekends in the great nightclubs that Barca has to offer. The streets flow with drinks as every, and I mean every, second shop was a tapas bar. Gaudi is amazing. I'm still trying to get my head around some of the stuff he came up with and Le Sagrada Familia will be truly breathtaking when completed. Of course there's the beach, but it's a bit crowded and to be honest we have a lot better ones back home, water's a bit warmer though. The best part I thought was north in Park Guell, another Gaudi with some great views of the city. Almost matching it was Montjuic, where the Olympics were held. Couldn't find a bow and arrow so the flame was not lit unfortunately.


Moving on, I stopped in for a visit to Valencia for a couple of days.  Again more time spent at the beach and a cooking class for Paella, originating in Valencia.  So now I’m a master chef in Paella, if only I had the recipe.


Madrid was fairly good.  Had a ripper of a museum on modern art including Picasso's Guernica.  Went to a bullfight, probably one of the cruellest and bloody ways to kill an animal?  More sightseeing and going out at night I left thinking I’d have a few quiet days in San Sebastion down at the beach.


Things didn't end out that way and in the end even though most days were spent at the beach, a fair few nights were spent out at bars and clubs, including one nightclub with guest DJ Bobby Sinclair.  Needless to say the place was packed and it went off to the wee hours on the morn.


After dragging myself away from the place - I could have spent another week there - I found myself in Paris.  Did all the touristy things but the highlight for me was riding down the Champs Elysees and around the Arc Triumphe.  Tour de France 2008 here I come.


So next on the agenda is London, and then from there to Bristol and Ireland for some Craic.