Although Kerensa spent a lot of time not exactly, "getting," Barcelona, Tarragona or La Granada - it's safe to say we had a rather lovely and sunny time.
WARNING: I broke my camera (again - boo) so there is a distinct lack of photos after about 10am on the Saturday morning. But I got it fixed last week (yay) so will make up for lost time!
To begin with I would like to ask a question of RyanAir; I wish to know what idiot told them, that not only was it a good idea to use a decorative palate so painful on the eyes that you feel like you're bouncing around inside a giant packet of Solero Shots, but that these sherbet coloured seats should be placed nose-distance apart? And, why are they so obsessed with talking to us so much?! Throughout the (HOUR) long journey to Barcelona from Asturias, I think they allowed us a grand total of two minutes uninterrupted engine noise. Every other minute was filled with sales pitches, telling us to buy smokeless cigerettes and other nonsense. How does that work?! Do they just plan to annoy their passengers into buying something from them?! Never thought I would be so grateful for the comparative serenity of an EasyJet flight - only interrupted once every 20 minutes instead.
Anyway, rant over.
Thursday night consisted of getting to the hotel - slightly more complicated than planned and getting food. Once these two jobs were complete; we slept. The excitement.
The next morning was glorious. As an example - 20 degrees at 10 am in the morning! I think from that revelation I knew it was going to be a good weekend.
Our first stop was the Sagrada Familia.
Although its a sight to behold; the queue was circling several times around the Cathedral to buy entrance and so we decided to just admire from the outside. Not to mention the sheer number of tourists (damn tourists) was stressing me out majorly.
However! At a touristy shop just beside the Sagrada Familia I managed to purchase the Spain shirt I have been wanting FOREVER - or rather since they won the World Cup.
Number 1. Casillas. World Cup star.
I was ripped off completely but at that point I didn't really care and bought it anyway; apparently it's an "official" shirt. Aye right.
Continuing with the standard Gaudi theme of any Barcelona trip we went out to Casa Batilo.
This time we did go in. It was absolutely rammed with people; but still awesome.
Next was lunch. Quite possibly the most exciting moment of Spain
so far. Wait for it.... like seriously, brace yourselves.
KERENSA HAD
OPTIONS.
I cannot put into
words the exact incredibleness, awesomeness, ridiculousness of that. The menu
of a restaurant we just glanced at, had a grand total of six completely
vegetarian options. As proof of the happiness, I took this picture.
She was very happy.
After a rather
lengthy walk around the Port; we reached the cable car which connects the top
of Moutjuic with the city. That was scary, dangling on what
is quintessentially a glorified rope over the Med and hoping that the
wind didn't pick up too much! However, the views from the top were
incredible.
At this point my
camera ran out of battery.
WHY DO CAMERAS
HATE ME SO MUCH?!
*stealing photos
from Kerensa's facebook*
From the point
that the cable car dropped us off we walked across the hill, past the Theatre
Royal, some museums and stopping to appreciate the epicness that is the MNAC
(Museo Nacional de Arte Catalan)
Every time I see
this picture I get "Go the Distance" from Hercules in my head.
There followed
another successful meal, this one of tapas which was also filled with
vegetarian options. And included a gin and tonic flavoured desert. (No joke.)
After a
far-more-stressful-than-it-needed-to-be journey to La Granada we arrived at the
flat of the lovely MJP.
Day Two and we
were off bright and early (minus one camera) to Tarragona.
It was an
absolutely beautiful place and had lots of Roman ruins all around. Plus, a
beach. What more could you ask for?!
This is a
tradition in Cataluna; as in they actually decide every now and again to get
all of the men together and build a giant human statue. Sometimes, I wonder
about Spain...
Had to be done.
A lovely afternoon
spent on the beach; not to mention ice cream, wine, paella and a very
spectacular lightening storm finished off the night.
As a disclaimer I
should also mention that we hit the bar in La Granada, tiny as it was. Also,
I'm sorry, but how complicated is it to understand "malibu y coca cola
light?" Seriously! MJ says it's cause they're Catalan, not cause I can't
speak Spanish. I like that reason.
The next day
Kerensa and I had to leave for Barcelona and leave MJ behind - very sad, I
wanted to take her back to Oviedo with me!
The weather wasn't
as great on the Sunday although still pretty nice. Our FOURTH successfully
vegetarian meal out. (At this point it was just getting silly - I was
considering the idea that we might have been sucked into some parallel universe
where the Spanish understand the concept of vegetarianism.)
We decided to hit
one thing and enjoy it so we took the Metro up to Parc Guell which we hadn't
done on the Friday and have a walk around.
That awkward,
asking other tourists to take a photo of us moment....
Sight of the most
amazing America's Next Top Model final ever. It was almost like a pilgrimage
for me!
According to my
model expert (Emma-Louise) I needed to put a hand on my hip; but it was a good
effort.
And that ends a
rather lovely trip to Barcelona. Concluded obviously with Solero Shot express
back to Oviedo.
Don't have much
time left here. Said goodbye to my Primero B class today - although they don't
know they still have a ceilidh dancing extravaganza to come! Only two
days left at school (tomorrow is a holiday - standard) Then at the weekend I'm
off to Santander with Kerensa and waving her off on the boat. And then, the
arrival of Sarah, Emma-Louise and Jacqueline! Wwwwooooooppppppp.
No comments:
Post a Comment