Spain part two – Catalonia

Kirsty: The next part of our trip begins in Barcelona. Situated on the northeast coastline of Spain, Barcelona is the capital of Catalonia. Even a different language is spoken in this neck of the woods – Catalan. As soon as we arrived in Barcelona I fell in love. It has just the right mix cosmopolitan lifestyle and architectural beauty.

Ben: They spoke a different language? They still seemed to understand “La cuenta por favor”. Greedy bastards!

Ben: Barcelona definitely does have a spark about it though! One of those super cities that you just fall in love with instantly.

Gerrod: Couldn’t agree more, I could definitely live in Barcelona! What a buzz!

Kirsty: We decided to rent an apartment for our stay in Barcelona and it turned out fabulously. It was smack bam™ in the middle of everything interesting, and it also meant that we didn’t have to eat out for every meal. Gerrod and Kristy made us a stellar dinner of smoked salmon and asparagus pasta.

Ben: It was a fantastic apartment but had one downside, the lift to take you up the 6 floors could only accommodate 4 people at a time and was extremely loud and slow. Seeing as there were 6 of us, two of us always had to walk or wait the 30 minutes (maybe exaggerating here) for the elevator to make it back.

Gerrod: No, 30 minutes was about right. And also it was an old building with high ceilings, so the must have been a good 300 or so stairs in that stairwell. Sure was good exercise pre-skiing though!

Ben:The other downside to this apartment was not the building itself but the other guests sharing it with Michelle and I. Now I don’t want to mention names, but in a game of “draw the shortest straw”, the others cheated (maybe lying here), leaving team Bam the small and dodgy room next to the loud elevator and stair well.

Gerrod: I was stoked that we fairly and justly drew the straw for the master bedroom; totally made up for our lack of space in Seville! But next time the 6 of us share an apartment, democracy says that J&K get the small room… right?

John: Hey! My rather spaceous room was all I saw of Barcelona. The one positive was that I could see that upside down dead octopus cathedral thingy from my bed. Although, I would definitely trade a small room over being sick any day!

Kirsty: Breakfast with a view over Barcelona. How cool is that?

Ben: Very!

Kristy:I’ve gotta say, these little conservatories/glassed in balconies really made the apartment. Each room on that side of the apartment (basically every room but Ben and Michelle’s! eek!) had one! It was a great way to get natural light, and also to feel like you were part of Barcelona, even when indoors.

Kirsty: After our early morning and flight the rest of the guys decided to relax for the afternoon. Instead, John and I decided to pay a visit to the hospital. His infection wasn’t getting any better so we decided he needed some antibiotics – stat! All in all a fun and memorable experience for our first day.

John: Note To Self: Next time just go straight to the pharmacy and get some antibiotics (apparently you don’t need a prescription).

Kirsty: The next morning we set off to do a walking tour with our trusty Lonely Planet guide in hand. Just up the street from us is the famous Casa Batlló. Designed by Anton Gaudi (whose unique designs are all over Barcelona), the Casa Batlló was originally built for a middle class family. It is known to the locals as the house of bones.

Gerrod: Once again, kudos to Team BaM for the wicked good job they did with the navigation and general tour guide services. I’m sure that Gray Line will be in touch with them any day now!

Kirsty: Part of our walking tour took us through the Barcelona markets. Without a doubt these are the best ever markets I have been to. The range of fresh fruit, veg, meats and fish was just fantastic. I could just see myself living in Barcelona and making a trip down to these markets every weekend.

John: This is the one place that I would have liked to visit. I love food, and, if it was better than the Roman markets must have been fantastic!

Ben: I’ve never seen markets as colourful as these. Chelles and I couldn’t resist the yummy lollies and chocolates on offer.

Kirsty: The next day we made our way to Park Güell, another of Guadi’s creations.

Ben: This park was seriously cool and a big tourist draw. At the peak of the parks hill you overlooked a resident’s house with a big banner sign which said “If it’s called tourist season then why can’t we shoot them”. Nice!

Kristy: And a big, grateful shout-out to the locals for being kind enough to write this message in English. It saved us the trouble of translation and made sure we got the message loud and clear!

Kristy: One of the highlights of the Park for me was being asked by a forty-something couple to take their photo on one of the pretty mosaic benches. When I put the viewfinder to my eye, they promptly started snogging! It took me by surprise, and then I couldn’t find the photo-taker button and I took forever to snap it. Fortunately, the moment wasn’t missed. They were content to snog away until they heard the camera click. So kind. So kind.

Kirsty: After our stroll around the park we all went back to the apartment to relax for the afternoon. I took this opportunity to visit Picasso’s Museum. I’ve always been interested by his works, particularly his later more surreal stuff. It was interesting to see how his work progressed throughout his life.

Kirsty: Our last dinner in Barcelona.

John: I am not sure if it was the drugs or the infection, but, I simply could not finish my meal. Alas, I guess I will have to return and try again.

Gerrod: It could have been that your meal consisted of seven kilos of veal steak

Kirsty: The next day we hired a car and set off for a day of exploring the Costa Brava coastline.

Ben: We sure did. I took on the first leg of driving and astounded everyone with my amazing ability to ensure everyone was car sick within minutes. I’m such a smooth driver, always putting the comfort of my passengers first. Everyone was sure glad when Gerrod took over driving duties. He’s such an ace driver.

Gerrod: w00t! I was totally loving the driving, truth be told. We had a six speed manual, left hand drive, diesel people mover! I thought that changing gears with my right hand would be tricky, but actually it didn’t take that long to get used to.

John: Ben, you give yourself such a hard time. Your driving was AOK, it is stressful driving in a foreign country. The only thing I found hilarious was that you would stall the car every time at the traffic lights unless you were concentrating very hard. Hehe, so funny.

Kirsty: It was great to get out and have a feeling of sand beneath our feet again. We drove along the coastal road and stopped anywhere that looked pretty.

Ben: A long day it was, but plenty of blue skies, sand, ice cream, lollies and many, many games of “Guess who I’m thinking of”. In every game John kept on guessing “Kofi Annan”, or at least that’s what I thought “cough cough” meant.

Kristy: It sure was pretty! The troops were kind enough to stop videoing me napping in the car just long enough to wake me, walk me down the beach, and let me fall back asleep to the sound of the ocean. Aaaah. It wasn’t until the next day that I discovered the sand mitey bites all over me!

Gerrod: Costa Brava would have to be one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever stopped for lunch, though the BP service station at Yatala would be a close second. We were all a little thrown back though when the waitress gave us each a souvenir at the conclusion of our meals. Each of us now proudly owns a key-ring from Romania (presuming no-one has re-gifted yet).

John: It was in Costa Brava that I finally recovered from my sickness. I knew I had recovered because everyone was commenting on my incessant talking. I also managed to eat my first full meal for two weeks.

Kirsty: Stay tuned for Part three – Andorra (we promise, this is the last one).