Livin' la vida loca
Well, as loca as you can be in Barcelona in February... however as I sat at the airport eating my 'Fast-Quick Pizza' - a flat bread folded over and dabbed with tomato sauce and cheese - I realised it had been almost 4 years since I was last there which, as it's one of my favourite cities (along with London, Paris and Zaragoza), is quite shocking. There's something about those sort of places which is imaginative and exciting - a bit like Camden Town or Brighton - full of people who just are who they are.I did go a bit crazy on the plane actually and I've definitely been living in Brussels too long. When the air hostess asked me if I wanted anything (I'd read the menu about 6 times at this point), I ordered a bizcochito and a Coke Zero. The fact that she didn't understand Coke Zero didn't bode well for a weekend in Spain... and when I said it in English, she frowned and said 'Ah Coca-Cola Zero'. I felt foolish. The madness was my willingness to pay €4 for what was effectively a cereal bar and a can of soft drink (in my defence it was 330ml, not 180ml like most flights), because it seemed reasonable!
We had a rendezvous - fly to Cambodia Barcelona
It felt quite celebrity-like meeting my boyfriend in a foreign country but, after embracing me he began to rant about how much he'd paid for his liquids through security - he's used to checking luggage in! When we got to our 5* hotel (amazing what you can find on Google when you know about SEO), they couldn't find our reservation (obviously), so we stood there for a while whilst the man in a suit stared at his computer. Not that I was worried when he kept going to speak to his colleague and then coming back and frowning...Finally he gave us our keys and off we went to our apartment. Europeans love their energy-saving light bulbs and the rooms were pretty dark, although we had two televisions and two fridges, which is probably why we overslept.
What is this world if, full of care, we have no time to stand and stare?
So a sunny (if chilly) day dawned and we found ourselves sitting in a café on Las Ramblas eating croissants and coffee (me); tortilla baguette and orange juice (the boy), followed by an amble down the ramble... into the shops (his choice not mine) to buy a new shirt and pair of jeans from his new favourite shop - Springfield.What then followed was touristy stuff and things, as well as lots of strawberry pencils and a quest to find my favourite wine - Gran Feudo Julian Chivite Dulce de Moscatel - if anyone finds it, BUY IT and I will be completely in your power. We didn't find it, but tried a similar one (Gran Feudo Chardonnay), plus some sangria.
Mañana, mañana
Naturally one has to see a bit of Gaudi 'stuff' so we wandered around Parc Güell for a few hours, watched a fantastic band play under an arch and got stuck in a flowerbed. We then had the most amazing Sandwich (it deserves capitalisation) in a teeny café owned by a lovely old couple who twigged we were English just before we left and he gave us a huge smile as he said 'Good bye'.So, the Sagrada Familia. I have to say they don't seem to have made any progress since I was last there. There's still a lot of scaffolding, builders and unfinished towers. However, it may be finished soon as it seems to now be sponsored by Nike. Just Built It.
One valiant cry; we've got a name that everyone knows: Barça, Barça, Baaarça!
So on Saturday night we thought we'd do something we've never done together. Something I've never done at all. We went to a football match! Not just any football match however - we went to watch Barcelona FC (the best team in the world I'm told), including Messi (the best player in the world I'm told).Our seats were amazing - right behind the goal, second row from the front.
This was my view:
and this was my boyfriend's:
I quite enjoyed it, as the atmosphere was pretty awesome, but it was freezing and my toes were numb before the game even started. Then during the interval (oh, half-time) they'd run out of coffee... I had to content myself with a dodgy hot dog which was given to me by a lady who had just touched a raw sausage. Nice.
Food, Glorious Food!
Breakfast wasn't included with our room, but we took advantage of it after the football and it was immense. Mountains of cereal, waffles (they were so much nicer than in Belgium), cheeses, meats, eggs, fruit, coffee, hot chocolate etc. The couple in front of us ignored each other and just watched some film on their SmartPhone, whilst another table just ate and ate and ate - judging by the size of them I don't think they'd ever left the hotel.Deal or No Deal: Or Else
I've always loved Spanish TV (apart from the naked game shows), and when my beloved was feeling ill (I blame the hot dog, followed by a massive breakfast) I amused myself with a TV quiz show called Ahora Caigo (Now I Fall). It's basically an easy quiz show in the style of Deal or No Deal: What is the nickname of Ernesto Guevara? Clue: _H_However, if you get the question wrong, the trapdoor you're standing on opens and you plunge down into a pot of gunk... well, maybe not but that would be even funnier.
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