~Barcelona~
Arriving quite late in the evening, we didn't have any daylight left to look around instead we had a quick meal of Tapas and a glass or two of sangria!
We had been told that a great way to see Barcelona was on a bike tour – so off we went. This city is so vibrant and not at all what I expected it to be. For some reason I imagined it would be dirty and run down, quite the opposite. With the exception of the half naked prostitutes on every second corner in the few blocks surrounding our hostel, its really quite nice. Towards the end of the tour, we stopped at the beach for lunch and Sangria (hard life I know) and then after sharing 1.5L with two others, quite giggly and very relaxed – we headed off (may I add.. without any helmets - Europe has very relaxed laws). Fortunately, we all arrived back to the bike shed in one piece. Now, off to all we can drink Sangria for 10Euro – Nor do they have such a thing as responsible service of alcohol. A fun evening with the entire biking group, drinks, football in the main square (don’t ask.. all i'll say is Anna is very lucky she wasn't charged with assault with a deadly weapon), sunset on a roof top hotel bar, paella and more drinks... There was a few sore heads the following day! But me.. bright as a button – I have to save myself for the birthday celebrations with David!!
To see my big brother for the first time in over a year, on the other side of the world and on his 40th birthday.. I don’t think I’ve been so excited since I was a kid waiting for Christmas. But before I catch up with David, Anna & I headed to the Park where Gaudi built the wacky houses that resemble a gingerbreadhouse. Very very cool!
Back to the hostel to have a much needed siesta before meeting up with David at his Tourism Australia event (yes, I was crashing the party..)
At a spectacular location; roof top bar overlooking Barcelonas Marina and beach, we celebrated Davids 40th Birthday in style, compliments of T.A (and D's boss for arranging my invite), there was even fireworks! It was so nice of the city of Barcelona to put on such a display for his birthday! Ha ha. It just so happened it was the start of a festival in town.
The rest of what happened that night was a little hazy for a couple of days. It all came back over the following couple of days.
Valencia
The next morning at 7.30, I was outside and waiting for the bus to Valencia.. torture! I took a motion sickness tablet (just as a precaution) and within 5 minutes of the bus departing, I was out like a light! When we arrived in Valencia, I went straight to bed and woke up only when my stomach was rumbling so loud that it woke me up! After a quick feed, I was back to bed for a 12hour sleep.
Its now September 24th and given I wasted yesterday afternoon in Valencia sleeping, I hit the pavement and walked the entire city. Quite a cool place! We made dinner and spent the evening doing our own version of a quiz night with quite a few others joining in.
~Madrid~
After two nights in Valencia, we loaded the bus AGAIN (getting very sick of buses) and on our way to Madrid. Upon arrival, we went out to find some food.. tapas in one place then dinner at a university restaurant (staff are training so meals are super cheap). The meal didn’t disappoint but the service stank!! If only they had’ve given us the opportunity to critique, they may’ve learnt something.
Our first full day in Madrid was quite a busy one.. and quite Spanish in its structure.. Siestas & Late Nights! We were all up at a decent time, Anna & I headed off to the Reina Sophia Art Gallery (pretty impressive), Siesta, then out for the evening. A quick bite to eat which turned out to be the best pork i’ve ever eaten, then back to the venue for the show.
‘Corral De La Moreria’ - The flemenco dancing was passionate, emotional, powerful and extremely sweaty! I was sitting beside the stage and each time the lead male span around, I was sprayed with his sweat. Sounds gross I know, but the show was so exceptional that I didn’t mind too much.. it washes off and you cant get any serious diseases from someones perspiration... I hope!
Another Siesta (I love Spain) and then we headed out with a couple from Israel who have in the last 2 weeks walked over 260km.. yikes! Tapas, Tapas & more Tapas. Guess what i’m going to say.. yep, Amazing!! When every street and alley has multiple tapas bars, how are we to know which one is good.. 1. It is full of locals 2. You get dragged in as by a local and 3. The floor is filthy, food crumbs, tooth picks and used serviettes. We visited maybe 5 or 6 places, such a great night.
Off to the surf beach this time, located just on the opposite side of the old town where we’re staying. The water is much nicer and cleaner, still a little cold though. Little did we know that this is where most of the nudes hang out.. pardon the pun!! The nudes were mostly males and in their twilight years. Yep.. thats right – loads of grandpas sitting and walking along the beach in their birthday suites! Some things we did NOT need to know about the aging population. For the record, this was not an occasion that I complained about my failing eye sight! Blurry in these situations is very very good! After about 3 hours on the beach, we decided to call it a day and headed back to the old town to get a late lunch. The others climbed the hill to see the Jesus statue, but lazy me.. I opted for a bath, self administered pedicure and a siesta!
Next blog update.. Bordeaux, Paris (again) then St Jean De Losne to see my Aunt & Uncle, Marg and Peter Osment. Until next week xoxo
Arriving quite late in the evening, we didn't have any daylight left to look around instead we had a quick meal of Tapas and a glass or two of sangria!
We had been told that a great way to see Barcelona was on a bike tour – so off we went. This city is so vibrant and not at all what I expected it to be. For some reason I imagined it would be dirty and run down, quite the opposite. With the exception of the half naked prostitutes on every second corner in the few blocks surrounding our hostel, its really quite nice. Towards the end of the tour, we stopped at the beach for lunch and Sangria (hard life I know) and then after sharing 1.5L with two others, quite giggly and very relaxed – we headed off (may I add.. without any helmets - Europe has very relaxed laws). Fortunately, we all arrived back to the bike shed in one piece. Now, off to all we can drink Sangria for 10Euro – Nor do they have such a thing as responsible service of alcohol. A fun evening with the entire biking group, drinks, football in the main square (don’t ask.. all i'll say is Anna is very lucky she wasn't charged with assault with a deadly weapon), sunset on a roof top hotel bar, paella and more drinks... There was a few sore heads the following day! But me.. bright as a button – I have to save myself for the birthday celebrations with David!!
To see my big brother for the first time in over a year, on the other side of the world and on his 40th birthday.. I don’t think I’ve been so excited since I was a kid waiting for Christmas. But before I catch up with David, Anna & I headed to the Park where Gaudi built the wacky houses that resemble a gingerbreadhouse. Very very cool!
Back to the hostel to have a much needed siesta before meeting up with David at his Tourism Australia event (yes, I was crashing the party..)
At a spectacular location; roof top bar overlooking Barcelonas Marina and beach, we celebrated Davids 40th Birthday in style, compliments of T.A (and D's boss for arranging my invite), there was even fireworks! It was so nice of the city of Barcelona to put on such a display for his birthday! Ha ha. It just so happened it was the start of a festival in town.
The rest of what happened that night was a little hazy for a couple of days. It all came back over the following couple of days.
The next morning at 7.30, I was outside and waiting for the bus to Valencia.. torture! I took a motion sickness tablet (just as a precaution) and within 5 minutes of the bus departing, I was out like a light! When we arrived in Valencia, I went straight to bed and woke up only when my stomach was rumbling so loud that it woke me up! After a quick feed, I was back to bed for a 12hour sleep.
Its now September 24th and given I wasted yesterday afternoon in Valencia sleeping, I hit the pavement and walked the entire city. Quite a cool place! We made dinner and spent the evening doing our own version of a quiz night with quite a few others joining in.
~Madrid~
After two nights in Valencia, we loaded the bus AGAIN (getting very sick of buses) and on our way to Madrid. Upon arrival, we went out to find some food.. tapas in one place then dinner at a university restaurant (staff are training so meals are super cheap). The meal didn’t disappoint but the service stank!! If only they had’ve given us the opportunity to critique, they may’ve learnt something.
Our first full day in Madrid was quite a busy one.. and quite Spanish in its structure.. Siestas & Late Nights! We were all up at a decent time, Anna & I headed off to the Reina Sophia Art Gallery (pretty impressive), Siesta, then out for the evening. A quick bite to eat which turned out to be the best pork i’ve ever eaten, then back to the venue for the show. ‘Corral De La Moreria’ - The flemenco dancing was passionate, emotional, powerful and extremely sweaty! I was sitting beside the stage and each time the lead male span around, I was sprayed with his sweat. Sounds gross I know, but the show was so exceptional that I didn’t mind too much.. it washes off and you cant get any serious diseases from someones perspiration... I hope!
Seriously, if there is one thing to do in Spain – this is it! If you don’t believe me, buy a book named ‘1000 things to do before you die’ , this show is voted #3.
Nb. I have video clips taken from the evening, if you're wanting a look, let me know and I'll try to email the files to you as it won't let me load onto the blog.
~San Sebastian~
Already September 28th, we board the bus for San Sebastian. After quite the run around by the hostel, we were directed to our guest house in the old town. Best room we’ve stayed in thus far.. i was thrilled when I discovered we had a bathtub! Woo Hoo!!! A quick dinner then had a walk around the old town... This place is so gorgeous!
We all had a sleep in then made our way to the front beach (no waves) to enjoy what may be the last bit of sun for the summer. Quite a bit cooler than the Mediterranean Sea and the Ionian Sea, the water took some getting used to. During my last swim of the day, something stung me. Why oh why am I the only person that attracts things that sting or bite – argh! James, ever so generously offered his urine ‘just in case’ its was a deadly European Jellyfish that we didn't know about.. I told him at any point over the next couple of hours, if I passed out or started foaming at the mouth, he could pee on my knee while the others called for an ambulance!
~San Sebastian~
Already September 28th, we board the bus for San Sebastian. After quite the run around by the hostel, we were directed to our guest house in the old town. Best room we’ve stayed in thus far.. i was thrilled when I discovered we had a bathtub! Woo Hoo!!! A quick dinner then had a walk around the old town... This place is so gorgeous!
We all had a sleep in then made our way to the front beach (no waves) to enjoy what may be the last bit of sun for the summer. Quite a bit cooler than the Mediterranean Sea and the Ionian Sea, the water took some getting used to. During my last swim of the day, something stung me. Why oh why am I the only person that attracts things that sting or bite – argh! James, ever so generously offered his urine ‘just in case’ its was a deadly European Jellyfish that we didn't know about.. I told him at any point over the next couple of hours, if I passed out or started foaming at the mouth, he could pee on my knee while the others called for an ambulance!
Off to the surf beach this time, located just on the opposite side of the old town where we’re staying. The water is much nicer and cleaner, still a little cold though. Little did we know that this is where most of the nudes hang out.. pardon the pun!! The nudes were mostly males and in their twilight years. Yep.. thats right – loads of grandpas sitting and walking along the beach in their birthday suites! Some things we did NOT need to know about the aging population. For the record, this was not an occasion that I complained about my failing eye sight! Blurry in these situations is very very good! After about 3 hours on the beach, we decided to call it a day and headed back to the old town to get a late lunch. The others climbed the hill to see the Jesus statue, but lazy me.. I opted for a bath, self administered pedicure and a siesta!
Next blog update.. Bordeaux, Paris (again) then St Jean De Losne to see my Aunt & Uncle, Marg and Peter Osment. Until next week xoxo
Hi there! I'm planning a trip to Spain and following a similar itinerary as yours. Was just wondering, is it better to take a bus or train to visit the cities? From San Sebastian, did you have to travel to a different city to catch a flight into France?
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