Barcelona
Just back this afternoon from a few days in Barcelona with Janice. We flew out (from Heathrow) on Wednesday morning, and back this afternoon. A few trip high-lights:
On Thursday we did a bike tour of the city with a company called Fat Tire bike tours. We'd done one before in Paris last April, so we knew they were fun. Cycled around many of the city's sites with our American tour guide. The group was 13 strong - me, Janice, two English girls, and 9 American college girls... Finished off with an hour at a bar on the beach drinking sangria, before taking the bikes back to the shop.
On Friday we took the train out to Montserrat, which is a mountain with a big monestary on it. 50min train ride followed by a cable car to get there, but worth the trip. After a walk around the buildings we took a hike to the top of the mountain and back, which took us through and above the clouds. Amazing view.
Saturday we bought a few things from a little supermarket and went and had a picnic in the park. Now on the bike tour we were warned of the pick pockets in Barcelona, but I never thought I'd see one, or they'd be so blatant. But there we were, in the middle of the afternoon in a busy park on a sunny day. A couple were laying on a blanket about 10m away from us, with people all around on benches and on the grass. A smartly dressed black guy was sitting on the grass off to our side drinking a can of coke. He then crawled over to where the couple were lying, got hold of her purse (red handbag) and crawled a little away. I sat there in amazement not quite believing what I'd seen. He looked straight at us, put his finger to his mouth, and said "shhh". At which point I looked at Janice, and we started making a lot of noise, shouting and pointing. Of course all the Spanish people just stared at us wondering what these crazy tourists were making noise about as we're shouting "that guy is running off with your bag!". After a few seconds the guy realised what we were on about and tried to make chase, but the guy was long gone by now. What would have been best to do in the situation I don't know, but given the situation again I wish I had run after the guy and put in a rugby tackle, as I'm sure I could have caught him. But it was just so surreal, or unexpected, we just kind of sat there in shock for a few seconds before being able to react. Oh well, if I chased him, caught him, and he had a knife or a gun, I'd have regretted it.
After that we walked around the shops a bit, then went and sat on Las Ramblas (the main street with lots of restaurants and bars along it) where I had a beer and Janice had a Sangria, and watched the people passing by (while keeping a good hold of my backpack...). Oh, and our hotel was just near the olympic site from 1992, so we had a walk around that too, past the olympic stadium and all the other stuff.
All in all a fun holiday, but I can't say Spain is somewhere I'd hurry back to.
On Thursday we did a bike tour of the city with a company called Fat Tire bike tours. We'd done one before in Paris last April, so we knew they were fun. Cycled around many of the city's sites with our American tour guide. The group was 13 strong - me, Janice, two English girls, and 9 American college girls... Finished off with an hour at a bar on the beach drinking sangria, before taking the bikes back to the shop.
On Friday we took the train out to Montserrat, which is a mountain with a big monestary on it. 50min train ride followed by a cable car to get there, but worth the trip. After a walk around the buildings we took a hike to the top of the mountain and back, which took us through and above the clouds. Amazing view.
Saturday we bought a few things from a little supermarket and went and had a picnic in the park. Now on the bike tour we were warned of the pick pockets in Barcelona, but I never thought I'd see one, or they'd be so blatant. But there we were, in the middle of the afternoon in a busy park on a sunny day. A couple were laying on a blanket about 10m away from us, with people all around on benches and on the grass. A smartly dressed black guy was sitting on the grass off to our side drinking a can of coke. He then crawled over to where the couple were lying, got hold of her purse (red handbag) and crawled a little away. I sat there in amazement not quite believing what I'd seen. He looked straight at us, put his finger to his mouth, and said "shhh". At which point I looked at Janice, and we started making a lot of noise, shouting and pointing. Of course all the Spanish people just stared at us wondering what these crazy tourists were making noise about as we're shouting "that guy is running off with your bag!". After a few seconds the guy realised what we were on about and tried to make chase, but the guy was long gone by now. What would have been best to do in the situation I don't know, but given the situation again I wish I had run after the guy and put in a rugby tackle, as I'm sure I could have caught him. But it was just so surreal, or unexpected, we just kind of sat there in shock for a few seconds before being able to react. Oh well, if I chased him, caught him, and he had a knife or a gun, I'd have regretted it.
After that we walked around the shops a bit, then went and sat on Las Ramblas (the main street with lots of restaurants and bars along it) where I had a beer and Janice had a Sangria, and watched the people passing by (while keeping a good hold of my backpack...). Oh, and our hotel was just near the olympic site from 1992, so we had a walk around that too, past the olympic stadium and all the other stuff.
All in all a fun holiday, but I can't say Spain is somewhere I'd hurry back to.