We had been looking forward to Barcelona for a long time, its our last stop in Spain (not that we want to leave), the beach (which we didn't end up making it to due to time and weather) and more recently to meet up with Emma and Tanya, friends we made on the Scotland tour.
September has been tough for Damien with St Kilda Football Club playing so well (all year), but also in the finals. It has made him the most homesick he has been for the whole trip.
We spent Friday on a day train from Madrid, which happened to be the time the Saints were playing their preliminary final in Melbourne. When we arrive at the Hip Karma Hostel, we had to wait about 20 minutes to check in. In the mean time we were able to jump on a computer to check the score, Saints up by 2 points with 10 minutes to go! We tried to get the radio over the internet but the computer wouldn't give us sound, so we had to settle for afl.com.au After an exciting/nervous 10 minutes Saints won by 7 points. We are so happy for them and hope the do well in the grand final, but really wish we were there to watch!
September has been tough for Damien with St Kilda Football Club playing so well (all year), but also in the finals. It has made him the most homesick he has been for the whole trip.We spent Friday on a day train from Madrid, which happened to be the time the Saints were playing their preliminary final in Melbourne. When we arrive at the Hip Karma Hostel, we had to wait about 20 minutes to check in. In the mean time we were able to jump on a computer to check the score, Saints up by 2 points with 10 minutes to go! We tried to get the radio over the internet but the computer wouldn't give us sound, so we had to settle for afl.com.au After an exciting/nervous 10 minutes Saints won by 7 points. We are so happy for them and hope the do well in the grand final, but really wish we were there to watch!
After check in we went for a walk down Las Rambla, the main street of Barcelona, with a big pedestrian walk, stalls and markets, street performers, cafes, bars and heaps of tourists.It is very nice with Date Palm trees running all the way down the street, to the port. We found an Aussie Bar and asked about the football replay, but the English Woman behind the bar didn't even know what Australian Rules was (bloody poms)! 
At 9.30pm we met Emma and Tanya for dinner (bit late, hey!). Anyone interested, Tanya is available, although a bid of 40 Camels made by a middle eastern guy was recently rejected, perhap
s offer goats as well! It was great to see some familiar faces and we had Spanish Comida (food) in a nice little restaurant just off the Ramblas. After dinner we went for a walk along the Ramblas, absorbing the atmosphere and avoiding the Pakistani's trying to sell us warm cans of beer or drugs on the street. The girls took us to a really cool bar, connected to the wax museum, one of the rooms was full of paper and origami and the other was set up like a fairy tale with wax characters, trees and a waterfall. We had a great night, and the girls offered to take us for a drive the next day, which we were really excited about.
At 9.30pm we met Emma and Tanya for dinner (bit late, hey!). Anyone interested, Tanya is available, although a bid of 40 Camels made by a middle eastern guy was recently rejected, perhap
s offer goats as well! It was great to see some familiar faces and we had Spanish Comida (food) in a nice little restaurant just off the Ramblas. After dinner we went for a walk along the Ramblas, absorbing the atmosphere and avoiding the Pakistani's trying to sell us warm cans of beer or drugs on the street. The girls took us to a really cool bar, connected to the wax museum, one of the rooms was full of paper and origami and the other was set up like a fairy tale with wax characters, trees and a waterfall. We had a great night, and the girls offered to take us for a drive the next day, which we were really excited about. 
Tanya picked us up at 10am and we headed about 90 minutes north (almost to France) to the province of Girona. Christine loved the first stop, Figueres, home of the Dali Gallery, a very cool building with statues and eggs on the roof.
Our next stop was Empuriabravia, a costal city with a beach, port and nice houses on canals. We had way too much to eat for lunch, 2 bread rolls each, olives and alloli for entree, followed by massive bowls of Spanish Fideua and Paella. After lunch we waddled down to the beach and then along the harbour and some of the canals. It was a very nice little town, many big houses and boats with french and german flags on them.
On the way home we visited two more amazing towns one with a castle, Castello De Empuries and Sant Marti De Empuries which had a nice church with a wedding party out the front. We also went to the beach, some cliffs which had great coastal views and found some old ruins to climb on. The drive back was uneventful except for when Tanya got us lost, but I suppose it was really Emma's fault as she had the map! We got home at about 10pm, still not hungry but very tired. We had an awesome time seeing some places we wouldn't have seen if it weren't for the girls, so BIG thanks! 
We wandered up to the hospital which was quite stunning, before cruising along Passery de Gracia, the most expensive street in the city, which has a number of amazing building designs.
After a tiring day Emma met us at the hostel so that we could cook her dinner, sadly Tanya wasn't feeling well. We had a nice pesto pasta and Branzo de Gitano (a cream and chocolate pastry desert), watched some AFL on TV, said our farewells, packed our bags and went to bed.
Sunday morning we slept in, exhausted after all our travels of the last few weeks. Still full from lunch yesterday we had a light breakfast, leaving the bacon and eggs we had bought in the fridge for another day.
We spent the afternoon sightseeing in Barcelona starting with Parc De Joan Miro which had gum trees (exciting), sculptures and a big dog poo that Damien stepped in! We saw the old bull ring which is being turned into a shopping centre, Placa Espanya, Font (fountain) Montjuic and some city views from the Museu Nacional, via a series of escalators up a big hill.
Our tour continued to the site of the 1992 Olympic Games, where we saw a big white tower, Torre Calatrava, some fountains, Palau Sant Jordi and Estadi Olimpic. This part of the city is more modern and the stadium was open for us to enter and have a look around, it was really good to see, the atmosphere at the Olympics must have been so amazing.
After a late siesta, we were hoping to head back down to the fountains for the sound and light show, but unfortunately a huge storm rolled in so it was too wet. We did go for a walk, hearing the thunder roaring over the city was quite cool.
We spent the afternoon sightseeing in Barcelona starting with Parc De Joan Miro which had gum trees (exciting), sculptures and a big dog poo that Damien stepped in! We saw the old bull ring which is being turned into a shopping centre, Placa Espanya, Font (fountain) Montjuic and some city views from the Museu Nacional, via a series of escalators up a big hill.
Our tour continued to the site of the 1992 Olympic Games, where we saw a big white tower, Torre Calatrava, some fountains, Palau Sant Jordi and Estadi Olimpic. This part of the city is more modern and the stadium was open for us to enter and have a look around, it was really good to see, the atmosphere at the Olympics must have been so amazing.After a late siesta, we were hoping to head back down to the fountains for the sound and light show, but unfortunately a huge storm rolled in so it was too wet. We did go for a walk, hearing the thunder roaring over the city was quite cool.
We are staying at Hip Karma Hostel, which is really good, has free internet, good location, very clean and a tv with cable. We found out the Saints game was being replayed tonight at 10.30pm, but due to a baseball game running late, it was delayed by 2 hours. We still watched it of course, and got to bed a bit after 2am. Saints won the replay too, Go Saints!
Monday, again we slept in, and then cooked ourselves bacon and eggs for breakfast. Christine then went for a walk, and some how took an hour to find a junky tourist shop on Las Ramblas, which is quite an effort since there is one on just about every corner of the city! Damien went and had his hair cut which was fun, as the guy only spoke Spanish, but we managed! We spent the afternoon sightseeing again, looking at the amazing Gaudi architecture in Barcelona. The big church Temple de la Sagrada Familia, is an amazing gothic design, and the main attraction in Barcelona. This is where Christine thought she had lost her prescription sunglasses as she couldn't find them anywhere. "They are on your face, darling!".
We wandered up to the hospital which was quite stunning, before cruising along Passery de Gracia, the most expensive street in the city, which has a number of amazing building designs.After a tiring day Emma met us at the hostel so that we could cook her dinner, sadly Tanya wasn't feeling well. We had a nice pesto pasta and Branzo de Gitano (a cream and chocolate pastry desert), watched some AFL on TV, said our farewells, packed our bags and went to bed.
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