We left Toulon, France early in the morning with one aim - to drive to Barcelona. To save money and appreciate the scenery, we decided to take the toll-free, coastal road. This was easier said than done, as every road seemed to lead to a motorway tollgate. When we finally found a more scenic, free road we ran into a traffic jam... What should have been a one hour journey ended up taking three! After this we all submitted. If we were going to get to Spain before 2012 we would have to stick to the expensive motorways!

Some fellow travelers had suggested the Internet site 'Air BnB' to find good cheap accommodation. The way it works is that people list their spare apartments, bedrooms or couches online for a cheaper rate than most hotels. We gave it a whirl and lined up a cosy apartment in central Barcelona. The owner, Sebastian, must have thought five Aussies would be too much of a handful, so stayed with his girlfriend for the three nights we were there. We had the whole place to ourselves, and they even had a beautiful fish tank to make us all feel at home!

For our first stop in Spain, Barcelona proved to be a great introduction to the crazy Spanish bio-clock. With most attractions, museums and shops not opening till at least ten, it was only too easy for us to adjust our stomachs forward a few hours. We had breaky at eleven, lunch at three and tapas for dinner at nine, without even trying. After 6am starts throughout Asia, we were surprised at how easy it was to adopt the Spanish lifestyle.

We spent some time in Barcelona wandering around the city and gawking at Antoni Gaudi's most famous sculptures and buildings. It seemed like half the city was designed by this quirky, eccentric architect with a passion for brightly coloured mosaics and abstract curves!

We started at La Sagrada Familiar, a spectacular, enormous cathedral which is still a work in progress after 129 years of construction. As we walked around the outside of the building it was easy to notice the changing design, from the 19th century Gothic architecture to the typical, eccentric, curved, Gaudi look.

From the Cathedral, we wandered towards Las Ramblas, a pedestrianised, touristic area full of street performers, artists and people selling anything from giant fake roses to live turtles. We rambled along until we reached the seaside, where we dangled our weary legs over the wharf for a rest.

To complete our tour of Gaudi-influenced Barcelona, the next day we rode the Metro out to Guell Park. This unusual park turned out to be a big (and popular) oasis away from the concrete-jungle. Although the area was originally intended as a kind of utopian village for the rich, the plan failed and it now serves as an interesting public park. Winding up through a tree-lined path to the top of the hill, we were rewarded with fantastic views of the city, even if it was hard to see through the masses of tourists! On the way back down the hill we noticed that many of the trees were decked out with huge nests and chattering green parrots, adding to the exotic feel of the place. Eventually we found the official park entrance, decorated with extravagant, colourful mosaics and fountains. It was pretty crowded with tourists, as well as the usual artists, musicians and white sheet, black market vendors. That was until the police arrived and they all gathered their bundles and sprinted for the trees!

After Em and the folks retired to the apartment for a siesta, we squeezed in a visit to the museum of another eccentric artist - Pablo Picasso. We're not usually that fussed about art galleries, but Picasso's collection was absolutely fantastic. The gallery was arranged chronologically, so we were able to see the different stages in Picasso's lifelong career. Although his style changed dramatically, a common characteristic of all his paintings was his obvious vision for shapes. His later, and most iconic, 'cubism' paintings amazingly form colourful characters from seemingly random squares and triangles. Similarly, the rough, seemingly random, brush strokes in early portraits somehow formed very lifelike faces. It was a good insight into the warped, randomly logical mind of this deservedly legendary artist.

Intoxicated by the bohemian vibe of the city, and a few glasses of supermercado Sangria, we attempted to sample the Barcelona nightlife with Aidan's sister, Emily. We ended up at a small local bar, got chatting and before we knew it, it was 2am and all the bars were closing! It wasn't the rowdy, wild all-nighter we had imagined, although we were satisfied and happy to retire to bed. We must be getting old!

Back in the car now, we are heading south towards Granada. All citied out, we are all hoping to find a nice, quiet caravan park along the coast to stay tonight! Wish us luck!