Ola from Barcelona! We got into Barcelona at about 7pm Saturday evening, a little behind schedule as the whole of France seemed to also be heading to Spain. So Spain works on a completely different daily routine than the rest of the world. Dinner isn't eaten until at least 9pm, usually later. The clubs don't open until about midnight, and aren't good until 2am. So to be able to last the whole night the Spanish have a siesta in the afternoon, which suits me just fine! Our first night we headed for our first taste of tapas at Can Eusebio! We had potatas bravas (pretty much just little cooked potatoes with a sauce), croquettes- little fried things that we think had fish in them, and weird squid things that squirted stuff out of them- not a fan! We enjoyed a couple of €1 beers and wandered around before coming home.
Sunday we woke too late for breakfast at the hostel so enjoyed a full English breakfast at about midday. We then went onto the beach and spent our afternoon sunbaking on one of Barcelonas man made beaches. We left there early evening and headed back to our room to get ready for dinner. We ate at Can Eusebio again and tried different tapas. Potatas Bravas again (it's €1), cannelloni- it was made with a sausage meat and was delicious, Padrons peppers- little green capsicums grilled with salt, extremadura sausage- tiny chorizo sausages on bread, and Spanish tortilla- a potato and onion baked dish that has a similar taste to quiche. Best tapas that night! We enjoyed some more €1 beers and headed out. We went to an Irish bar, saw a little of the closing ceremony of the olympics and then headed onto a club. We didn't really know wheres best to head afterwards so came home at about 2am- poor effort for the Spanish!
Monday we were up and about in time for breakfast and went on a free walking tour of the gothic region of Barcelona. Free walking tours always have really good guides, they work hard to make sure they get a tip at the end of it. He showed us some of the sights of Barcelona as well as places to eat & drink around the area. Afterwards we went to one of his recommended restaurants for lunch- 3 courses for €9.40 as it was a culinary school. Delicious! We took a look at the main shopping areas and got ourselves lost in the little streets. Tapas again for dinner, this time we had potatas Bravas again, cannelloni, Russian salad- similar to a potato salad with potato, beans, capsicum and watermelon, it was actually really good, we also tried cheese tacos- a plate of cubed cheese, huh?!, paella- traditional Spanish rice dish, and Argentina pie- little pastry pies. We headed to check out the cinemas afterwards- I hadn't been in 3 months, bit of a craving! We saw the latest Batman, in English! Such a good movie :)
Tuesday we woke, had breakfast and started the tedious chore of washing! It's such a time waster because you can't leave it and go out. After the washing we set off in search of bicycles to hire. We found some and cycled along the beaches of Barcelona- my blog photo is from this. We stopped at a beach for a quick dip & sunbake. We managed to combine tanning, exercising and sightseeing all in one activity! After dropping off the bikes and our long walk back home we grabbed ingredients for nachos for dinner- quick simple and cheap. We leave for Ibiza early Thursday morning so we had accommodation close to the airport for Wednesday evening. So Tuesday evening we repacked our bags and had a quiet night- bike riding takes it out of you!
Wednesday we woke, had brekky and headed to find our next accommodation. It was in the middle of nowhere, but so close to the airport. We had a very laid back day, ate dinner at the hostel before having a relatively early night. I couldn't sleep all night, and somehow managed to knock my iPod off my bed and smash the screen- not my best night! We woke at about 3.30am, got our stuff together and headed for the bus stop to take us to the airport. We were on time and sat for a while before watching the bus arrive, and drive straight past us without stopping- oh oh. We hurried back to the hostel and there happen to be a taxi just dropping someone off so we jumped in that. Perfect timing!
Next stop, Ibiza!