5 hours later, well rested and fed we arrived in Barcelona! As we'd been cooped up for a while, we decided to ditch public transport in favour of our legs and walked to our new apartment…it was hot, but we made it in one piece. Out host couldn't meet us in person so was sending her friend to do the check in - although this was only a private room in an apartment, all rooms were rented out to different travellers. Luckily, a few of our new housemates had lost their keys, clubbing the night before (2 very young but friendly enough Canadians) so couldn't leave the apartment all day until they got a replacement from the host…if it hadn't been for them, we would have been sat waiting on the doorstep for an hour or so waiting for said friend to arrive. Eventually he showed up and there was a bit of confusion over which room we were meant to be having…so we opted to go for a gin while it was all sorted out - this was eating into valuable exploring time!

Once we'd finally got in and sorted, it was early evening, so went out for a walk to find the beach….

Hmm. I could have sworn the advert for the apartment said it was about a 10 minute walk! We couldn't find it and ended up doing a loop of the port and touristy shopping/eating area - we'd leave that challenge for tomorrow. With rumbling stomachs, we sought out a cheap tapas bar we'd found on trip advisor - plenty of food on sticks and super cheap! The food was great for the price - no more than 2euros for a stick (although not entirely substantial as everything came on a slice of baguette and there were no vegetables in sight!)…maybe though it was this that upset our stomachs slightly the next day…who knows.

First full day in Barcelona…we'd found an old guide book in the apartment with some suggested city walks to do. As Mum was coming out the next day, we thought we'd save the La Rambla/Gothic quarter walk for her so headed off up the hill towards the Montjuic castle. We were both feeling a little peaky…and it was quite warm, so we took it slowly. The walk took us past a huge palace (Alfonso 13th?), up towards the Olympic arena and then on up to the castle. Although we didn't go into the castle (travelling on a budget for us is meaning plenty of pictures of the outside of attractions!) the views from the top were still spectacular!

Feeling rather worn out from the heat, we went back to the apartment for some lunch and a rest to ready ourselves for the hunt for the beach later on.

Holy moly - it was a long way! No wonder the Canadian girls said they got a bus!! After about 45 minutes, we were ready to give up, but persevered and eventually found it. It was quite late, the sun was not out - yet there were a million people on the beach still - some more clothed than others….after a bit of stroll along the front, we decided against trying to get a beer in any of the bars as they were rammed, so headed back home for some dinner and a relatively early night.

Mum arrived early-ish on the next day and we met her off the bus from the airport and took her back to ours to drop the bag off as we couldn't get her checked into her room until 4pm. Guide book in hand we walked through the gothic quarter and up through La Rambla. The gothic quarter was lovely, some really old and stunning architecture. For some reason though, we couldn't find the Boqueria market (I'm sure we must have walked past it), so we stopped in for a quick lunch at the next place we found. James got a little extra with his lunch - a random marble (?!) which luckily, he didn't eat and they were kind enough to take his meal off the bill. We got Mum checked in and had a bit of a chill to recover from the heat and met up again later in the evening. The day before we'd spotted some nice looking restaurants alongside the port for dinner. We ummed and arred about which one to go in, but eventually settled on one (it was novel for us to be eating in a proper restaurant!). Just as we were about to sit down at our table, Mum let out a little shriek and we looked up to see what all the fuss was about - the couple sitting at table behind us were some old friends from Bookham that we hadn't seen in about 5 years - what a small world!! Of course, the food was amazing, super fresh fish and great service. Wish we could remember the name of the place!!

Our flight to Menorca was not till later the next day, so Mum and I used the morning to go and find the market that we missed the day before. Found it straight away! I'm glad we did, what an attack on the senses - fruit, fresh fish, fresh and cured meats - it all looked amazing! We spent some time trying to guess what parts of the animals were on display…eurgh (check out the pictures for yourself!) It's amazing what people will willingly eat…although to be honest, we probably eat it all anyway without realising it! With time on our side, we ambled back down La Rambla and picked up a few postcards, then headed back to the apartment to pick up our bags and slowly make our way to the airport.

Half an hour flight later and we arrived in Menorca. We'd opted to hire a car to make things easier and we got a good deal (well, good for August anyway!)…I was driver…

The last time I drove a left-hand drive car in Menorca, I was petrified and couldn't even talk to James as I was concentrating so much! This time though, I'd psyched myself up for it and after managing to get out of the car park, it was all relatively plain sailing!

The following 2 days were spent seeing Granny K and relaxing on the beach - just what the doctor ordered. We were staying in a new part of the island (when I was a kid, we always stayed in the south where grandparents used to own an apartment), this time we stayed in the north and it was nice, but not what we were used to. Beach was very crowded and basic things were missing from the apartment - but it didn't matter really...this was just a few days to relax and chill before heading to Italy.

Before we knew it, it was time to move on. It's amazing how quickly you can get out of the travelling mode and just think that you're on holiday - especially when there isn't really any sightseeing to do! It was also really odd not getting on a flight back to Gatwick from Menorca...

Rome, here we come! Time to brush up on some Italian.