Barcelona!! Love the weather, tapas, sights and did I say weather!!!

Hey everyone

How is everyone? Well, I have returned (just) from a great weekend in Barcelona... had such a fantastic time in my first Spanish city! We arrived on Friday nite after work and made the long trek from Grenola (good old Ryanair fly to the neighbouring city and then you have to catch a bus to Barcelona).. We stayed at the Centric hostel, which as the name suggests is right in the heart of the city!

Friday we just chilled out and had our first of many helpings of tapas! Love the variety!

On Saturday, we took the tourist bus around the city so we can maximise our limited time in the city.. checked out Olympic site, Barcelona football stadium, Gaudi's architecture, museums, took a tram ride to the highest point in Barcelona and basically just enjoyed the sun!!! It was HOT!! Well hot for me, a balmy 20C!

Saturday night, we ate some more tapas (at the Spanish time of 11pm for dinner) and then we got a drink before having a relatively early nite for Spanish standards!

Sunday, we did some walking on foot to some of the other notable tourist attractions which included the impressive Cathedral and taking a cruise on the harbour and checking out the local markets! We had such a great weekend, until it came to going home.. see we thought buses run all the time from Barcelona to Girona.. no, no, no... they finish at 7.30 and we got to the station at 7.40 and there were no more buses.

Lets just say we had to take a taxi and I wont mention how much that cost us.. it hurts to say.. it was by far the most expensive taxi ride that Ive taken in my life!

To make matters worse, the plane was delayed 45 mins so I didnt end up getting home until 2 in the morning! Word of advice, always check to see what time buses leave...never assume anything!

Hope everyone is well

Cheers

T

Bring on the snow!!!

Well my body still aches and I’ve still got a few good bruises but it was all worth it for a great 4 days on the slopes in Southern France.
It was a wonderful long weekend that I thought was never going to happen. We had an early morning flight to Lyon to then catch the connecting bus to Bourg St. Maurice. Getting to Stanstead at 4 in the morning is a mission and a half, I had to take the night bus into town and then catch the bus from Central London to Stanstead. I managed to get there ok, and the snow looked like it was holding off. They were expecting the largest dump of snow in 10 years in London and it was going to be worse in Stanstead. The forecasters predicted it would start around 6am and our flight was 6.30… it was going to be tight but fingers crossed!
We checked our bags in, got some breakfast and headed to our gate.. still not snowing… It then hit 5.30 and the snow started to fall but not heavy..
They started to board our flight and then the dreaded announcement came..’Stanstead Airport was now closed due to the weather’. All those that boarded had to get off the plane and back into the terminal.
Then the waiting game started… 1 hour, 2 hours, 3 hours and other airlines were cancelling flights.. not EasyJet they waited 4 hours to tell us our flight was cancelled and lets just say there were many unhappy campers!
We couldn’t get anymore flights to Lyon until Saturday so I thought the holiday was over and not going to happen.. something Ive been looking forward to for ages!
But there was a saving light, Dan made a call to EasyJet and they said they would re-imburse us if we could find alternative means to get to our location. After a few phone calls we had booked the Eurostar to Paris and then the connecting sleeper train to our hotel. It worked out really well, as we caught the 5pm service from London and then caught the connecting train and arrived in Bourg St.Maurice at 7.45 the following morning. The bunks were tiny but nothing was going to stop me getting a few hours shut eye after being up since 1.30 the morning before!
We arrived and checked into our hotel and went on a mission to find somewhere to get an individual half day lesson and hire our ski equipment and organise our lift pass. (This skiing caper is not a cheap sport!)
We got a 4 hour lesson, which I hoped would be enough for him to show us the basics and hopefully not get ourselves killed on the slopes!
I must admit it was a lot harder than what I thought.. heaps harder! I was getting so frustrated that I thought it was never going to happen for me.. then suddenly it all clicked and made sense!
I was on such a high after I managed to get down a run without falling on my rear end.. I can see why people get such a high from it!
I finished my first lesson, really happy and contented that I could ski.. not terribly well but hey I could hold my own!
The night I was sooooo tired, I have new found respect for skiers. My thighs, calves, knees you name it was hurting but it was all worth it!
The next day, I was a little nervous as I didn’t have my instructor with me giving me tips and this was reflective in my first time down the slopes. Thankfully, things slowly improved and by the end of the day I was going down the steepest red runs! I celebrated the night in typical French style…frogs legs… how tasty they are!
Unfortunately, Dan hurt his leg so he was unable to continue skiing the remainder of the 2 days so I was hurling around the slopes by myself and by the fourth day I was on the jumps…
It was a great 4 days and I don’t know why its taken me so long to take up skiing and I must admit now that Ive been Ive definitely got the itch and next time I want to try snowboarding! I felt like a bit of a geek with my planks, I want to be cool like a snowboarder!
It was a great location to start as well and besides the last day the weather was superb with plenty of snow.. heaps of it!! I was told the runs here were some of the toughest in Europe so if I can handle them then its time for me to hit Whistler!
We ate like Kings for the 4 days, I have forgotten what quality food is like at restaurants without paying a fortune and the French know how to put on a good spread!
We caught the bus back to Lyon airport and then flew home and arrived back in London at 10.30 on Monday night.
It was the end of a terrific weekend and something that Im keen to do again..
Besides that today is Valentines Day, so Ive organised a dinner for us singletons at Brick Lane for a greasy curry and a few drinks.. I think there are 10 of us going along!
Last night I ran a trivia night for Brent Mind where I volunteer on Tuesday nights. I was the quiz master and we had about 12 people who came along for the night. We had some spot prizes and winners for the best team.
It was a really fun night and everyone seemed like they were having a good night.
Anyway that is it for me. Easy weekend this weekend before going to Barcelona the following weekend!
Talk soon and write a message!

Cheers
Troy