(this is going to be rather heavy image wise so I’ve decided to break it into a few posts)

The following is the start of my photo diary of sorts for Barcelona …

So a while back on a whim we decided to book tickets to Barcelona they were going cheap and we’ve got a couple of friends up there so we said what the hell. Working freelance means I generally don’t take that much time off (not to mention switching off is a bitch) but I do try to get away from time to time. €60 return flights to Girona (from Madrid) wasn’t that bad in my mind. Of course its Girona (1.5 hours bus trip to Barcelona) and its Ryanair so it means its in the middle of nowhere so you’ve to factor in another odd €40 to get from Girona into the city center (21€ return per person via Barcelona Girona Bus)

I must admit I was surprised to see all the signs for Manuel on the way in (though they seem to have spelt it wrong) Having long been a fan of Fawlty Towers I found it refreshing that he seems to be as popular in Barcelona (where he’s from as in other english speaking parts of the world)

I know I know Valérie-Anne groaned as well when I said it.

Day 1: We checked in and were pleasantly surprised by our accommodation (no pics unfortunately apart from some engrish which Valérie-Anne took on her new shiny toy)

We met up with a friend for coffee in front of the Arc De Triumph and afterwards went for food (bad move going for an all you can eat Chinese buffet ) .. therein followed a siesta and then onto rambling on the Rambla a very touristy street ( though lots of little pet stalls .. street performers and a very nice local market as well). Down onto the prom and generally just chilling out.

Wandering back we took the smaller less tourist streets (though finding less touristy streets is a challenge in itself)

We ended up going to a great little restaurant up around our Hostal called Casa Alfonso had my usual Patatas Bravas and Valérie-Anne had a Cod Paella (bit too fishy for my liking) and our usual white and red house wines respectively.

My complements to the chef *burp*

After that we called it a night … probably cus it was night

End Part I

Part II