Bodhi Bum

So another bank holiday weekend just passed here in the UK last weekend, and we decided to do the usual long weekend activity in Europe and do a "short city-break" as they call them here. Whereas if you were in Canada you might take the May 2 4, grab a 2 4 of beer, a tent and head out for a little camping and fishing. That's not really an option in the UK where they caught their last wild trout in 1685 or something. Not to mention that the island is completely devoid of any serious large animals. You got a lot of bunnies, but not much else.

Anyways, I digress. So last weekend we hopped the plane after work on Friday and headed for Barcelona. 'Barna' as the locals call it, is only about an hour forty minute flight from London (and close to the same from Liverpool where Mikey flew out of). We both landed pretty much the same time at around 10:30pm, and had to catch the bus from Girona airport into the Barcelona. Ryanair only flies into Girona, which is an hour twenty from the city, but any other option to fly directly to Barcelona is like three times the price. I found two tickets for 144 quid each, which started the weekend off fairly cheap.

So by the time we got to Barcelona it was already midnight. We caught a cab to Las Ramblas from the bus station, and got dropped off at Placa Real where the hotel was. Now I booked this hotel site unseen off a hostel site on the internet, and although the reviews said it was a little dodgy the location couldn't be beat. And were they right. Our room was pretty standard, but open the balcony doors and you walk out on our very own balcony overlooking the square. Placa Real square is pretty much the heart of the city. Las Ramblas is the main street, and Placa Real is the centre of the action. It was activity 24/7 with people eating out in the restaurants in the square by day, and thousands of drunk tourists drinking 1 Euro spanish beers and partying in the street. It was a pretty crazy place to stay, and although a little on the loud side trying to sleep, it was the ideal place to be based for a few days.

The first night we didn't get settled and out onto the streets until almost 1am, so we pretty much just to stick close to home and wander the streets. The armies of little men selling 1 Euro beers in the streets kept us well stocked for our travels. Now Barcelona I was told doesn't get going until well after midnight. Now that's hard to beleive, even London is rocking before 11pm on the weekends. But the Spanish don't seem to come out until the rest of the world is already in bed. Even on Sunday night we thought about going out early as it was Sunday and people had work the next day, but we were told not to even think about having dinner until 10pm cause then things would be picking up once dinner was done. So a lot of beers and a cool clubs, and the sun was up so we dragged our drunk selves to bed for some early morning sleep.

Second day it was beautiful sunny blue skies and 32 degrees. Nice change from cloudy old England. So we decided to cure the hangover immediatley with a jug of Sangria and a selection of seafood Tapas right on the strip, Las Ramblas. Proceeded by a wander down to the ocean, and along the pier to check out the beaches. We made it to the first one, and the bro went for his very first swim in the ocean. I forgot my shorts so had to pick up a pair at the beach, for approximately the price of a small car. Highway ransom at 74 Euros, but jeans weren't gonna cut it in 32 degree weather.

That night we got going late as directed, and went to check out a few clubs. First was closed, but the second turned out to be in a castle thingie up on top of a mountain, called Le Terraca. It was an open air club, with palm trees actually growing out of the dance floor. Pretty amazing club, and we even got to watch the sunrise from the balcony.

Sunday we did another wander down the beach, and found that there were actually a number of beaches. At about beach number three, we stopped for lunch at a beach side restaurant and polished off a pan of piella (Spanish national dish, which is like baked seafood rice concoction, and really, really good). Two jugs of Sangria went down as well while Mikey tried his best to burn himself, and I tried my best not to (but still did). After that the bro ended up with one big red burn on his knee, which doesn't make much sense, and I ended up with a bad farmers tan. After lunch we kept walking and we made it to beach number five I think, after having passed the touristy beach, then the mixed beach, then the kiddie beach, etc, until we found the cool, young beach. We had the brilliant idea to stop and buy a six pack and a bag of ice, and had a little afternoon party/siesta on the beach. Of course by this point the sight of endless varities of breasts had become commonplace, but I still had to get a pic of one to prove to everyone back home that the girls actually do let it all hang out in Europe. Although I'd say it's probably more common in Australia. At least 50 percent of the girls on Sydney beach are topless, while in Barna I'd say it's more like 20% at most.

Switched hotels Sunday night to a backpacker hostel in Placa Real and hung out with a couple Canadian guys on a post-uni trip through Europe. Sunday we did the touristy thing and caught the sight-seeing bus around Barcelona. The cathedral was absolutely amazing. It's the only cathedral in the world that is actually still under construction. It was started about 120 years ago, and is still going strong. I don't know if the Spanish are just really slow builders, if they take way too many siestas, or what, but the detail they put into this thing is crazy. It was designed by Gaudi, this famous Spanish architect you designed half the city.

Sunday night we had dinner, grabbed our bags from the hostel and headed to the bus station. Of course we left with plenty of time before our flights left, but on the way there I checked the schedule and saw that the last bus for Girona airport was already gone. So after 115 euro taxi ride we made it there with plenty of time to spare. Flights were pretty uneventful, except that it was after the long weekend and the Customs line at Stansted airport in London was about an hour long. Tired and burnt out at 12:30pm, standing in a line for an hour is not fun. But made it back safe and sound and already have another week of work done. Chill out weekend this weekend, to save the energy and money.

Bodhi