Back again!

What can I say? I loved loved LOVED Barcelona! It was a wonderful city awash with history, wonderful architecture, sights and things to do, colourful and vibrant. I was only there for a short time but I saw and did so much! I visited La Pedrera, the Sagrada Familia, Barcelona Zoo, Monjuic castle, Las Ramblas, Port Vell and walked for miles and miles until my feet and legs ached at the end of every day. I also met up with my blog friend, Mar of Maremagnum.

We arranged to meet on my first evening in Barcelona as Mar was heading off on a trip of her own, skiing in France. I had arrived in a rather damp and grey Barcelona and I was tired by the time I got to the hotel. The trip across the city via train and Metro was not as simple as I thought it would be but it was a useful lesson in how the system worked and served me well for the rest of my visit. Once I had freshened up, M and I set off to find La Pedrera, one of the famous Gaudi buildings, which is where we had arranged to meet up with Mar.

It was raining when we got there and La Padrera was surrounded by French school children. I was worried I would miss her in the throng so we stood by the door of the souvenir shop , while Mar waited inside because of the rain. Anyway, she spotted us and it was like meeting an old friend. We went for coffee in a wonderful place nearby that was full of scenes made from chocolate including, quite bizarrely, Sesame Street characters and one based on Japanese architecture, complete with a Samurai warrior that appeared to be executing an Easter chick! Still, it all smelt delicious when we went in and sat drinking coffee while we waited for Mr Mar to finish work. Alas, Mr Mar could not join us but we got a great view of La Pedrera from the office building and it was lovely to meet him. So we went for Tapas with Mar while she waited for Mr Mar to finish, at a wonderful and bustling little Tapas bar where we sampled some tasty Catalan food.

We talked so much and about so many things, from blogging (of course) to our lives, geography (the differences and similarities between things in Spain and the UK) and many other things. The visit was over far too quickly before we had to go our separate ways. It was wonderful meeting Mar. She comes over exactly as she does on her blog. Vivacious, friendly and warm. I liked her very much and I hope we get to meet again one day.

I took over 500 photos while I was in Barcelona and will be posting more about my trip soon.