September 2011 (including Mum' Trip Part 2 - England, Amsterdam, & Paris)

The next place on Mum's agenda was the Lakes District, with just Mum and I. Rob and I had gone with Anne and Matt in late November and it was beautiful but pretty cold so I was looking forward to seeing it in summer (sort of the end of summer anyway...). When I booked the tickets by some quirk it was cheaper to get First Class tickets on the train there than standard ones, which was pretty exciting. We got a free cooked breakfast and drinks and felt very classy. When we got to Windermere we decided to go and drop our bags off at our inn and then go exploring. The place we were staying was very quaint and the manager was very friendly and welcoming. After a nice chat with the man we went off and browsed all of the shops in Windermere, scoping out a place to eat at later on.
One of the shops we looked at was a designer dress recycling place where mum found a lovely skirt, which she ummed and ahhed about for a while (and eventually decided to buy it just before we had to catch our train home!) I also bought a nice skirt.
We walked down to Bowness after that and had a look at the lake. I was quite keen to buy a good outdoor rain jacket as it was not warm and the wind was quite strong. The towns in the Lake District are full of outdoor shops so I was able to find a good jacket that I was grateful for later. We walked back to Windermere and had dinner in a little cafe. I was not well pleased with my meal though as I ordered lamb shanks but they had no mashed potatoes so I had to get them with chips. It's just not the same! Mum got fish which she was happy with. Then we got sticky toffee pudding and lemon meringue pie for dessert and shared them. The sticky toffee pudding was amazing but the lemon meringue pie was a bit average.




The next day I had organised a Beatrix Potter trip before we caught the train home. We got picked up then driven out through Yewdale Valley to Coniston water. From here we went on a lake cruise, and the guide pointed out where on the lake the ill-fated Donald Campbell had broken the water speed record and then fatally crashed Bluebird. He also showed us what places Beatrix Potter had lived in. After the cruise, our next stop was Hawkshead, a medieval village that had a little Beatrix Potter museum that Mum had a look around in. We had lunch at a cute cafe with amazing huge bap rolls (I had salmon and cream cheese and Mum had Wensleydale cheese and chutney). All of the seats has blankets that you could put over your knees or round your shoulders if you were chilly. We then stopped at Tarn Hows (Tarns are bodies of water that are shaped like tear drops). It is a very popular beauty spot and there were lots of people picnicking and taking photos.

We were hurried back into the van, then we drove up the incredibly narrow road to Hilltop, getting stuck once or twice when we encountered traffic in the opposite direction. The rule is that smaller yields to bigger, so we had a heart-stopping journey in reverse at one point when we were up against a coach, with everyone peering nervously out of the window down the sheer cliff face we were teetering along. When we finally got to Hilltop, most people had bought tickets to go inside the house, but we decided not to.

It was quite a lovely day, and we enjoyed looking around the garden that she had based so many of her books around. There was even a Mr MacGregor and some Peter Rabbits.






We saw the place she really lived (across the road), and learnt about the types of sheep in the area (Swaledales and Herdwick).

It was a really good tour that was good value for money, I thought. They dropped us back with plenty of time to spare, so we went and sat a a cafe called The Lighthouse, and I had one of the yummiest desserts I've ever had - a warm chocolate fudge cake with gooey icing.

The day after Windermere we were off to Amsterdam.

We got a plane then took the rail into the city. Our hotel was supposed to be quite easy to find but that didn't stop me wandering round like an idiot going the wrong way for about an hour. Finally we got there, and found that they had given our twin room away, so we had a double instead. I was annoyed at the principle of the thing so argued until we got upgraded to a super-king room. It was gorgeous, with one of those great poofy duvets, and the bed was massive so we probably each had more room than we would have had in two single beds!

We wandered round, taking in some of the sights, and found a cute little place to have dinner that seemed to be pretty authentic Dutch. I got the best "bangers and mash" I'd ever tasted (not called that, obviously!) and Mum got fish.

On Saturday we soon realised it was going to be a scorcher. We decided to do a couple of tours, and booked a combo with a canal boat and a countryside tour. 

We started with the boat, and had a nice look around the city from the perspective of the canals. The houses are all wonky and on a lean because of the instability of the ground. We learnt some interesting things, like that every house has a gable hook that they use to hoist up furniture through the windows.

After our boat ride and a yummy vegetarian falafel pita bread for lunch, we had a bit of time to look through the shopping parts of town, where we saw a massive line for an ice cream shop. We couldn't resist getting one of obviously the best ice creams around, and so lined up for an 80 cent(!) piece of creamy heaven. It was time to meet for our tour by this time. We nearly melted while we were waiting for the bus to arrive to pick us up, but finally we were on board. Unfortunately the heat had done me in and I couldn't stay awake for all the facts about dykes we learnt on the way... I did manage to get a good idea of how they lay things out though - the farmland is beautiful with all the canals bordering the fields. Our first stop was a Cheese factory village, where we learnt about cheese making and saw lots of windmills. 

We then stopped at another village where there was a big fair on, where we were due to take a boat ride over to an old fishing village. We had a bit of spare time so we wandered round admiring all the cute Dutch houses, then we met up and hopped on the boat to head over to the fishing village. The houses are all traditionally green and black, due to using natural ingredients in the paints, such as grass and dirt pigment. Our next stop was a clog factory, where we got a demonstration on clog making. By the time we got back to town, we were starving, so we found a bistro and had mussels. Then we had a look around town - there were loads of quite seedy places around. I imagine it would take some know-how to know where to go.

It was a contrast on Sunday - rainy and a bit chilly. We had planned to go to the Anne Frank museum early to avoid the crowds, so we got there about 9 and there was only a tiny line. The museum was fantastic. It was amazing to think it was that very house that that poor family hid in, all that time. And the bedrooms and everything are all still there, pretty much as they were, but without the furniture. The museum was a real highlight of our trip. We walked to the famous flower market afterwards, then had a couple of monstrous sandwiches at a cafe for lunch - reportedly Mum's sandwich was one of her favourite meals of the trip. After having a bit more of a look around the shops, we hopped on a train back to the airport. One safety tip about Amsterdam for people that haven't been: Watch out for bikes!

The next day I went to work and Mum went on a tour by herself to Warwick castle, Stratford and Stonehenge.
Our next stop was Cornwall. We flew to Newquay early Tuesday morning. It was a scary flight - it was very rainy and windy, and the plane was wobbling and lurching all over the place. We stayed at a B&B called Bedlam House, with a lovely owner and really trendy and comfortable twin room. We went shopping, and bought a couple of things each, then for lunch we had to have a Cornish Pasty! We went for a massive long walk after lunch, along the cliff tops and beach. Although it was windy, the sun came out and the view was gorgeous. For dinner we had fish and chips at cute cafe, followed by a really yummy home-made lemon meringue pie.
It was only a short visit to Cornwall - the next day, after a bit more of a wander round Newquay, with some more shopping, and some Cornish ice-cream, we taxied back to the airport and got our flight to Bristol. There we caught a quick train to Bath. We stayed at a Holiday Inn, which was very basic but had everything we needed. We decided to go to the Thermal Spas that night and had a lovely relaxing time.
On Thursday we explored the Roman Baths, after doing a great walking tour of Bath.

In the evening it was time for our train back to London.
Our Eurostar to Paris was the next evening. We decided to squeeze in Camden during the day. Mum loved the markets. We wandered around and bought cupcakes and had devine 15 minute massages. I also took her into Cyberdog and she was suitably impressed.
Once we got to Paris, we followed the theme of our trips abroad and got lost again trying to find our hotel. We asked a teenager working in a dairy and he was absolutely lovely, asking all the other customers in the shop for help, so he sent us on our way with us having a much better idea of where we were going. The hotel was a funny wee one, and the tiny just-fit-2-in-at-a-squeeze lift had Mum in fits of laughter.

Saturday dawned hot again! It was going to get to 30 degrees. We somehow found a little random park in which to have our breakfast of croissant and juice, and it turned out to be massive, with a big hill and bridge and good view of Paris. After we had a good walk through the beautiful park, we made our way to my favourite spot in Paris - Montmartre - and looked at the Sacre Coeur. There was a big art market with artists everywhere offering to paint you or do a caricature.

We then went to see  Louvre, but decided that we did not really have time to make going in worthwhile. I showed mum the Pont des Arts, and we walked along the Seine. We made our way to the Eiffel Tower, but we decided not to go up it. Instead we crossed over to the jardin du Trocadero, and dangled our feet in the fountains and lay on the grass in the shade. Once we'd had enough of that, we walked to the arc du Triomph, then down Champs Elysees. We found a place for dinner that was near the hotel, and had snails for an entree, after which I had tasty duck (Mum had fish as usual). We were too tired to do much else, so went back to the hotel, and because there was nothing on in English, I watched Titanic on the German channel.

On Sunday our mission was to do the Catacombs. Fortunately it was raining so it was a perfect thing to do. Unfortunately everyone else thought the same thing so we had a bit of a wait in the queue first. Once we got down there though it was phenomenal. Such an eerie but peaceful place. In case you don't know what they are - they are a series of underground tunnels that have been filled with the bones of millions of Parisians.. http://www.catacombes-de-paris.fr/english.htm.




After we emerged from the darkness we decided to check out Notre Dame.  While we were waiting in (another) queue, we were entertained by this man feeding the birds. It is hard to make out from the picture but he had about 20 birds fluttering onto his hands. Notre Damn was beautiful, and when we emerged it was sunny, which was nice! Unfortunately it didn't stay warm and so we popped into the mall under the Louvre (pretty much the only shops open in Paris on a Sunday) and had a look around. After that there was only time for a bit of dinner before we had to make our way to Gare du Nord to catch the Eurostar home.
On Monday I went to work, while mum pottered around and got her stuff sorted. I had bought tickets to Spelbound, the gymnastics troop that won the 2010 Britain's Got Talent, so we went to that on Monday night with Mum, Rob and Jen. There were other acts involved as well, including Michael Collings, also of BGT fame, and it was a really good night all in all.
We wanted to get as much more of London in as we could, so on Tuesday Mum and I did Soho, and Monument, and had afternoon tea at the Hilton Doubletree in Covent Garden.
On Wednesday we went to Harrods with Rob, and happily it was early enough on a weekday that there were hardly any tourists around. I had bought tickets for Billy Elliot that night for me and Mum, and it was an amazing show, definitely one of the best ones. Mum said she enjoyed it more than Phantom! It was our last night. On Thursday I went with Mum to Heathrow and she was off to Milan for her next leg of her trip - a cruise around the Mediterranean.
Friday, was back to work and normal life... Difficult.
We had tickets for the Comedy Tree on Saturday night with Jen and Alicia though, so that was a good diversion.
On Sunday I went and had a Gel nail manicure and pedicure with Jen (which was good, but not the best and neatest job ever, and unfortunately they didn't last too long) and then I went and saw a movie with Mon.
The next weekend I had the BVA Conference, and also Nick and Sarah were in London, before they were due to head back to NZ. We met up with them on the Saturday, and went to GBK at Westfield. Unfortunately Remy wasn't very well, but we still got some cuddles in.

August 2011 (including Mum's trip part 1 - London and Berlin)

I was busy planning my mum's imminent arrival for most of August. She was due to arrive on the 22nd We still managed to fit in a few things though. Rob had very kindly received a Red Letter Days voucher from his work mates during his hospital stay. We had decided to both go on the "Spy Games Day" out at Milton Keynes. We arranged it for the 20th August, the Saturday. It was a really fun day. We started with axe throwing, which I was utterly hopeless at, but Rob was very good. Then we went onto the automatic rifles, shooting little balls at man-shaped targets. The instructor was either impressed or scared that I managed to hit the guy in the head every time. After the automatic rifles were the sniper rifles, which we shot from behind barriers like real snipers. We then played a game like laser strike with the other teams, where we had to shoot people from behind barrels and wore helmets that told us when we were dead. Pistol draws were next, and once we had learnt how to draw our weapons we had a competition of who could draw theirs the fastest. 

Rob and I got into the top five, but were thwarted by the YMCA round - I got M which is by far the hardest letter to draw your pistol from! Unarmed combat was next - learning how to disarm you would-be assailant when they are intent on stabbing you. And last but not least, surveillance, where they showed us all of the tiniest bugs and cameras you can get.

Crazily, we had organised something else with our friend Flynn that night - an all-night marathon of all three Lord of the Rings movies in a row at the BFI Imax. It started at midnight and ended at around 10 on the Sunday. We managed to have a nap after the Spy Games and before the movie, so managed to stay up throughout the marathon. It was actually quite good seeing them all in one go but we were shattered the next day. I had to get up very early on Monday to go and meet Mum at the airport so it wasn't the best idea, but I managed to get up at 5 and got to Heathrow in good time. It was then that I noticed that her plane was delayed for over an hour... Luckily I had brought my Kindle.

Finally Mum turned up. Her and her sister and brother-in-law had been for a stop-over in Singapore before flying to London, so the flight was at least broken up, but they had been kept waiting a really long time with the delay - so we were all pretty tired!

Lor and Nor were going onto France while Mum had her 3 weeks with me, so we all said good-bye. Then I made the executive decision to get a cab as the Picadilly Line had severe delays and I was more than fed up with waiting.

I had made an appointment for us to have a fish pedicure as Mum had said she wanted to try it, and by the time we got home it was already  time to leave to make the appointment.

We made our way to the appointment which was practically in Barnes, and had our fish pedicure. Then we went to Kingston and met Rob for lunch, and had a stroll around and a look in the shops.

Tuesday was unfortunately not quite the scorcher it was on Monday. It was quite drizzly and cool. I figured it would be a good day to go to the Tower of London. Mum loved it. We saw the Armoury, the Crown Jewels. the Royal Menagerie exhibition, the towers the prisoners were kept in, and Mum's favourite - the torture chamber!

After we were finished at the Tower we looked at more touristy things on the way to dinner - like Trafalger Square and the Olympic Countdown clock. We had dinner at Joe Allen in Covent Garden - it was a voucher deal - and extremely good. We both had a starter of quails eggs and then a Portobello mushroom burger, followed by dessert. Then I had tickets for Phantom of the Opera - because Rob and I had such dismal seats last time we went I looked on Seatmonkey to find the best seats this time around. It was much better - we could see everything that happened on the stage and above it. After the show we wandered through Soho and showed Mum Leicester Square (not at it's best with scaffolding blocking the entire middle) and couldn't resist the terribleness of M&M World.

The plan on Wednesday was to go and see the Changing of the Guards. But as seems to be my luck with this, when we went to have a look the sign proclaimed no Changing that day. We walked around the corner wondering what to do next and then on a whim decided to have a look in Buckingham Palace. We didn't realise how long the line was until we were in it, and by the time we were in it we decided we might as well stick it out... I'm glad we did too. We decided to get tickets to the Royal Mews as well. 

Our ticket for the Palace wasn't for over an hour so we went into the Royal Mews first. It is absolutely lovely. The place is like a tiny village - everyone that works there is born into it. It is where all the working Coaches and horses are kept. We learnt about all the different coaches - the Scottish, the Australian... (the Queen's favourite has good shocks, air conditioning and electric windows), and saw a couple of horses - the rest were on their holidays in the countryside. 

The Queen has two types of horses in her stables - the Cleveland Bays and the Windsor Greys. They weren't being very co-operative for photos though... 

Once we were in the Palace we weren't allowed to take photos unfortunately. We saw all the beautiful State Rooms, the Throne room where the official wedding portraits were taken, and of course the main attraction - The Dress. It was in a special display in the Ballroom, along with samples of the fabric and a documentary playing about how the dress was made. Even the Wedding Cake was on display. Once we were out in the Palace Gardens we were allowed to take a photo.

After we'd had our fill of the palace, we took a walk through the touristy areas and then went to Hyde Park Corner where I showed Mum the New Zealand memorial.

After that we went to Covent Garden and looked at the market and watched the buskers, then I had to show Mum Carnaby Street... We had pie and mash for dinner in a little place off Carnaby Street.

On Thursday I went to work and Mum had a wander round Putney and walked around the Thames from Putney Bridge to Hammersmith Bridge. I showed her B@1 and introduced her to the Disco Biscuit. 

Friday we were very excited to be off to Berlin to catch up with Nick, Sarah and baby Remy Blue. I had met Remy when we were in Christchurch and I couldn't wait to see him again. Rob was to join us on Saturday. We flew into Berlin and decided to get a taxi from the airport. The driver either didn't or pretended to no speak English so we had to play a bit of a game of pidgeon German, but we got there uneventfully. It was over 30 degrees, beautiful weather. Nick and Sarah's flat was in Schoenenberg, a nice little area with a lot of families around so lots of playgrounds and Kinders around. Little kids were all around, playing in water fountains in the nud. Their flat was huge by London standards, 3 bedrooms with massively thick walls and a view across the street into the leafy park across the road. Remy was very excited to see us, especially Nanny who he had skyped with quite a bit. We went  to an outdoor pizza place for dinner that was like a giant sandpit with deck chairs and children playing all over the place. Remy had a ball, except for when he got stung on the leg by a wasp. Mum took great pleasure in ordering a beer so she could tell Kevy all about it when she got home (in fact she developed quite a taste for it and even started stealing Dad's Steinlagers when she got home!).

The next day we waited for Rob to arrive and then went out and about Berlin! We had to see the part of the wall remaining first, of course. Although there are only fragments, you can get a (tiny) idea of what it must have been like. There was a guy selling fake border passports. It was a short walk to the Jewish Memorial, which is an amazing sculpture. You can get lost in it.

We saw most of the sights, including the Reichstag, although we didn't go into it. We went through the Brandenburg Gate and saw a Biker's convention in the square through the other side. The hotel Adlon was there too - the very same hotel that Michael Jackson hung Blanket out of. In the Tiergarten opposite the Gate we bought an amazing cheesy pretzel which we all devoured, then we watched the giant bubble lady. Jen was in Berlin at the same time, so we met up with her and she spent the rest of the day with us.

We went past the Berlin Cathedral to the canal and decided to go on a canal boat trip, where we took in the sights from the boat. Most of the time Remy wanted to hang over the edge of the boat looking at the water. Unfortunately the day was the opposite Friday had been and it started raining while we were on the boat, so we went downstairs into the warm for the second half of it. Fortunately we had already been up the river though and were only going back down it.

After our Boat trip we were all starving (except maybe Nick who had a hot dog on the boat), and we decided to go home and have take-aways so Remy could go to bed. We got really good Thai from a place close to their place and stayed up late swapping stories and enlightening Jen on old family tales.

We weren't bothered about doing too much more sight-seeing - we were just happy to be hanging out with each other. So on Sunday Nick and Sarah took us to a lovely park and we wandered down the path by the river, buying an enticing-smelling bag of mini donuts, then finding a lovely restaurant on a boat with pork knuckle(!). For some reason I didn't get the pork knuckle but had some of Rob and Sarah's (they shared one). I got fish, along with Mum and Nick. Rob and Sarah also got amazing ice cream sundaes and I got some cheesecake - it was nice but I must admit there was some food envy going on.

After lunch we decided on a mission to find the Soviet War Memorial in Treptower Park, which Nick and Sarah had not managed to find yet. It was very hidden away and not easy to find at all, but when we emerged upon it we were speechless for a little bit. It is hard to get the scale in a photo but is is hugely impressive - the entrance is flanked by massive kneeling soldiers then the main statue (at the end of this photo) is a giant statue of a Soviet soldier holding a rescued child and crushing a Swastika under his foot. Propoganda galore! It was our last night so we got some treats in and had another night of gossip.

The next day was nice and sunny and before we left Nick said we had to take the bikes to Schoenenberg Park to have a look. It was a short bike ride to the place, which is an old airport that is no longer used as an airport and was given to the people to use as a public park. It was glorious hooning along the runways on our bikes pretending to be planes. we found an old plane behind a fence with an eagle perched on top, which was very cool - he let us get incredibly close. We made our way back to Nick and Sarah's place and sadly got ready to head back to the airport, after lots of hugs and kisses with my gorgeous nephew.

Tuesday was another day at work for me, and then Wednesday we were off to Windemere!

July 2011, including Benicassim and Barcelona, 13-23 July

The weekend of July started with an impulse ticket buy - to Pulp at Wireless in Hyde Park. Metronomy and The Naked and Famous were also playing, both of which Rob is quite into. Unfortunately we just missed Metronomy, as we were standing in the queue to get in, but from what we heard from outside the park they were pretty good. The Naked and Famous were a little bit disappointing. A lot of their songs are a bit rambling and nowhere near as catchy as their much-played single. As we were waiting for Pulp to start I was starting to realise how much I was looking forward to this. And Jarvis did not disappoint. He's engaging, witty, talented, and played all the crowd favourites. The best thing was that he had a little anecdote about a lot of the songs they did, and about his time at art school in London. Rob enjoyed it as well, even though he only knew a couple of the songs.

The next night, Monday, we caught up with Si and the crew at the Half Moon - if I haven't mentioned it before, its a pub on Lower Richmond Road in Putney that has singer songwriter nights every Monday night. We keep meaning to go a lot more often than we actually do, but I suppose it makes it more special when we do go. There's some really talented individuals and groups there, and this night was no exception.

The next weekend Georgia had organised a theatre/tour called Accomplice.(http://www.accomplicetheshow.com/details-london.php) The rough outline is that it is an interactive experience where you are part of a mystery that you have to solve by walking around London and finding clues. At strategic spots people from the Accomplice team met us and gave us a little bit more of the back story and another clue. There were around 10 of us in the group and there was much speculation and brain-teasing. Without giving too much away, it was a fantastic afternoon out.

Then on Wednesday we left for Spain. We flew to Barcelona and took the train from Barcelona to Benicassim. We were staying in pretty much the only hotel I could find with available spaces (I think I was trying to book to early, but didn't want to miss out). They all hike their prices for the music festival, but the hotel had had good reviews. And sure enough our room was big and comfortable, and the breakfast was a pretty good continental breakfast with the obligatory dodgy scrambled eggs and sausages in the warmer. The town is a small seaside town, that every year gets absolutely packed out for the Benicassim Music Festival. All of the restaurants suddenly sport big blackboard menus boasting English Breakfasts, Chicken and Potatoes (meaning chips) and Pizza. My favourite was the board advertising Strambled Eggs. On the first night we had a bit of a wander round the town, taking advantage of the lovely warm weather, and found a pre-festival band playing off a truck. We went to the beach and took in the sand, empty of people but with a lot of debris that gave us a clue that the daytimes would be packed.

The Festival was to start on Thursday. The plan was we would sleep in every day, hang out on the beach or by the pool, and then have a nap in the afternoon before heading out for nights full of music. Which is pretty much what we did. After a nice lazy day (I finished The Stand while we were in Benicassim - which is a big, big book! That's how much reading by the pool I was doing, lol), we headed to the Festival. It was a fair walk, part of which was on a motorway, but we finally got there. The grounds are all concrete, which I suppose makes it easier to clean up, but it seemed odd when we first got there.

There wasn't too much on on the Thursday night that we cared too much about. In the end, we watched a little bit of Russian Red, Paolo Nutini (which Rob was NOT thrilled about), Plan B and The Streets. We were really disappointed with the Streets, despite not even having very high expectations. The guy (I can't remember his name) sounded even more off-key than usual and the guy rapping with him did not harmonise with him at all. We missed Chase and Status and Pendulum because we'd had enough and couldn't be bothered waiting round for them.

 On Friday night we started with some English comedy in a stifling hot tent. There was some pretty average acts alright, but most of them did pretty well with the heat and lethargy of the crowd. After that we were both really excited to see Brandon Flowers.

We got places right up by the fence that divides the Mosh Pit from the rest of the crowd. He was amazing, and the set was fantastic.

After Brandon Flowers was Elbow, which I had been looking forward to but turned out to be pretty boring. And the lead singer kept getting upset with the crowd and telling people to move back. We decided to stay where we were for The Strokes, (which was the band I'd been looking forward to the most) which was a big mistake. When they started with New York City Girls, the surge of the crowd smashed us up against the fence. We tried to hold our ground but got a glass of vodka thrown in our eyes for our troubles. We quickly made a run for it to the outskirts but refused to let it dampen our spirits and enjoyed the rest of the set, which was as dark, sexy and catchy as The Strokes ever are. Julien Casablancas was the epitome of cool with shades on during the whole performance. We couldn't be bother waiting for 45 minutes for Friendly Fires to start at 3am, so left after The Strokes.

Saturday was an anticlimax after Friday night. Neither of us got much sleep during the day (we went on a massive walk and checked out all the beaches), so we were pretty tired. We caught some of Lori Meyers, then some of Bombay Bicycle Club - Stupidly the organisers had scheduled Mumford and Sons to start on the main stage only half an hour after BBC had started on one of the other stages, so we had to leave early so we could see Mumford and Sons.

They, happily, lived up to our hopeful expectations. After Mumford and Sons Arctic Monkey were on, but we weren't feeling it so we left halfway through their set.

Sunday was the last night and the night Rob was looking forward to the most as Arcade Fire were playing. We watched bits of The Coronas From Ireland, and CatPeople, then Noah & the Whale was on. These boys (folk) rocked the place. We caught a little bit of Professer Green while we were waiting for Portishead to come on. Portishead were really good, but a very different kettle of fish to everything else at the festival.
After Portishead, Arcade Fire came on and electrified the place. They had the best set design of anyone, like an old movie theatre. Everyone in the band (of which there are a lot of people!) got so into it, it was great. A really good way to end the festival.

Our hotel in Benicassim had a minimum five night stay over Benicassim so Monday was a day to just recover and wander round the town before leaving for Barcelona on Tuesday. The difference on Monday in the town was eerie. During the festival, we had gone to the beach most days, and found it funny every time. Most people don't bother (or don't get in on time) to get a hotel or even camp at the festival. So all along the roads heading to the beach, and along the beach itself there were hundreds of people finding the tiniest bits of shade and sleeping there. Some were completely set up, with BBQs and lilos to lie on (I'm sure the little shops in this town make the majority of their annual income over these few days). There were also heaps of guys walking round selling dresses, sunglasses and hats. So on the Monday all of the guys selling sunglasses and hats were gone. The bodies lying on the beach were gone. Even the rubbish was gone. It was back to being a sleepy seaside town for retirees.

So on Tuesday we were ready for Barcelona. There were still a lot of people leaving on Tuesday, so the train was full and we spent the whole train journey trying not to let our knees touch the knees of the guys sitting opposite us on the four seaters. We got into Barcelona, and checked into Aparthotel Silver - a really nice hotel, and very reasonably priced by the way. Our room was really big compared to some hotels we've stayed in, and had a little kitchenette which was useful. It was really close to the Metro which was ultra-handy! Shamefully enough, one of the first things we did in Barcelona was go and see the last Harry Potter movie - we managed to find a cinema that plays movies in their original languages with Spanish subtitles. Then there was a Japanese restaurant by the cinema so we ordered Japanese food from a Japanese couple who spoke Spanish - not English - all very surreal. Handily there was also a supermarket in the same complex so we ordered some supplies for our little fridge in our room.

We had a booklet the hotel had given us with "must-see" touristy things to do. The first thing that we went to look at on Wednesday was the Hospital Santa Creu Sant Pau. The old hospital was designed by Domenech I Montaner (not Gaudi!), and is a beautiful building decorated with sculptures, murals and mosaics. Unfortunately for us, it was actually being renovated so we couldn't have a proper look or a tour, but we found our way down to an average viewpoint where we could get some photos at least.

We decided to visit the Sagrada Familia next, which was not too far on the metro. When we got there though, the line to go in stretched around the block.

We decided to come back early the next morning. We walked towards the sea, getting a look at Torre Agbar (just another Gherkin really), and the National Theatre, before we got tired of walking and jumped on a tram. At the end of the tram track, somehow we found ourselves at the zoo, and I couldn't pass it up.


















It is not the best zoo in terms of enclosure size, but you can see that they're trying and improving, and have a good breeding programme going on. There were twin baby orangutans which I could have watched for hours. They also have a lot of gorillas and chimps, big cats like leopards, black panthers, lions and tigers. The tigers gave us a bit of drama when we noticed that a mother duck with about 6 ducklings were in the moat surrounding the tigers, and the mother duck had climbed up into the tiger enclosure. All the ducklings were trying to follow her up, and kept falling back into the moat. Eventually the last duckling got up there, but by that time the rest of the ducks were back in the water, and the tiger had noticed the duckling. The tiger stalked the duckling, and pounced, all of us holding our breath and me squealing a little bit. A clump of grass hid what was happening. All of a sudden the duckling popped out from behind the clump of grass and sprinted for the edge, plopping back into the water to be reunited with a relieved mother duck. It felt like a moment for applause, if it was an American movie...

The best part of the zoo was the dolphin show. We lined up for about half an hour, but it was worth it. There were three dolphins and two trainers. They both spoke in Spanish but we could pretty much follow the gist of it. They leapt, raced each other, and then towed the male trainer round the pool. It was very spectacular.

After we had made our way around the zoo, including hippos, rhinos, elephants, flamingos... the list goes on...

we went into the Parc de Ciutadela and found the spectacular fountain, some of the sculptures within it made by a young Anton Gaudi. Unfortunately, in what was to become a bit of a theme for us in Spain, the fountain wasn't actually going as it was being cleaned. We relaxed on the grass for a bit and in about 20 minutes must have had 10 different men come past us with plastic bags surreptitiously asking us if we wanted to buy "ice-cold beer or water". At the end of the park or the beginning I guess, there is a big tree-lined avenue with an Arch at the end of it. People walk, roller blade and cycle along it. We later found out the it is the Barcelonian Arc de Triomph, and they were offered the Eiffel Tower first but refused it due to it's ugliness...

Once we'd wandered back to our hotel, we decided to head out and find some authentic Spanish Tapas for tea. The lady on reception recommended us a place close by, so we headed there and found that sure enough it was no touristy gimmick place. The guy that ran it was an old guy that recommended lots of bits and pieces for us to try. We tried Catalan sausage, fried eggplant, an AMAZING layered tart with who knows what in it but i think things like salmon mousse, and some other items, which left us incredibly full. Yum!

Thursday we set out bright and early for the Sagrada Familia. Gaudi took over the design for the cathedral in the late 1800s, and it is still not finished over 120 years later. This is mostly because it is built purely on public donations. It is a truly amazing building. The queue was much shorter than the day before, thankfully, so we waited for around 30-45 minutes before we went in. While we were waiting a lady handed us a flyer for a Flamenco show which Rob decided we should go to that night. Inside, the cathedral is beautiful. The entire principle of his design is for the place to be filled with light. Once the cranes and builders are all gone it will be spectacular. I might have to go back...

The Nativity Facade (1894-1930)

The Passion Facade (1954-1976)

The spiral staircase

View from the top

After we'd spent a few hours working up an appetite looking at the cathedral, we decided to go to Las Ramblas and visit La Boqueria for lunch. It is a food market, with beautiful food of all sorts. The first thing we bought was a fruit smoothie - banana, chocolate and coconut. Definitely one of the best smoothies I've ever had! We wandered around the market, taking in all the amazing sights and smells, then bought some scrumptious food at a deli stall in the market - fish and asparagus bake and salad. So cheap and good!

We then tried to get ourselves lost in the Gothic quarter off Las Ramblas, and I managed to find the little street famous for chocolate, where I bought some chocolate and churros - mmmm! We then headed to find more of Gaudi's works. One of them, the apartment block, we just looked at the outside, but we went inside the house that he made for his friends (Casa Battlo). I wished I could have lived there, it is amazing with everything in the house made to be completely ergonomic, and there is barely a straight line in the house due to Gaudi making the house echo nature, with a lot of references to water and waves.

The Skylight

Chimneys

In the evening we went to the Flamenco show and paid way too much for dinner (average) and a show (mostly good but when it came to the lead "world class" male dancer, hilarious!).

Looking back at where we started

We decided to use our last full day to go up to Montserrat (Serrated Mountain) Monastery. We took the train out there then got a cable car to go up to the Monastery itself. It was a long way up, and we could see the little path that they used to use to go up there snaking for miles below us. In fact you can still walk up if you're so inclined...

Can't see the start anymore...

Once we got to the top, we looked around for a bit and then went into the cathedral where we saw a massive line for something. We didn't know what it was for so didn't bother lining up. We went back outside and round the side there was a little tunnel lined with candles, so we went in there then followed some people through a door that said No Entry (naughty!). We went through some old rooms then suddenly found ourselves in front of a small statue of Mary and Jesus. Jesus was holding a little ball. It didn't take long for us to realise that that was what the line was for, and we'd come in the exit! Seeing as we'd made it in there, I thought I might as well touch the ball, as that was obviously a luck thing, then beat a hasty retreat...

Not sure what she is doing here but makes for a good picture

The Serrated mountains behind the Monastery

Scarves

We walked up the mountain further to the Hermitage of St Jean, which was a cave overlooking an small, old building, and felt like we were in Tibet or something - not Barcelona!

The name of Rob's bike...

After we went to Montserrat, we came back down to the city and found the night bike tour place that we'd decided on. When everyone eventually turned up there was quite a few of us. Some girls from Egypt, a couple from Hong Kong, some fellow Kiwis... the girl that lead the tour was from America, but had come to Barcelona to study Chinese Medicine. As you do.

Placa Reial - the lamp-posts are Gaudi's first piece

It took a couple of wobbles to get used to riding a bike again, but then I remembered how much fun it was and hooned along the bike tracks. We rode along Las Ramblas, then through the Parc (this time the fountains were going so we had to get a photo!) and then to the beach where we stopped for a drink.

Our Tour Guide

We had a bit of a panic when the Egyptian girls disappeared but eventually they were found and we set off again. Because of the lost girls incident we had lost a bit of time so our guide was worried we would miss the climax of the tour - the Magic Fountain, but we managed to get there in time for the last few tracks (it is set to music).

On Saturday it was our last morning in Barcelona. We took one last photo of a Gaudi house (Casa Vicens - just around the corner from the Aparthotel Silver) then walked to the Metro one last time.













Our July adventures were not quite over though. I had gotten tickets for the Ben & Jerry's Festival for the Sunday (the day after we got back from Barcelona), so we gorged ourselves on ice cream and enjoyed the perfect weather.