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.