Ole………..Lesley took me off to Barcelona

Lesley took me off to Barcelona for a short mini break………….we loved it…………Tapas, Pinot, Gaudi, Rooftop Terrace Bar, Olympic Village, History of Catalonia and local culture, famous Cathedral, bus tours, Columbus, more Tapas, more Pinot………….walking up Las Ramblas pedestrian motorway…………….wow!!!

Weather was terrific…………..views were stunning………….Tapas were great and Pinot to die for!!

Sunset after a dip on the hotel rooftop terrace plunge pool………magic!!

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Gaudi’s famous Gingerbread House………………..never heard of him before…………BUT I HAVE NOW!!!!

Fancy designing and building a Cathedral in 1913 and not finishing it ………… builders must be Brits!!

…….but then again it’s quite amasing and his input, influence and lasting footprint on the style and architecture in the City is awesome……………..and reminded me of Brunel’s efforts but all in one city rather than spread throughout the Nation.

We took several bus tours and here’s Columbus’s statue……….apparently he didn’t do the Catelonians any favours initially when discovering The Americas after heading West and not East thereby favouring Atlantic trade moving elsewhere other than Barcelona……………but they still built a wonderful column similar to Nelson’s all the same!!

Lesley having been there several times before was a fantastic Tour Guide………………..!! But she lost the book (well left it on a bar)……!!!

and had to do a spell of Guard Duty as a ‘consequence’…………!!

which was thirsty work standing in that hot hut for 24 hours she says!! What ever happened to stamina I say!!

…..take it all back……………she managed 2.5 pints down in one inside 25 seconds, not bad I say!! Barcelona……………in sum………..we’ll be back that’s for sure.