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.

The infamous Bruce Prouse (alias Trucker to many of his old running and biking chums)  recently celebrated his 60th Birthday and retired in the same week

He had a magic Party with stacks of beer and great friends, ………………..oh and a Cabaret was organised by Blaster and a few other old Mates (Snotrag, Broken Man, Barney, Ivor, Stephen, Toby, Tony, to name but a few) and their son Tim was there too…………………………. and as an ideal opportunity arose during the course of the evening Bruce elected to teach him something really useful, namely “Good Judgement”  before he finally lost his touch in Retirement!!!

Ilyan, Yanitsa and Paul raise a glass at The Bridford Inn Beer Festival

Ilyan (20) and his attractive girlfriend Yanitsa (21) from Bulgaria have moved into the Teign Valley looking for work and are now employed in a local bakery making cakes and other delicious goodies at Christow (Teign Valley Bakery) – I met them recently and took them to the Bridford Vintage Tractor Rally on the Dunsford Straight for a glass in the beer tent and introduced them to Paul Adams over a pint.

Yanitsa’s not totally sure!! Was it the Owl or the handler that was the greater worry!!!

Paul amongst many other interests is a keen ornithologist and as I didn’t have my camera to hand I asked Ilyan if he would kindly take a few photos of the birds of prey on display in one corner of the show. He was very happy to oblige and some time later downloaded them for me to add to my Blog Diary. The couple are now accommodated in Dunsford and very happily working……..they add colour, character and fun to the Village. Long may they remain.

Paul and Yanitsa admire the largest bird of prey on display – a Russian Stepps Eagle

Uncannily there’s a definate resemblance!!

‘ome ‘James’ and dont spare the ‘orses!!