Spain - Barcelona

Another delicious and mouthwatering dinner menu last night. I started with some antipasta/parma ham, followed by a soup course of beef consommé. The main course was a melt in th mouth chateaubriand steak and to finish, the thinnest crepes I think I have ever had, rolled and containing a light chocolate cream filling. Just sublime.

We had then planned to watch the evening show as David Copperfield was on stage (he originally found fame in the Three of a Kind TV show from the eighties which launched the careers of Lenny Henry and Tracey Ullman). The theatre was packed and there was no room for us to sit....which was probably just as well as we stood and watched for a few minutes and decided it was all pretty dire. Plan B was to visit the roulette table and once again, we played for a half hour or so and neither won nor lost.

I know that many people love it, but try as I might, I find it hard to warm to Barcelona. It is just too crowded, just too busy, just too noisy and just too much of an urban sprawl for me. The Ramblas apart, many of the other streets which we saw today looked rather run down, with many vacant shop fronts and graffitied walls. This is not to say that the City does not have its good parts and it's attractions, it does...and fortunately today's excursion took in a few of them.

Having done a fair bit of walking over the last few days, today's tour was a much less strenuous one as we opted for some sightseeing from the comfort of a coach. The route took us past the Olympic stadium and from where we could take in some fabulous views of the city and then descended back into the city centre and the gothic quarter with its unique architecture. Next stop was the Sagrada Familia which never fails to impress despite building work starting over one hundred years ago and still not being scheduled for completion until 2026. We then came back along the seafront and passed the site of the Olympic village and sailing venues before having a last stop at Barcelona Cathederal and the oldest part of the city.

Thus we have now departed the port and the next time our feet touch dry land, we shall be back in Southampton.