The rain comes overnight with lightening and thunder and it buckets down. It was forecast but The Navigator (aka The Forecaster) says its going to be dry later and tomorrow. Let’s see? Good news for the locals as this area is in a drought.

Today is meant be a visit to Park Guell, another Gaudi legacy to Barcelona. We um and ah because of the rain but decide to go. A park Gaudi designed up on the hill behind  Barcelona, in his style, buildings like fairy houses, mosaic tiles set into concrete shaped buildings etc.

Problem 1, with the rain, taxis are hard to get. My FreeNow app can’t find one. But, The Navigator does, she gave him the evil eye and he knew he had to stop for us. She’s in such a hurry to get into the taxi she slips on the gutter (nearly another ankle incident like Venice a few years ago). When we tell the driver ” Park Guell per favore” he laughs so hard he nearly needs a change of underwear. He says, hands pointing to the sky ” rain, you mad”. Anyway, €20 lighter we get out at Park Guell, she ( The N) heads over thinking we’ll get straight in but is told the tickets are for 9.30 not 9.00. I chuckle silently, she made a small mistake, an admissible error does not often happen. In fact, like me,  she makes lots of blues but rarely admits them.

Problem 2. We get into the park and the steady rain gradually becomes heavy rain, the Park is lovely, it really is, the buildings fantastic  but, it’s so f….g wet!!! Water is running down the paths, my feet get wet Mark’s OK he’s got Scarpa boots), not sure about the others. The Gortex Kathmandhu raincoats are great but dont keep att the moisture out when it’s seriously pissing down.

As we leave, almost another story trying to find the exit to Park Guell, there is a plan to use the last time on our HoponHopOff bus ticket, but I can’t find the stop so The Navigator speaks to a Spanish woman who does not understand a word of English, but through hand waving,  eye contact and key words we think (The Navigator that is) if we get on Bus 24 we will end up close to La Rambla where are staying. After initial panic that we’d end up in Velancia, the bus fills up with wet steaming tourists heading, we hope, in the same direction as us. The €2.55 fare per each finally gets us to Plac Catalonya, time to get off, it’s a miracle but we are actually close to home.

I side track to a C&A store, my favourite shop anywhere. A German chain that sell nice clothes reasonably, all over Europe, so I buy some jeans, a jumper and a cap. We shout The Mechanic a cap as well, on condition he gives his Country Eagles cap to his mother. The Navigator does buy a pair of trousers as well. Never one to miss a bargain!

Simone shouts us lunch on the walk home, we eat it in house. Tonight we’ll eat put after a rest and dry out this afternoon. We are soaked!

The afternoon is spent drying out, The Mechanic and The Navigator watch old westerns, in Spanish, with Spanish or Catalon subtitles and make the plot up to suit themselves. It’s a 1956 movie with Richard Widmark who she called Wilder – close but no cigar.

Dinner is at Rossini’s in Plac Reil, an Italian restaurant that The N has found. Great choice, great food and good service.

A short walk but think better and retire. Tomorrow is a free day, a bit more exploring the Gothic area I think.

Ciao from Barcelona, Pauolo

Early rise again. We used the FreeNow Taxi App to book s taxi last night. Abdul is on time and we’re on time. €14  gets us Segrada Familia, a taxi is much better than a 1 hour walk. We organise him for the early airport trip on Monday morning. Thumbs up to FreeNow.

I’ll need to rehash yesterday a little, I was a bit weary last night. The book Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon paints the picture of the Gothic area of Barcelona so well, the dark alleys, the pigeons scattering as you walk, a cool breeze and shadows in the grey distance. It is dark and haunting but beautiful at the same time.

Now, this morning is dedicated to a visit to the Segrada Familia – Goudi’s masterpiece and life long work. It’s still being built today to Goudi’s concept and drawings in neo Gothic style but with a contemporary architect and modern building technology. It’s truly spectacular, the form, the stories, the colour, the light. No photos can do it justice.

Next the Hop On Hop Off bus, we do a few laps of Barcelona. Some parts special, some parts grungy, the ’92 Barcelona Olympics residential sites are very tired. The city is crowded, hate to see it summertime and busy!

3pm we’re at Gaudi’s Casa Mila, an apartment building with a central courtyard. We get to see an apartment plus, attic and the roof top terrace. I’d love one of these places as a little bolt hole in Barcelona.

4pm it’s time for Friday Night Drinks, which is tapas and drinks at Dora Tapas Bar & Restaurant – food has to suit The Navigator and the Mechanic so it is a process, but this time its not too bad.

Back to the HOHO bus and we head to Montjuic where the Olympic Stadiums were, still spectacular on the hill, past Barcelona Football Club Stadium (100,000 capacity), followed by a 20 minute walk home via the notorious Las Ramblas where pick pockets apparently abound – they don’t get us.

Tonight it’s forecast 20-40mm of rain, so tomorrow may be a wash out – shopping in raincoats maybe???

Ciao

Pauolo

Rain forecast overnight happens but not much. It stirred up the homeless guys sleeping rough outside, I’m guessing with a little chemical help. They are yelling a lot of the night.

8am the taxi arrives, €10 to Sorolla train station which again works out well. Thumbs up to Spanish taxi drivers and their fares.

The Navigator argues the train on the board, No 01092 showing Alicante 8.55 is not ours. I advise its the arrival board not the departures board which shows the destination Barcelona Sants 9.05  . She struggles with the concept a bit does finally grasp it.

Fun Population Fact         Madrid 3.2m Barcelona 1.6m  Valencia 800k

Our train is a little late but after our platform comes up on the board we’re through security and on platform 9 where the tickets are checked.

This is a nicer train than the one from Madrid, more room better seats. It’s a duck billed sleak looking unit in need of a wash on the outside.

The train in Spain,

Was late, but in the main,

It was fine, there was rain,

As we sped across the plain

I hate to be a pain,

The Navigator lost again,

Nearly drove her insane

An argument that was in vain,

About time and platform of our train.

There is lots of intensive agriculture on the outskirts of Valencia, all irrigated but mostly plains, however there are mountains that hug the Mediterranean coast as we edge towards Barcelona.

This train runs at about 200km/hr. Very civilised, good coffee. I manage to knock over a few chapters of A Death in Cornwell” by Daniel Silva. Gabriel Allon is one of my favourite fictional characters.

We have lunch in Barcelona Sants train station waiting for our apartment to be ready.

Taxi rank at the train station is bedlam but €19 gets us to out apartment. We rush in, throw our gear down and head up the ramblas to meet our walking tour group of the Gothic area of old Barcelona. Tamara is a Chilean girl who has lived in Australia, Portugal and now calls Barcelona home. Great tour ,too much to see, too tired to tell you.

Tomorrow we see Goudu’s the Sagrada Familia Church.

Ciao from Barcelona

Pauolo

Rain??? It rained all night, drizzle. It’s dark at 7am and just light at 9am. A light breakfast in house.

We seek advice from the Mons Suites guy 3 minutes walk away regarding a taxi for tomorrow morning. He’s advised of a toaster that trips the circuit breaker and is clearly faulty, a safe that’s needs to be unlocked to be useful and where to leave the key in the morning. The apartment is just average, looks like an ’80s reno by a home handyman, it’s a bit short on stuff. It’s position is OK but ideally I’d prefer to stay down the bottom end of the old city, near the Cathedral, about 10-15 minutes walk away. Wherever you are there are restaurants, cafes, Carefours corner shops so you won’t starve or dehydrate. Water from the taps or fountains anywhere is fine here.

We find the Hop-On-Hop-Off bus after an interesting walk through placed we hadn’t seen before. The Ceramics Museum is a spectacular building. Down town the modern architecture of the city is spectacular, stunning maybe. The Turia River bed ( the river diverted) is the green lungs of Valencia and splits the city into 2 sides, is spectacular. Apparently the others segued down it yesterday, it’s green, no cars, a haven for bicycles, sport, runners and all sorts of stuff. We traverse the marine area, the beach and then back to the old walled town. A walk to Plaza del Toros where the bull fighting stadium is doesn’t get us a result, we can’t get in.

We have lunch at a Cafe, then walk to Valencia Cathedral, €9 each gets us in. It’s spectacular, no wonder they hold the plates out at mass, the gold, scultures and paintings ( some by Goya) would cost a lot. This basilica is of significance because they believe the original chalice that was used in the last supper is on display. Monty Python eat your heart out, I know where it is.

Valencia has a very interesting history of being conquered by Christian, Islamic, Spanish dictatorship in recent times. It’s clearly a very Catholic place now.

Beer, hydration then some food to end the day at 7pm. We’ve been 9 hours on the go.

The Navigator and The Mechanic need to sort their eating out, they struggle to work out what they want to eat and at the end of a long day it makes for tension or bad decisions.

Tomorrow we’re on the road ( or the rail) again to Barcelona.

Ciao

Pauolo

The Navigators alarm goes off at 7am, it’s still dark in Madrid, and she’s not sure if the taxi was booked for 8 or 8.30, reception can’t tell her either (even though she said she booked it). Classic case of if you say you are doing something f….g well do it – don’t mess with the Navigator.

So, we get our own taxi to Madrid main station Atocha Central. Pretty easy really. Busiest train station in Spain we hear. 100 million passengers a year we hear. €8 for the taxi is good value and another great driver. They all turn their meters on when you get in, I check.

The train in Spain, runs across a plain, to Valencia and there’s no rain. Not yet anyway.

Breakfast after passing a light security check. Get our platform 10 minutes before we leave at 9.44. Seats are found but not with a table between us like we’d hoped for.

The train tootles along at about 300 km/ hour. Spain looks dry, smaller paddocks but a lot like parts of inland Australia. Looks like poor soil mostly.

Madrid Sum Up                           I liked Madrid, if I’d felt better and had a bit more time and patience I would done the Prada, the Reiner Sophia and Thyssen Museums at my own leisure, especially the Reiner to see Picassos “Geurnica”. The city is tree lined, there’s a buzz in the streets, we felt safe, taxis are great and with more time we would have used the metro which is pretty extensive. Next time. Would I come back? Yes.

The Navigator is fighting with her phone, the eSim isn’t performing to her lofty standards. I think it’s to do with it being an iPhone as the eSim works fine on my garden variety Samsung. There is a fair chance I’m to blame for this issue. I think, no actually I don’t think, that means trouble.

Major train panic, the Navigator has returned from a loo break, thinking she might have locked herself in. She confessed she was on the verge of ringing me, but then worked it out ( ie how to open the door). Being semi trapped in a Spanish crapper at 300km/hr has softened her issues with the slow data speed which she actually manages to solve herself.

Anyway, she sees a little humour in it, but not as much as me.

We arrive in Valencia on time, €8 taxi to our check in then a drink in the old town pending actually getting into our apartment at 4pm. All is working OK

The Navigator has booked 3 segway tours of Valencia at 5 today. I’m not on the list, I’m not having her show me up on those confounded weird machines.

The old Mercator Centrale ( central market) is beautiful, the building and all sorts of foods. We buy some goodies for the next few days

The seaway tour is OK, I think. But it rained on their medieval Valencia tour, and it rained on me wandering the streets. It’s cooled down and raining, we’re eating in tonight.

Oh, and a comment for the bowel queens, the universe has aligned – I’ll now be eating and drinking normally, and just possibly, I’ll be a little more agreeable to my travelling companions.

Ciao from Valencia

Pauolo.

A few things from yesterday that I forgot to mention. Fatigue must have caused it.

1. The taxi (€33 fixed price) front the airport to Madrid city is worth it, quick, well managed at line up at the airport. We got a great driver, a Rumanian guy who came to Spain 20 years ago. Good advice, on the money, an Athletico Madrid supporter but prefers skating and rugby. Whodda thought!

2. Italian food near the hotel, rude people, food only OK and expensive.

3. Belly troubles remain, no explanation to be provided but it’s causing me a bit of grief. Unblockers have been deployed.

Back to today now, we start with breakfast at Starbucks (only normal looking breakfast around) and the travelling crew are pretty limited with food range.

Hop on Hop off bus is next and we do a few laps of Madrid. It’s leafier than I imagined and the bustle and hystle builds up until 8 or 9pm and it’s then positively teaming with people heading out to eat and have a drink. The Spaniards we’ve met seem friendly and it has a nice buzz about the city. Shame that we don’t have more time here.

We walk quite a bit. The museums are busling except for the Thyssen which is closed when we thought it was free today. The Prada museum has a long line up. There is a Ruebens exhibition on at the moment. The Reiner Sophia Museum is one I really want to see with contemporary works from Dali and Picasso ( especially Geurnica) plus many others  but the line up at the free session is about 500 metres long and I’m too weary and not feeling so crash hot so give it a miss. Apparently the line does start to move but my gut us suggesting it’s time to move. Maybe next time.

The Navigator does some shopping. A late lunch in the Atocha area, lovely little Cafe, great waiter (Roberto)

Dinner is at a little tapas bar in an alley near our accommodation at Woohoo Suites Grand via 44

Ciao for today

Pauolo

The flight to Madrid isn’t something I’m looking forward to, long haul flights are a means to an end, not a pleasure. As we pass midnight and into Sunday we’re over the desert country Western Australia with about 11 hours of this leg remaining.

I wasn’t tempted by the drinks on offer, except for a Fanta. I’m feeling I’ve imbibed/ ingested ( whatever the correct word is) to much carbon dioxide, consequences for later?????

I watch a few movie, listen to music, read

Doha Airport at 4am is nice but mostly not operating. A decent meal to settle a few unsettled bellies is helpful. Otherwise we check out the shops which mostly have stuff that only rich Arabs can afford eg Porsches, Mercedes G Wagons, Paterson Pillipe watches and other expensive.

Finally on board our plane at 9am for the leg to Madrid. The longe before we board is full of machine voices talking in Spanish, loudly and non stop. Like Italians but less hand waving.

One thing that really annoys me, huge bags coming on board as carry on when they should be checked. Unacceptable!!! Fix it you airlines

The flight goes south of Israel and Lebanon, the over the top of Cairo, Tunisia and Algiers before Madrid.

Madrid is dry and brown, but the centre of the city is busy, for a Sunday arvo.

We’re absolutely stuffed, so a shower, a feed and bed, to hopefully wake up with the body clock set correctly for the next month.

Ciao

Pauolo

Translate the heading. That’s if you want to know what it says.

The Navigator is worried, out of all the things she thinks she can control Mother Nature is not one of them. It’s raining, worry worry, it might fog up at the airport, worry worry, so she busies herself with jobs, a tidy up of Tim’s grave( we won’t be here for his 40th birthday), cleaning up our place, printing last minute passport photos until the Mechanic arrives to drive us to the Dubbo airport.

John and Annette are picking us up for a rest before the big flight tonight (Sydney – Madrid). The Navigator comments on the repairs to their driveway retaining wall, a good job “but” there’s no rail for her to hold as she ascends she comments. I wish she’d say what she really thinks! The Mechanic and Simone make no comment – smart move. My sarcasm is met with the stink eye look.

John picks us up at the express pick up, and after he drops us off he then picks up Annette who has been out at a “long lunch” and quite cheery – tooo mucho bubbles I reckon.

The Navigator comments on the repaired retaining wall being a good job but suggests it needs a hand rail. This time she …. gets the stink eye from Annette.

She’s prepared a late lunch/ early dinner but John takes the Mechanic and I to a mates place to view some guns ( legal) he has a gun room with better security than Fort Knox. He has a large collection of Sako rifles, a few 50 calibre, a huge range of pistols including some rare expensive guns.

But, it takes time, we rush back to Roselands, get our bags get dropped off at the airport. We’ve already been checked in from Dubbo to Madrid, the run through immigration and security is quick and easy.

We’re out of Sydney on time. First stop in about 15 hours is Doha, 2nd stop is Madrid (Sunday afternoon)

Sleep is impossible. I’ve got a lady in front who immediately goes full tilt on her seat and refuses to raise it (initially) when we are given food or drinks – the cabin steward sorts her out for me.

Ciao

Pauolo

Gooday, The Navigator, The Mechanic, Simone and moi, Paulo, are off travelling in a few days time. The Mechanic is turning 40, so we’re celebrating his birthday in Cortona in Tuscany, but, prior to that we’re going to Spain, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Austria and Hungary.

The Navigator has put the trip together, Sonya Hogan has booked it. It’s a busy itinerary, planes, trains, vans, cars.

Looking forward to getting on the road again. Although that said  in 2024 we’ve had a break in  in Thailand, then another short spell in the Cook Islands, Port Macquarie for a week, a few weeks on Cobar on a farm hunting pigs and a camping trip to Bellbrook on the Macleay River.

So, over the next five weeks I’ll be posting a WordPress blog of our travels, with a link to Facebook, every day or two.

Ciao Paulo