We finally arrived back at Andrew and Bex’s flat about 11:45pm last night. We got caught up in a huge que at Heathrow customs and it took us well over an hour just to get through. Then we had to find our luggage etc. We decided to get a quick bit to eat at a cafe at the airport before carrying on. I got a sandwich in a cardboard packet that no matter how I tried, I just could not open. Finally in a fit of frustration I just tore at it, then it pinged open and my sandwich and it’s contents sprayed everywhere.errrr…
It was a 45min tube ride to Andrews with our packs and we were very happy to be greeted by a welcoming smile at his front door.

Today started off raining and a bit windy so London had not put on a great day. We had been so spoiled by all the endless sunny days we had been experiencing in Europe. The day was a bit of a lazy catch up day. We slept in until 10:30am. Sheree did a big wash of all our clothes and we had the inside of the flat looking like a Chinese laundry with all our clothes hanging up to dry.
We sorted through all the stuff we had in our packs including what we had brought and also what we had left at Andrews before going to Europe. We are now wondering how we are going to get it all home.
Gemma had emailed asking if we all wanted to catch up for tea in Soho and so that was the plan for later.
The day just disappeared and before we knew it the time was 3pm. Andrew rung to say he would come home from work early, get changed and then go in with us on the tube. We thought this was a great idea as then he could lead us to the meeting point in Soho at 6pm.
Sheree did not think she could hold out until 6pm as we had not had any lunch. I decided to walk to the shop by the Kennington underground station and get a few tomatoes and bits for a nibble. I put on some new shoes I had bought and headed off to the shop. Along the way I started to notice the shoes were rubbing on the top of my toes and was paying more attention to this than were I was going. YES you guest it I got lost. I tried back tracking but it just got worse. I finally asked a lady were the underground was and she pointed me down a long street and told me to just turn right from there. Unbeknown to me this was correct but was the ‘Elephant and Castle’ staion and not Kennington. By this time my feet were quite sore, I was very hot after all the walking so I just got on the tube from here to the Kennington Station. Finally, more than an hour later I arrived at Kenningto Station for what should have been a 5min walk.
By this time Andrew had arrived home and was greeted by Sheree’s worried look and asking if he had seen his father on the way home. He then rung my mobile and everyone was relieved to hear that I had the goceries and was on my way back. By this time my toes had rubed raw and needed bandaids before I could put another pair of shoes on. All this then prooved to be a great conversation piece to everyones amusment for the rest of the evening.
Gemma suggested a little family run Thai restaurant for tea that she said was the best in London. As soon as we got in the restaurant a customer asked us if we had been here before as he said it was really great and he did not tell to many people about it in case it got to busy. The meal that we all had was very tasty.
Later lead by Gemma and with an Idea from the boys to try having some hot mint tea and ‘Shisha’ we arrived at the ‘Maison Touareg’ cafe bar. The mint tea arrived and then the large bong with the strawberry flavored Shisha. This is just a flavored smoke and that is all. It was such a funny experience sitting outside the cafe with the kids and us oldies sucking on a big bong. So that’s another big tick in the box for something we had never done before. (see videos and pic)

Check out was not until 12 pm so we decided we could fit in a swim before this time. After that huge meal the night before a croissant was all that was needed for breakfast. A lovely swim in the warm water was great but by the time we walked the 15 min back to the hotel a shower was definitely needed. This beach was quite wavy with a steep slope down to the water, so no chance of gradually getting in. We were surprised by the older women who looked like they were in their 70’s that were there topless.
After checking out & storing our bags we set of up the street to soak in the last of Barcelona & the warmth. Steven enjoyed the buffet meal at Fresco’s so much the other day that we ended back here for lunch.
While walking back to the hotel the guys on the wharf were trying to hawk of their wares. Steven couldn’t resist another pair of sunglasses which got bargained down from 20 to 5 euro. Back at the hotel a taxi was ordered & after about 30 min we arrived in plenty of time to check in so time to sit and write this up. We will arrive in London at 9-30pm & be at Andrews about an hour later via the tube. Adios Spain.
PS – Oh no Steven has gone wandering & left me here & time is getting on & we know what his time keeping is like !!!

We no longer have the tourist bus now as our 2 days are all used, so we will be on foot. We had planned to leave our visit to the Santa Maria church until today as it was in easy walking distance. This was a lovely old church and inside a lady was playing the large organ which really added to the experience. Inside this massive church it sounded awesome. We just sat and soaked it up for a while before moving on.(see video)
We had heard about a bar called Dunes Irish bar that served a true english breakfast so after seeing where it was from our bus we had decided to visit it today for brunch. It was nice and cool inside and it was great to get a real breakfast for a change. Croissants each day were starting to loose there charm. We explained to the Irish Manager at the bar that we had found out about his bar on Trip Advisor and he was very pleased to hear this.
Our next stop was also not far away and it was the Barcelona Cathedral. Two buskers were playing Spanish guitars outside and were very good.(see video) The Cathedral was one of the first churches that Gaudi had designed and was currently under renovation. Strangely as these renovations were going on there was scaffolding erected that gave access to the roof, so they were allowing tourists to visit the roof. It was interesting to view things from this perspective (see pics).
After a quick visit to a food market we thought we would head down to the beach for the afternoon and headed back to our Hotel via a street that Sheree though we should go down. We stumbled across an exhibition on the clothes of ‘Maria Brillas’ who was a big part of the privileged Barcelona elite during the 1900’s. It was free to get in and was very inspiring. Marias granddaughter had donated 341 pieces, 183 dresses and 158 accessories . All Marias clothes were designed and made by ‘Pedro Rodriguez’ a master Spanish Couture. Maria was married to a distingused business man from Girona, ‘Joaquim Ensesa’ so she was confronted with considerable social pressure to be the perfect host and praise worthy member of her family.
Maria had a very close relationship with Pedro Rodriguez and only ever wore his clothes which he personally made for her. Almost all of her wardrobe consisted of designs by Pedro.
They were exquisite to see and as Sheree said she looked about her size so most of the beautiful dresses and accessories may well have fitted Sheree. (see pics)
There was also an exhibition on the influence of technology and human integration but unfortunately several of the exhibits were not working. However those that did were fun.
The Picasso Museum was just a few doors down but there was a very long queue so we decided to give it a miss and head to the beach.
We spent what was left of the afternoon just lying on the beach even though it was overcast it was very very nice.
We did not get back home until quite late and decided to shower and go out for tea at around 10:00pm??? Yes we know it’s late but we are in Europe and even at the restaurant we choose, families with children were sitting down at the same time as us.
Sheree wanted to try the traditional Paella and I got a combined sea food dish. When they arrived to our table they were huge!! So big in fact that we just could not eat it all and as Sheree said ‘just one of these would have done’ (see video)
It was well after midnight when with very full bellies we wondered home on this lovely warm evening.

Today can best be described as a ‘Antoni Gaudi’ day. We went inside two of his other works, firstly a home he designed called ‘Casa Batllo’ and secondly the ‘La Pedrera’ both on the street called Passeig de Gracia.
From the outside the façade of Casa Batlló looks like it has been made from skulls and bones. The “Skulls” are in fact balconies and the “bones” are supporting pillars.
Gaudi used colours and shapes found in marine life as inspiration for his creativity in this building e.g. the colours chosen for the façade are those found in natural coral.
The building was designed by Gaudi for Josep Batlló, a wealthy aristocrat, as an upmarket home. Señor Batlló lived in the lower two floors with his family and the upper floors were rented out as apartments.
This building is a stunning and original work. (see pics) again it is amazing to see how much attention to detail Gaudi spent on his designs. Thinking about such things as varying window size depending on how high the window was from the top of the building. In this way he could ensure uniform lighting conditions in each room of the house. Then there was the font used specifically for the apartment numbers on the door or the door handles all modeled in brass based on his own hands fit.
The other building was the ‘La Pedrera’ built between 1906 and 1910 for Milà family.
This is one of the main Gaudí residential buildings and a most imaginative house, this building is more an sculpture than a building.
The façade is an impressive, varied and harmonious mass of undulating stone without straight lines where also the forged iron is present in the shapes of balconies imitating vegetal forms.
The lofts are supported by the traditional Catalan “totxo” (brick) arching walls following the style developed by Gaudí.
The roof chimneys designing in vanguard shapes remember warriors in a forest of surprising figures.
The building was recognized by Unesco as “World Heritage” in 1984.
Both of these buildings would be a builders nightmare as there does not appear to be a straight line any where, but are amazing to see.
Then we looked for some where for lunch and found an authentic Braseria called Campechano that was obviously poplar with locals. After the waiter translated the menu in pigeon English we ended up with a nice 3 course lunch plus drinks for €20.
From here we bused around some more of the tourist spots without getting off until close to the ‘Museum Erotica’ the name says it all. It was a museum of sexual habits and excitements down through the ages and in different cultures.
Then we visited a food market and got some free freshly squeezed fruit juice and some fruit packs for later. By this time it was 9:00pm so we headed back to the Hotel.

We started bit later than we intended today. After a disappointing breakfast at the Hotel Oasis we were on the ‘Barcelona Bus Turistic’ (hop on hop off bus) by 10:30am. The plan was to do the red line today which is a two hour round trip and if we had time to also cross to the Blue line and see the ‘Sagrada Familia’ which is Barcelona’s most iconic tourist stop. Along the journey you can not help but notice the ever changing layout of the city and also the changing and different architecture that has been bought about over the last few hundred years or so. One of the most renowned architects was Antoni Gaudi who’s love of nature is reflect in his designs and are easy to spot as they are so different. Gaudi spent a huge part of his life including the last 12 years working on the Sagrada Familiar until his death in a tram accident in 1920.(see pics)
However on the way round the red line we discovered the art museum, which was closed on Mondays, but offered and amazing view of Barcelona which is a city of 1.5 million people. (see pics)
After getting some pictures of the view we walked back to the bus stop. Along the way noticed an outside elevator going up towards a gondola, so we set off to investigate. This gondola ride which takes a right angle turn half way up took us even higher, to a very nice castle called the Castle Of Montjuic which was first built around 1640.
The view over the Harbor and the city from the top of the castle roof was stunning. It gives you an idea of just how big Barcelona harbor is (see pics).
Once back down we were on the bus again and carried on around the red line. It was getting later in the afternoon so we stopped off at restaurant that offered all you can eat salads and grill so we had a big feed here that only cost €22 for both of us and that was three courses and drinks.
Feeling very fill we climbed back on the bus and along the way switched to the blue line. We did not get off until we arrived at the ‘Sagrada Familia’.
This is one of the most amazing feats of mans brilliance and in particular that of Antoni Gaudi that we had ever seen. It was on par with any thing else we could think of or had seen. It is a huge modern church that is still under construction that started back in the late 18th century. It has to be seen to be believed. Every part of it tells a story. The attention to detail in the most little thinks from how light reflects on to a column to where the choir sit around the church to give the best acoustics is incredible. Gaudi died before it would be completed but left plans, designs and models about what he wanted but also wanted future architects to have the ability to reflect the changing centuries as time went on. It is well past the half way stage now and construction continues by donation and the contribution from tourist visits. We got an elevator ride up to the top of one of the huge towers. This was very very high and quite daunting inside. (see pics)
After this we headed home via a long walk down the long and busy Rambler St crowded with tourist and merchants plus all the normal shops.

We were up early and had our buffet breakfast and then packed up our stuff for the trip to Barcelona. Today we drop the car off at the Barcelona airport at Terminal 2.
We left Calella after getting the car out of the underground parking (that had a extremely steep drive) and set Jennifer the GPS on course. We had a little time on our side so we stopped and took some photos of the coastline Of Calella towards where we had stayed which included some of the Costa Bravo. When I took the photos from above the beach it was not hard to notice that this was not only topless but fully naked, so had to be a bit discreet with the camera. (see pics of the beach)
We arrived into Barcelona on time for the 11am drop off and looking for Terminal 2 which we thought we had found but soon realized we were getting lost. Thankfully the people we were supposed to meet had seen us and drove along beside us and advised that we were towards terminal 2 but for the train station and not the airport….oooops. We followed them to the drop off point at which stage they asked us for the red insurance folder for the car. Neither of us could remember this and could not find it. The man started telling us that it would cost €200 to replace them. Thankfully I remembered that I had but them in with the passports and with a large sigh of relief we took our last look at the Peugeot, that had been so good to us and taken us more than 2800km’s. I took a photo of the total Kms we had done, jumped in a waiting taxi and were off to the Hotel Oasis only 15 mins away in Barcelona.
We could not check in until 1pm so put our bags in storage and started getting our bearings from the map the Hotel gave us. We were soon at the beach and having a look around a much busier beach than we had seen so far (see pic). Back at the Hotel we got our room and set off again looking for information on the hop on hop off bus that we had heard was really good. There are two main companies and the one owned by the city bus service offered the most routes so have bought tickets for the following two days starting at 9am tomorrow. This will give us a good over view and look at the city similar to what we did in Florence.
Later in the day we bought tickets to a wax museum called Muse de Cere. This was a very well organized, themed museum with a lot of wax figures from throughout the ages until modern day. They had some interactive parts like being inside a launching space ship, under water sub & older sailing ship which was moving under your feet.
After this we booked a 1 hr, 30 coast & port cruise around the harbor and Barcelona coast line (see pics). Barcelonna has some very interesting city centre architecture in the tall buildings of different shapes & sizes than we have seen any where else.
Later that night we went out for tapas ( very much the done thing here) again at a restaurant just along the road before heading home feeling a little tired.

We got up a bit later today and after a buffet breakfast headed out to a cloudy morning to have a look around the shops. There is a real market feel to the streets and the shops are keen to negotiate their prices. We both bought some new clothes and Sheree got some jewelry. Most of what was left of the morning and the early afternoon was spend exploring the never ending street of shops (see pic).
After lunch at a cafe that sold some of the biggest meringues we had ever seen (see pic)we headed for the beach as the sky had cleared and it was another hot beautiful. We spent the later part of the afternoon just swimming and sun bathing. The water is the warmest we have experienced yet and the beach gets deep very quickly. We watched a large ferry boat full of passengers arrive nose first straight into the beach where the swimmers were, lower a ladder at the front for the passengers to disembark and then reverse off.
We finished the night off with a meal at the top cafe again. I had a huge plate of spare ribs that this place is renowned for and Sheree had the pork kebab with peanut sauce. We washed it down with a litre of a yummy fruit cocktail called Sangria. then we went back to the beach and got a table on the sand with live music and another cocktail called Mojito. We got back home at 12:30am. What a lovely evening.

1/7/2011

This was our last day on the Canal du Midi and we had to have our boat back to Homps, the original start point by 2pm. We timed this to perfection but when we arrived the office was closed so after successfully backing the boat into it’s mooring we waited for them to open.
By 3pm we were back on the road. We had heard about a place called Fonserannes Lock (French: écluse de Fonserannes, les neuf écluses). This is a staircase lock on the Canal du Midi near Béziers. It consists of eight ovoid lock chambers (characteristic of the Canal du Midi) and nine gates, which allow boats to be raised a height of 21.5 m, in a distance of 300m. The most we had negotiated was 3 so we decided to go and see this. (see pics)
From here we made our way via the tolled roads to Calella in Spain. It cost us another €16 for this privilege but saved over an hour of travel time. Again we passed through a border but this time it was more noticeable. Spain is drier and appeared more expansive and the buildings design changed.
Something that we found quite different on the Spainish motorways, was the prostitutes dressed in really skimpy provocative underwear, sitting on chairs under an umbrella, about every 100 meters at one stage.
We arrived into our really nice BB at Calella around 7:30pm after having a little trouble finding it as there were a lot of one way streets. It’s only about a 3min walk to the beach and even closer to the many shops with sales on……oooooh no.
Around 10pm we went out to a cafe called Top Bar Cafe for a mixed selection of Tapas as advised on Trip Advisor and then headed back home around 11:30pm.

We were up early today as we thought it was 7:30am when in actual fact it was 6:30am. The clouds had gone and it was another stunning day. This now meant we had and extra hour to go and have a look at some of the shops in the main street of Carcassonne before heading away. By 8:30am we where on the streets window shopping but most of the shops did not open until 9:30am. We spotted lots of shoe shops that had sales on of up to 70% off so decided to wait until they opened.
By 10:45am we had bought two pair each and now needed to get to the boat as we had one and a half days sailing to do or we would not have the boat back in time for the next day (Friday) at 2pm.
The first lock was at the harbor of Carcassonne so this would be our first attempt at managing a lock going down rather than up (it’s called locking down). This did not go quite as smoothly as we had hoped as you have a down current and this morning there was a bit of a breeze to contend with. Sheree had to work the back of the boat and as the water goes down you just feed the ropes out.
By the next lock we where looking much better and from then on we looked pretty professional. Later we helped another boat of older people who were having major troubles with the ropes as none of them could jump off the boat.
It was a fantastic trip down the canal for the rest of the day and really hot again.
When we reached the town of Trebes about 1pm we decided to stop off and by some groceries for tea rather than stopping over night and buying tea at a restaurant. This would mean we would get further down the canal by the end of the day. The lock keepers stop work at 7pm.
First we went to the tourist information centre were they had local produce. We bough a bottle of wine and beer and some olive paste. They showed us were the supermarket was about 15 min walk away. Here we bought local kababs, rice salad and tubole. On the way back we stopped at the local bakery and got some really nice looking sweet treats for desert. Then we were back in the boat and on our way down the canal.
By about 7pm we had found a nice spot to moor at, and it is here that we will have a few wines in the late afternoon sun and cook our tea before bed.

Today we were up at 7am had breakfast and were heading for Carcassonne by 8am. Being so early we got thru the remaining 5 locks (3 boats at a time) really quickly and by 11.30 we had arrived. We were very disappointed to see floating in the canal plastic bottles and other rubbish & thought this spoiled very much what we had seen up till now.
After debating where we should stop, we pulled into a mooring that was near what looked like a main road. An elderly man grabbed our rope so we asked him if we could moor here. The next minute a lady comes up & asked us if we want to moor in the boat harbour ( which is thru another lock). The cost for us 2, no power or water but use of the showers and washing machines etc for the boaties was 12 Euro for the night. Plus it is only 2mins to the town. Steven had a lot of fun backing our boat into the mooring as it has no steering in reverse. With the current and the wind it was not easy at all and everyone watching didn’t help.
Once we were all moored we headed to the Carcassone Castle on the hill which is surrounded by a old walled town. We took the novelty train that tows several carriages of passengers up to it. It’s is like an old Medieval town inside the walls and several people had period costumes on including a guy with a sample of the food served in his restaurant. Yes we got talked into having a genuine medieval meal of the time and local speciality called Casteline which consisting of haricot beans, roast duck and a sausage. (see pic) This proved really filling and we will not require much tea at all tonight.
The weather was overcast & windy today and although it was still in the 20s we really felt cold after the wonderful sunny 30 degree days we have become used to.
Tomorrow we head back toward the base at Homps which will take us back the way we have come but should prove easier at the locks as you just hook the rope around the bollard & let it loosen as the boat is lowered. Looks easier anyway, time will tell.