| In December 2005 my girlfriend and I took a | | | | Along the way you will see a great variety of stalls |
| weekend's city break in Barcelona in eastern Spain. At | | | | selling all sorts of goods from souvenirs to live birds. |
| the time of booking our choice of destination was a | | | | There is also a good deal of performance artists and |
| toss up between Barcelona, Paris and Rome, none of | | | | street entertainers to watch which kept us amused for |
| which either of us had ever been to. For no particular | | | | a couple of hours. We finished the day with tapas at a |
| reason, Barcelona came out on top and I'm very glad it | | | | small restaurant before retiring for the evening. |
| did as we both had a fantastic time. This article is a | | | | The following morning, at my insistence, we took the |
| brief summary of our weekend. | | | | metro to Collblanc to take a tour round the famous |
| Having just moved into a new house, we didn't have a | | | | Nou Camp, home to Barcelona football club and |
| very big budget to spend on this holiday so we found | | | | renowned as one of the world's greatest football |
| ourselves a couple of cheap flights to Barcelona, a low | | | | stadiums. After wandering around outside the stadium |
| cost hotel near the city centre and bought the first | | | | for about half an hour trying to work out how to get in, |
| guide book we could find. The weather when we | | | | we found the ticket office and paid €11 euros |
| touched down could probably best be described as | | | | each for the tour. The stadium is vast and as a |
| abysmal but this didn't dampen our spirits. | | | | football fan it was a great experience to walk through |
| After finding our way to our hotel and dumping our | | | | the player's tunnel and stand on the pitch side. The tour |
| bags, our first port of call was the nearest metro | | | | took us through the behind scenes areas of the |
| station (the metro is Barcelona's equivalent of the | | | | stadium including the away changing room, the |
| London underground and is a great way to get | | | | commentary gantry and the chapel that was installed |
| around). We bought a three day unlimited pass for | | | | to allow the religious players to pray before games. |
| roughly €14 (£9.60) and hopped on a | | | | We finished our visit with a trip around the museum, |
| distinctly punctual and un-crowded train bound for La | | | | where trophies and pictures of Barcelona's many |
| Sagrada Familia. If I were to recommend just one sight | | | | successes are displayed. The photo of myself next to |
| to see in Barcelona, La Sagrada Familia would be it. | | | | the European cup still hangs on the wall of my lounge. |
| Gaudi devoted 40 years of his life to the design and | | | | Although we didn't get to watch a game as there |
| construction of this extremely elaborate cathedral and | | | | wasn't a home match being played the weekend we |
| building is still ongoing today. From the ground the | | | | were there, it was still an extremely enjoyable and |
| building is extremely impressive and its spires each | | | | worthwhile excursion. |
| reach to a height of 300 feet with plans to extend this | | | | The afternoon was spent with a walk around the |
| even further. | | | | marina and a visit to L'Aquarium, a sea life centre with |
| We paid €8 each to gain access to the | | | | more than 450 different species of marine life. The |
| cathedral and museums. Although an elevator is | | | | entrance fee set us back €15.50. Many of the |
| available inside the cathedral to take visitors to the top | | | | aquatic creatures were quite unusual and enjoyable to |
| of the spires (at an additional cost) we chose to walk | | | | watch but the highlight of L'Aquarium for us was the |
| up the 400 plus steps to see the view from the top. | | | | underwater tunnel. This is an 80 metre long passage |
| The staircase is narrow and steep and I would only | | | | beneath an enormous tank, with sharks, rays and |
| recommend the climb for those with strong legs and a | | | | other fish swimming inches above your head. |
| head for heights! The climb was definitely worthwhile | | | | Our last evening was spent eating Mexican food and |
| both for the views across the city and for the | | | | drinking cocktails in a small, modern and trendy |
| balconies along the way where you can stop at take | | | | Mexican restaurant called Margarita Blue followed by |
| a close up look at some of the hundreds of intricate | | | | several more drinks in the Hard Rock Café (how |
| carvings that decorate the exterior. We also took a | | | | shamelessly touristy) and then on to Razzmatazz, a |
| walk around the museum and enjoyed the scale | | | | huge nightclub famous for live music. Needless to say, |
| models and early photographs of the construction. | | | | drinking late into the night didn't make for the most |
| After some lunch we took a walk along La Rambla, | | | | enjoyable of flights home the next morning! |
| the main street in Barcelona, towards the marina. | | | | |