As one travels the world enriching the lives of those I meet it is reassuring to know that all weather forecasters worldwide attended the same clown school. It was tipped to be rain ( not showers ). It was foggy to start with as we headed off to Barcelona which was disappointing as we planned to climb the heights of Montserat on the way. As we approached said retreat of the brown dress brigade a flint caught my eye. Then definite rays of light. I was especially pleased as naturally had dressed for inclement weather and now was uncomfortably warm. We started the rather windy and at times treacherous climb. Now Josef has been an amazing and gracious host not the least because he is a very busy and successful businessman. As such he often got phone calls during our visit. For Xmas we are getting him a hands free set for the car! One handed driving on windy roads at 1500m turned my hair grey I tell ya.
We arrived at the top of the mountain and were above the clouds and it was simply a stunning place. And very crowded. How the big tourist buses get up those roads boggles the mind. After a couple of hours wandering around and then taking in the Boys Choir performance in the amazing church it was time to head to Barcelona
We checked into Hotel Astoria which seems ok but the rooms are small let me tell you. Little things like no kettle to make a cuppa are disappointing. However plenty of time to moan later, we still had local guides to show us around. First stop was La Sagrada Familia which is indeed an impressive building. At least I think there is a building there behind all the scaffolds and shrouds. We were assured it was magnificent inside and Josef kindly lined up for 40 minutes in the sun to get us tickets. Only to be told on arrival at booth there would be an hour wait then as church was full! Telling us that 40 minutes ago may have helped you clod! So we booked tickets for tomorrow at 0900. Next stop was another Gaudi masterpiece – Casa Mila. Yep you guessed it – another bloody building covered in shrouds! We gave up , bid our wonderful hosts a safe trip home and settled in for some Tapas and Sangria. As you do.
Then it was off to our room for hopefully a good nights sleep. We had to go up one at a time as only enough room for one of us to get changed into jammies at any given time in the room.
flashman181 