Back to Spain - at least for this blog!

My blog has fallen by the wayside while we have been visiting Lachlan and Melde.

On our last day in Spain we had the enormous pleasure of meeting Andros's parents, Manuel and Teresa. We walked to their business in Poblenou which gave us a wonderful chance to experience a bit of everyday Barcelona away from the tourist crowds. We were told that tourist numbers to Barcelona now exceed those to Paris. Certainly over the Easter weekend when we were there the touristed areas were packed with visitors.

So visiting Poblenou and it's lovely Rambla was delightful. Manuel and Teresa were very generous hosts and took us out to a fantastic lunch on the beachside near Poblenou. Lots of vegetables and seafood. It certainly more than made up for some of our relatively indifferent food experiences up to that point.

Manuel was kept busy translating for the rest of us, but with his help we managed sufficiently well to communicate about a wide range of subjects. It was great to meet them and we hope to see them again when they come to visit Andros in August.

Ian was by this time able to get around again. As well as seeing Manuel and Teresa, we also walked down the famous La Rambla where we saw the Teatre Poliorama where George Orwell was holed up for three days in street fighting during the Spanish Civil War, and also Palau Guell one of Gaudi's early works.

We took Ellie's advice and sought out the Placa Reial, a truly delightful oasis in the middle of town and where I indulged in churros and hot chocolate. Wandered through the medieval areas of the Barri Gotic and La Ribera and over to the Parc de la Ciutadella. Barcelona does not have many parks or gardens and this was heavily used by many people over the Easter holiday.

We also saw the campus of the university Ellie attended while she was in Spain. We tried to identify the building she may have used- not sure how successful we were.

Still so much we didn't see - like Parc Guell (another Gaudi fantasy), markets like la Boqueria ( closed when we were there, although we did see the market of Santa Caterina) and lots more along the sea coast and hinterland.