Spain - Madrid

Puerta del Sol, where all Spanish roads lead too

I had not planned to go to Madrid, it was an unforeseen detour. I had hoped to take the train direct from Barcelona to San Sebastian on the west coast via Pamplona, the town famous for the legendary running of the bulls festival. It just so happened that the running of the bulls was on at this time so all trains headed that way were booked up for days.. I did not realize this until I got to the station at Barcelona hoping to get on a train. When I was told I would not be able to get on any trains that day I was stuck as I did not have any accommodation in Barcelona that night and did not want to sleep in the station.. So I decided to jump on a night train to Madrid which would at least give me a bed for the night. So the next day I woke up in Madrid, I did not know what to see but it was another day in the high 30's so the Prado Museum with air conditioning seemed like a good option.

The Picasso exhibition at the Museo del Prado

Downtown Madrid was nice but nothing special, it did not compare to the character of Barcelona. The Museo del Prado is known for having one of the worlds most elite art collections (not that I am much of a Guru) but the promise of air conditioning definitely raised my interest.

Museo del Prado

I actually enjoyed most of the art, some of it was pretty gruesome though showing people getting mutilated or maulled by dogs. I was lucky as there happened to be a Picasso exhibition which I check out too.

Parque del Retiro

After the museum I walked around the Parque del Retiro and drunk some cold beer at one of the cafes. I then strolled around the town for another few hours before catching another night train back up to Biarritz in France where I was hanging out for some surfing.

Spain - Barcelona

Las Ramblas, the main tourist drag in town

I traveled directly from Chamonix, France down to Barcelona, Spain. It was a 18 hour journey but was broken into two four hour legs and an 8hr night train. Enroute I had stops for a few hours in Lyon and Marseille so I was able to stretch my legs and check out the centers of those cities. I was in Marseille when France knocked Brazil out of the World Cup, a result no one expected... So yeah as you can imagine the Frenchies were out to celebrate in style, awesome! I decided to visit Barcelona after it came so highly rated from other travelers I spoke too. I stayed at a campsite about half an hours bus ride south of Barcelona, it was a bit far out but it had a primo beach only 100m away to make up for it. I was pretty tired the first day I arrived after all the traveling, so I spent the rest of the day bumming round on the beach which was exactly what I needed.

Mercat de la Boqueria a awesome fresh food market packed with delights
The next day I took the bus into town and headed straight for Las Ramblas, the main tourist drag in town. About half way down there was this awesome fresh food market where you could get everything from chocolate to pigs ears and whole skinned rabbits..

Ummm Hungry???
I had just eaten breakfast so I declined, but they had some good cheap watermelons which were very appealing in the 35 degree heat. After the Market I walked around the maze like streets of the Barri Gotic, where it was very easy to get lost (and I did).

Arc de Triomf

I popped out of the maze of streets near the Arc de Triomf, It seems that every good city needs an Arc de Triomf... Not in the same league as the one in Paris but not a bad effort.


There were some pretty flash boats moored in the marina, despite my best efforts I was not invited on board any.

The weird and wonderful Sagrada Familia
The most bizarre church I have any seen, this end was pretty good but the other resembled something from Ghostbusters 2. Like it or hate it, it is a fascinating piece of work and definitely worth a visit. Known as the masterpiece of Antoni Gaudi construction began in 1882 and to date it is only half finished, hence the cranes.. Funding for the project is entirely from donations, so the more money they get the more they build.. Who knows when it will be finished, 2082??

Port Olympic Beach, a popular spot

After hours of walking around in the heat the beach was a pretty good option, it was packed so obviously other people had the same idea.. Barcelona was a cool city, although it was a bit of a shame I could not stay in a central hostel.. The campsite I stayed at (Castelldefels) was not so great, the beach near by was its only asset. Other than that it was packed, dirty and my campsite was right next to the garbage dump. I guess the garbage removal guys were on holiday because when the wind blew the wrong way it was shocking. There were some good people at the campsite though, I had a fun night drinking lots of cheap Spanish wine with 4 frenchies who were hitchhiking on a minimum budget around Spain.