Voyage to Catalonia

Leicester City v Watford

Saturday 25^th August

I’d considered heading to the “Climate Camp”, hailed in some quarters as the most significant political protest of the year, but my attendance would have felt inappropriate given I’d chosen the end of this week to make cheap flights to Spain from another BAA airport, Stanstead. Joss came over early afternoon and after losing half the stuff from his suitcase and repacking in a backpack, we went up via Tottenham Hale. Queue followed queue and Joss experienced the reality of the glamour of air travel for the first time. Not long before we went to the gate I checked the scores on my phone to see that Watford had lost 4-1 at Leicester, Marlon scoring with a last minute penalty. The end of the winning run.

Sunday 26^th August

We arrived at Reus airport last night and got a taxi to Tarragona and our hotel, which was a long walk from the centre, where we went to find something to eat before sleep. Today we got a bus in and went to the Roman ruins before the beach, where Joss jumped through waves for ages. Later we walked up to the Cathedral before the long walk back to the hotel.

Monday 27^th

After checking out, we bussed through Salou to Port Aventura and stuck our packs in lockers before spending a few hours on the rides on offer, though we didn’t go on Europe’s largest roller coaster because Joss feared a repeat of Final Destination 3 or something. He couldn’t be persuaded otherwise and I made do with tame kiddie rides. Later we waited in the sun at the station for ages to catch a train to Barcelona and made for our hotel off the Rambla. There were a lot of people in the square out front and in the street next to it, but it was only after coming back out that it clicked we were right by the red light district. Hopefully, Joss never quite clicked. He enjoyed the Rambla though, and we watched an enormous ferry come into the dock.

Southend v Watford, Carling Cup 2^nd Round

Tuesday 28^th

Joss came with me to Gaudi’s “House of Bones”, Casa Batallo, and then to Parc Guell, patiently humouring my desire to “do” culture while we are here. We finished up on the Rambla again.

Wednesday 29^th

Beached it again and I ended up burnt with a neopolitan ice-cream arm: chocolate lower, strawberry upper and an inexplicable slice of vanilla between the two. Checked an English newspaper to see that Watford had gone down 2-0 the previous night. In the evening we headed up to the Nou Camp for the Joan Gamper Cup match between Barça and Inter Milan. I’d assumed, incorrectly, that there’d be tickets available but had to resort to scouring the streets. A guy who’d overbought sold me a pair at slightly less than face value and we were three rows from the front by one of the corners of the massive stadium with another 98,557 others to see the home side destroy the visitors 5-0.

Thursday 30^th

There was a little unpleasantness with a Euro and a can of Pepsi in the morning before we went to the Sagrada Familia and then to the chocolate museum. We ended the trip with a cable-car ride to the Montjuic castle and a visit to the Joan Miro gallery.

Friday 31^st

Despite using my phone as an alarm clock and forgetting that I hadn’t adjusted for the hour difference, we made it to the airport in time to be one of the last to check in (no queue) and Joss even got a window seat for the flight back.