Tag Archives: spain

Barcelona to Nice – Day 8

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Hola,

Currently at a laundry mat in Nice as we are runnng out of clothes. Yesterday we had to get up early at 6 am start. We went to breakfast which wasn’t open so we waited with some other people. At 7am it opened, after we went back to our room and packed our stuff and hoped on the bus. We departed by 8am.

Long bus day. Rhain slept most of it as she wasn’t feeling well. Everyone on our bus is having a cold either a sore throat and cough. I have managed not to catch it yet. Touch wood!

Once we arrived to Nice we stopped off at Parfumerie Fragonard Rhain bought some. They showed us around and explained the process of making there purfume and soap. They explained the levels of concentration of the different types of bottles. If you have a glass bottle it only lasts 1 year and if you have a metal bottle it lasts up to 7 years., either by colour, smell.

It was a short bus ride to our hotel “Hotel De Berne” in Nice’s city centre. Great location, close to the shops and a short walk to the beach. Our hotel is a shoe box I can only fit in the shower and I still bump into the taps, we have to shuffel to get int the bed, our bags are on the dresser.

Went to dinner dinner at Le Ligure Resturant, entree was sitting at our tables when we arrived. It was cured meat and tuna salad, For main we had organised previously on the bus and Kristi phoned a head our order. I had veal and Rhian had the fish. It was served with carrots and fried potato. After dinner we went to a place called “King’s Pub” we all got drinks. Since were a big group we all got a free shot. It was a caramel flavor, Rhian didn’t have hers so we gave it to Kelvin. The place was a bit pricey (8.50 euros a small beer) so we only had one drink, then left to go back to the hotel.

Adeu

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Barcelona Free Day – Day 7

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Hola

Today we had a full day in Barcelona with no organised activitives. The bus driver Kris and our tour guide Kristi both had the day off so we were to fend for ourselves. Breakfast was included but lunch and dinner was not.

We got up at 7am and got organised ourselves for breakfast and headed downstairs. We were a little shocked that it was full of old people (50-80yr olds) from another tour. We stood out like kids in the room. It turned out that everyone had taken a sleep in today.

Tyler and Jessica were a total no show. We figured they had got up and made their way out early. This turned out to be false they actually slept until lunch time. Eventually enough of our group came downstairs and were ready to go out. It took a long time to get everyone organised and we didn’t leave the hotel until around 11am.

We had a group of around 15 people. We did as the night before and bought ten pass train tickets for which we got paid back by Top Deck. We navigated our way to Casa Batllo. This is a home built by Antiono Gaudi. A famous architect. This was an amazing home espeically for when it was built. There is nearly no straight lines in the entire home. You can lookup more info on google if you wish.

After visiting Casa Batlo we caught the subway to port of Barcelona. It is kind of like around the rocks in Sydney. We had lunch at a seafood restraunt by the boardwalk. The food was great and so was the Sangrea. Callan a new person on the tour caught up with us after missing his walking tour.

After Lunch we walked around the harbour to the Christopher Columbus Monument. It was only four euro to go up to the viewing deck so we went up for a look. Just before we went up Arron had Rhian take a photo with his camera. The photo was good but in the handing back of the camera between Rhian, Cathi and Aaron the camera got dropped. Nothing cracked but the display will not turn on now.

The view from the top was great. You could see the whole city from up there. It was very small area around the lift shalf. So after getting a few photos we came down again.

While the girls went off for a toilet stop Aaron, Callan and myself sat down at a cafe for food and drink. I had a stein of beer. After our rest stop we looked at some artists in the mall that were doing portraits of people. Some were good some were very bad.

We caught the train again back to the hotel. We got off a stop early or came out the wrong exit. The girls went straight into a clothes shop. After giving up waiting Aaron myself and Amy started heading back to the hotel.

We organised on our facebook group to meet for dinner at 8pm in the lobby. Once we all arrived we walked down the road to a Tapas restruant called Taller Tapas. We all had plenty of food and I had a couple more stiens of beer. All came to around 50 euro so not too bad for what we got.

Rhian and I left a little early to go back to the hotel and sort some things out before the bus day tomorrow.

Adeu

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Carcassonne to Barcelona Day 6

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Hola,

Today was another bus day. We had an early start this morning. We all had to be on the bus by 8am. On this bus leg we were to travel over the Pyraneese mountains which border France and Spain. I enjoyed the bus trip up the mountain. Driving along the twisty roads up into the clouds and then above the clouds. On the descent we passed by all the ski resorts. Most of which were closed because their was no snow. Just green grass and green trees.

Once we descended the mountain we were in Andorra. A small country that is bordered by France and Spain. It is known as a tax haven. Only recently this has started to change. The locals are not happy about having to pay income tax. About time they joined the rest of the world.

Rhian and I took a walk around Andora and Rhain could not help looking at almost every shop. The prices were either equal or more than that at home so we didn’t buy anything The only bonuses were for people were smoked or who are big drinkers.

We made our way back to the bus for the trip to Barcelona. Once we arrived in Barcelona we were taken on a tour of the city from our bus. First we went to Sagrada Familia, Gaudi’s cathedral he built and is stilll being built today. You can see the diffeence between his creations and his plans (pictures and digrams) after his death. We also saw the stadium of the 1992 Olympic games and the Olympic swimming pool that over looks the city. Probably the best olympic swimming pool of any olympic games. Especially for the diving when you saw the city flash by as each diver fell.

Once we arrived at the hotel our bus drivers hours were up. We had enough time to drop our bags and then meet in the lobby for a buffet in the hotel resturant. After dinner we then caught a train into La Rumbla (the shopping district) walked across to a the square to watch a flamingo dancing show.

The show only lasted 30 minutes and was mostly just the band playing. There was a couple dancing for two minutes and the begining and a guy who had extremely fast feet. The band were really good, the show needed to be longer, it was really short.

After the show we went across the arena to a pub. We stayed for two drinks then caught a cab back to the hotel with a few other couples. We had four taxis all racing each other back to the hotel. Was like a scene out of the bank job. The were running through red lights, going 80- 100kms. it felt weird and scared at the same time.

Adeu

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