Barcelona and The Spanish Coast

Tuesday 4th June
By Lucy Greenhead

My eyes snapped open as a voice rang in my ears. We were nearly in Spain! Quickly we dressed and began to pack. My dad heaved the bags into a pile, as we ran up the stairs. My parents ordered breakfast whilst I slid into a window seat. I strained my eyes as I looked across the water. On the horizon, I could just see a faint speck of land.

After breakfast, my eyes blazed for we were about to enter the Spanish harbour. Finally the boat docked. We were in Spain! A voice blared out of the speakers telling us to go down to our cars.  At last bars went down and we drove into Spain. 

After a few hours of driving, we stopped off in a car park by a river and bridge. The sun shone down licking at our bodies, as we walked across the bridge. A gentle breeze nipped at our faces but it was still warm. 
We entered a building, in which a wire snaked. After waiting for five minutes a cable car slid down the wire and we stepped on. It moved at surprising speed as it ascended to the top of the hill where Montserrat Monastery sat. I stepped forward and gazed out. My breath got caught in my throat for the view was spectacular. The sea winked at me in the distance as winds whipped the glass. 

After several breathtaking minutes, the lift slowly slid to a stop. Awe struck, I stepped off the canary yellow lift and it began to descend down. 

The sun glared down at us as we began to troop up the hill. Heat engulfed us as beads of sweat trickled down my face. After a sweaty mile hike, we finally stepped onto the lookout at St Michael’s Cross. Below cars crawled along like ants and houses seemed like doll houses, whilst the sea lay out like a carpet of blue. The view back to the monastery start was spectacular. Thankfully the descent back to the monastery was much quicker and before long we were at the bottom.

After a refreshing ice cream, we began to climb the marble stairs towards the awe striking basilica. As we stepped into the church, the air felt cooler and more peaceful than before. Sitting in the pews, we gazed up at the famous Black Madonna, which was believed to have been carved by St Luke in Jerusalem.  After leaving the peacefulness of the church, we entered the courtyard and viewed the door which famously appears on the 10€ note! 

Finally it was time to drive to the villa. Narrow and twisty roads led us to our home for the next few days, in the hills outside Barcelona.  Glorious sunshine still blazed and meant that we could celebrate our arrival with a quick dip in the pool. Following our cooling swim, we had a bite to eat and snuggled down for the night dreaming of exploring Barcelona.

Wednesday 5th June
By Kirsty Greenhead

Clear blue skies and a blazing sun signalled the start of another hot day in sunny Barcelona. It was 27 degrees by 10am when we entered Park Guell. Thankfully there were trees and cool buildings where we could shade ourselves and avoid wilting (well mainly Lucy and I). The designs for this garden city and the parts built by Gaudi are a spectacular and wacky explosion of colour. It is a shame that the project was abandoned. We spent  over an hour wandering around the highlights before retiring to a shaded cafe and securing some yummy pastries from a bakery.

The afternoon was spent doing a bit of school work and playing in the swimming pool. In the evening, we headed out to Plaça d’Octavià for some post dinner ice cream and a wander around the monastery. What a great day.

Thursday 6th June 
By Kirsty Greenhead

Our first journey into the centre of Barcelona went smoothly thanks to the advice of our lovely host Estela. In under an hour, we were stood outside the beautiful Sagrada de Familia entrance ready for our 9.30am reservation. We had downloaded the express audio guide, which was perfect for Lucy. It gave an excellent description of the facades (nativity and passion), the towers (those built & those yet to be built) and the interior.  We were all particularly taken with the stained glass windows (both blue/green for the morning and orange/red for sunsets) and the tree pillars holding the Catholic cathedral up.  As part of our ticket, we went up the passion tower and took in the stunning views of the city skyline. All in all a spectacular building and our highlight of Barcelona.

We headed back to Plaça de Catelunya and wandered down Las Ramblas for a mid morning snack. Lucy chose squid. From here we wandered to the food market (Boqueria) via Gaudi’s Casa Batlló and the Lego store (where Lucy designed her own character).  We were adventurous with our lunch choices and Lucy gave everything a try (with limited success!).
Arriving back at the villa, we were hot and tired but the cool apartment and the refreshing pool revived us for the evening. After a restock at the local coop shop (via a much easier route), we settled in for family film night. Avinguda d’Antoni Griera was a great place to start our adventure.

Friday 7th June
By Lucy Greenhead

As I stepped out into the glowing sun, the warmth beat down on my shoulders. My eyes glowed as they flicked from slide to slide at Water World Park near Barcelona. Where to go first? Rafting river? Storm? Water Mountain? Python? Wild river? Speed slide? Racing slides? 

My heart pounded as I held my breath, waiting for the thrilling descent through the rushing water on each ride. After 4 awe striking hours, it was finally time for the last. Water gushed through my fingers, as we began to dash down the bumpy quick flowing water. After an enormous splash, splattering me with drops of water, we headed to the end of our water filled day. 

A short journey to Camping Blanes - our home for the night right next to the beach. The sun set as the sky turned orange, while we dragged our feet in warm sand. That night, I lay down contentedly in my sleeping bag - thoughts gushing through my mind.

Saturday 8th June 
By Kirsty Greenhead

The blackout sleeping area and cloud cover enabled us to have a lie in at peaceful Camping Blanes. Then we started the day by taking it in turns to run along the esplanade, whilst Lucy played and read. After lunch, we had a play in the campsite pool (no one else was in it) and packed up the tent. The wind had made the sea choppy and the cloud cover remained, so not really a beach weather day. Instead we decided to cover a chunk of the journey to see Paul’s school friend (James) and his family in Switzerland, by heading to Lyon for the night. The service station meal was surprisingly tasty and the Ibis budget hotel was unsurprisingly very basic!