Kevnjan’s new adventure. Thurs. 11th. Oct. So – we left the safety and security of our site at Blanes on Tues. Morning and headed for the shops, Lidls was first to appear and we shopped for all the necessities, whisky, wine, food and after a few more miles, Carrefourres, for the luxuries, fish, air freshener, rubber gloves!! We had every intention of finding a spot by the beach to wild camp for a night or two. The big snag with that is that there is a railway line which seems to run the entire length of the coastling, cutting off the road from the beach, we found a similar situation along much of the Adriatic coast in Italy. The bridges are too low to get the van under and those stretches of beach which are accessible have no parking. Anyway, after a few abortive sorties into totally unsuitable narrow towns and villages we happened upon Santa Susanna. A quiet stretch of road ran parallel to the railway line and a small bridge gave us pedestrian access to the beach. As it was around 2pm. We figured it was as good as we were likely to get, a bonus was that the parking meters are closed for winter. We spent the afternoon on the beach, surprise, after a lunch of delicious prawns and ryvita. The evening was odd, we were clearly a tourist attraction for the locals who kept driving past in their cars and scooters to have a good look. One guy, on a particularly noisy scooter made the trip 10 – 15 times, he gave up around midnight, about the same time as the trains!! It was a very hot night and we could have done with the air conditioning but not on the batteries, so we opened the skylights and sweated it out. Oh how we suffer!! After some research on the internet I found a car park suitable for vans, in Barcelona, it was recommended by fellow travellers and we thought for €18 per day it would fit the bill. We felt it would be better than booking onto a site and travelling in by train. We arrived at 9.30am, without in incident and discovered that the fee for 24 hours was €30. We paid up and tried not to grumble too much. The car park was secure and had all the amenities we needed, (albeit, a little primitive.) Got the tram into the city and looked around for the open topped tour buses. This is always our first job as it gives you a sense of the layout of the city and helps you decide what to see later. We were horrified to see queues of hundreds of people waiting for the buses. It’s no exaggeration to say that each bus was full and there were plenty of them, and the queues were just getting longer. An executive decision was made not to waste our day in Barcelona queuing for buses. We discovered that the regular buses were on strike!! This happened to us in Florence!! We walked from Plaza Catalunya to the Gothic quarter, admired the old cathedral and surroundings and realised that it was lunch time already. I think I like Barcelona, it’s full of impressive, stylish buildings and pleasant open spaces and plazas, the people are pleasant and friendly but it’s so crowded. Everywhere you go there are crowds and it puts me off a bit. After lunch we headed for the must see Sagres Familia, the spectacular cathedral started in the late 19th century which is still unfinished. This made 2 cathedrals in one day, a new personal best for me!! To make matters worse we had to queue for nearly an hour to get in and then pay an admission fee of €14 each. I must say, I was impressed, not to say staggered by the astonishing workmanship and art embodied in every part of the building, and it’s still 20 or 30 years away from being finished. It was worth every cent and I’ll willingly pay again to see it when it’s finished. That’s if I’m still around of course. We did a lot of walking around Barcelona but enjoyed it immensely. We rounded off the day by walking back to Las Ramblas for a wander around, couldn’t find the bloke that robbed my brother a few years ago though!! We sat in a square, just off the Ramblas and ordered drinks and food. The street entertainers kept us amused, though not nearly as much as the waiter!! We ordered prawns and noodles to start and leg of kid with roast vegetables for main. About half an hour later we were presented with paella!! I suppose it’s just the custom that you order what you want and you get what they think you’d like!! We agreed to take the paella but drew the line when they tried to overcharge us. Nothing nasty, just a mistake. Looking forward to my kid sometime though. Back to the van and a nice whisky. Spoke to Brian, they’ve sold the house and should now be clear to buy their camper. Good luck. Today we left Barcelona, couldn’t face the crowds for a second day. Now in Sitges, parked on the seafront, weather not so good, we had thunderstorms last night and looks like we might get more today. Still warm though and we’ve just been in the sea. Time for a cup of tea.