Hotel Moderno Barcelona

... got to Montpellier at 9 p.m. Now we should have known by now that plans don't always work out. We were planning on the train station being open 24 hrs. and us being able to sleep there last night and wait for the ticket offices to open this morning so we could get our seat reservations. However, we were kicked out at midnight by guys with big guns and a scary German Shepherd and ended up on the mean streets of Montpellier. I'm just being ironic, because ...

... got along great! Since we were already planning to go to Paris 4 days later, they offered to meet up with us there and show us around Paris!! Kelly and I were so grateful because what better way to see Paris than by getting shown around by people from there! (We were tired already of having our noses buried in guide books and maps while trying to tour). While in Barcelona, we walked ...

... and the city took another chance to develop an empty area, right where the Avenida Diagonal gets to the see. The building and the park were designed by Jacques Herzog y Pierre de Meuron. There are also a port, office and residential buildings and a shopping mall.

My travel blog

Ver Barcelona en bicicleta

... in 1882 and continues to this day. That exactly it - it is a building site! The original architecture is pretty impressive but personally I think all the new stuff just ruins it. And the inside is a joke - not worth paying to go and see the cement! After the mild disappointment of the main attraction (for most) in Barcelona, we jumped back on the bus and it took us past what I would consider the main attraction - Camp Nou, the home of Barcelona FC ...

... forty minutes until we got the elevator up. It cost me an extra $3 too. It was worth it though. Great views standing out on a balcony twenty stories up. Again, the summer crowds and heat were too much. I think I'll wait another twenty years until they've finished some of the interior before I go in again. Went and visited my cousin Mark who, funnily enough, only lives ten minutes away from Josefa's sister! Had a good chat and a few beers. He's been here a ...

... this wasnt the mousse either. Finally, after 5 minutes, he came back around and we asked what that was and he yelled at us "MOUSSE! IT'S MOUSSE! OK NO PROBLEM!" and walked away. So we ended up eating it, not to our pleasure. It was actually greek yoghurt with raspberries. Oh well. Afterwards we went to a gelaterie and I got a granizata which was awesome and lizzie got the best banana gelato I have ever had. We walked back to the hostal and then went to bed for the big day ahead tomorrow.

... and down a calle trying to find our hostal. We entered the hostal at about 5:30 am. Expecting the owner to be some old guy, ****** that we had to call him at 5am to help us find the place, I was pleasantly surprised when Immanuel, a twenty-five year old good looking, very nice Argentinean guy opened the door. The hostal experience was much better then I expected. We had one room, two bunk beds, blankets, sheets, pillows, towels, and three bathrooms down the ...

... on top of six hours trudging around Barcelona, on top of six or seven more hours yesterday. I paid the hostel reception guy for tonight and then about half an hour later he came charging into my room yelling "no pay! no pay!". I had no idea what he was talking about, as these were his only two words in English, so he eventually left. He is a short man with a funny moustache, so I shall call him 'Manuel'. He's from Barcelona . . .