Travelodge L'Hospitalet Barcelona

We arrived at Barcelona on time at about 9 p.m. and by the time we'd passed through immigration our suitcase was already on the carousel. We'd made up our mind that we would simply get a cab to the hotel, ask the driver to wait whilst we checked in and then head for the city centre for dinner. Apart from realising that we didn't have the address of the hotel and the taxi driver was clueless about where to find it (solved through the miracle of mobile 'phone technology when CC asked his younge...

We had a couple of days to go before the start of the festival so we opted to revisit the Prat de Llobregat nature reserve, next to the airport, in the hope of seeing Greater Flamingos and other marsh and passage birds. This reserve has never been that easy to get to and we've failed almost as often as we've succeeded. Before that though, we needed to work out some way of getting away from the hotel so we set off down the road in the direction of Montjuic and the Passeig de la Zona Franca. A ...

La Vid sorted us out for breakfast and set us up for the train ride to Girona. Many people have told us that Girona is lovely but this was our first visit. The train was easy to use and after a little more than an hour we were on the streets of the city armed with a useful map picked up from the small information desk in the railway station. The old city is the obvious place to head for and you're very likely to approach it over the Pont de Pedra (Stone Bridge). If you're interested pause for...

This was day one of La Mercé but there were hours to go before the opening ceremony so we decided to have a look at some parts of the city we hadn't been to before. We took the bus up to Sarria where we had a late breakfast in the appealing Forn de la Vila on Placa del Consells de la Vila. Try the doughnuts - and the bocadillos. The area is good for a wander around and we somehow managed to work up a lunch appetite by the time we reached the newly opened (September 2007) market hall. This is ...

This wasn't a day for a really early start but as we left the Travelodge it was still morning and we heard a familiar bird calling high above but couldn't locate it. We stayed on the bus as far as the World Trade Centre and heard the same call. Looking up we saw a flock of about 30 Alpine Swifts overhead, no doubt heading south towards their wintering grounds. We met up with John and Sarah at a festival of Basque food and culture in Rambla de Raval, an area that appears to have improved in te...

Our first stop in the morning (after La Vid, of course) was the Mostra d'Associacions that takes place in Placa de Catalunya. Dozens of stalls are occupied by various charities, unofficial bodies and special interest groups. We bought a handful of t-shirts from Amnesty, the Castellers de Barcelona and other bodies. It was hot and the sun was shining, a group of people were learning clown skills, a couple of bands were playing live music and there was a carnival atmosphere. On one stage a 5-pi...