Speechless in Barcelona

So as I mentioned last week, our next stop was Barcelona and god I was excited! One of the reasons I chose that specific tour was because it went there, and needless to say it did not disappoint!

As usual when we first got into the city we had a driving tour where Kiki pointed out all the sights and told us all about Barcelona, where he'd actually been living for the off-season so he has the local knowledge too. We drove up a hill to get an incredible view over the city, and then wound our way through the streets, past Les Rambles and the zoo, and then we stopped off at what I had been looking forward to for months leading up to the trip – La Sagrada Familia. It's probably Gaudi's most famous creation, even though he didn't complete it before he died, in fact it's still being constructed and its completion date isn't within the next decade. But nevertheless it is still an incredible building (even if half the tour hated it). The churches architecture is so bizarre, as each side of it looks like a completley different building with a different design style on each side, but its the interior that took my breath away (but more of that later)

La Familia in Barcelona!

Once the driving tour was over we checked into our HOSTEL!!! and got ready for the night's adventures, which included my first taste of proper spanish paella (wise words from kiki – never trust a paella that's been cooked in a small pan) which was delicious, and also sangria (which I wasn't as keen on!) 

And then some of the group went off to watch a flamenco show that was one of the extras. I wasn't too sure what to expect – neither was Justin as he asked if the flamingos would be dancing, or if people were dressed as flamingos and then danced.... Sometimes it pays to make sure you listen... But I was amazed by the show! The spanish say that the youth can't dance the flamenco because they don't understand the emotion of the dance and after seeing the show, I totally understand why. There was live music, played on the stage, and people singing (all in spanish) but I couldn't take my eyes off the dancing. I've never seen anyone's legs move so fast in my entire life! And the level of emotion the dancers showed was incredible. I was stunned by it all and once it was over we were all trying to see how fast we could move our legs like the dancers did.. I think I need a bit more practice.

After the show we met up with the others and then kiki gave us a pep talk that sounded like it was from a movie. You know you've got an incredible tour guide when he can get a group of 30 people buzzing with excitement in about 30seconds – so much so that one of the bouncers at the bar came over and asked us to calm down because we were chanting and singing and just being loud.

We all piled into taxis (which I noticed throughout the trip were really cheap) and asked the driver in our horiffic spanish to take us to a club on the beach. Now for those of you who know me, I bet you're shocked at the fact that I went to a club, and trust me, so was I. But I thought how many times in my life will I be able to say I went to a beach club in Barcelona? So I just did it! I didn't stay too long however because it was absolutley packed and stupidly hot, but I gave it a go! We were warned not to go anywhere by ourselves and to watch out for pick-pockets, so I caught a cab with three of the girls from the tour and went to bed as soon as we got to the hostel. Unfortunatley others on the tour didn't have such a good first night.

We found out the next morning that five people had had their phones stolen, which made us all a lot more paranoid about our belongings, so yes, that day I walked around Barcelona with a padlock on my handbag..

Me, Rachel, Stacey and Carin decided to see the city via bus, because it was 30+degrees at 9am and it only got hotter, so on we hopped and got a guided tour of the city while trying to stay as cool as possible which wasn't easy. We were driven past the beaches, the gothic quarter, and up to park guell where we got off the bus. We didn't go into the park because the line for tickets was probably two hours long and in the full sun, so we just walked around the outside and then slowly made our way back to the bus stop. We stopped to get some gelato to cool us down on the way to the bus which was a genius idea. We got the bus back to the hostel – the stop was right outside because one of gaudi's buildings was a 20metre walk down the street, and then we got tapas for lunch. I think we all got a bit carried away with our ordering and there was so much food that we couldn't finish, but it was so yummy!

I thought Gaudi's buildings looked like a cross between a sandcastle, and something that should be in a Dr Seuss book..

The options. It was a really hard decision...

We definitely got a bit carried away..

After a quick break at the hostel to do some washing and have a shower, we got a taxi to the Sagrada Familia, because we'd booked tickets to see the interior.

I don't think anything has ever literally taken my breath away, except for that building. I don't think I spoke for about five minutes because I was stunned by it. There's no way I can explain it to you and do it justice, but just imagine white marble coloums that branch out like trees at the top, and then stained glass windows that paint the marble when the sun shines through them.

Not even the photos do it justice, but here are a bunch of them to show you what I mean

We must have spent over two hours in there just taking it all in, and when we eventually left it was all we could talk about for the rest of the night.

The four of us went out for dinner and had the best pizza, which was made even better because our table was on a little balcony that overlooked the street.

After we finished stuffing ourselves full of pizza we wandered back down les rambles (barcelona's main shopping street) and got a few souvineers before making our way back to the hostel. We had quite a tame night compared to everyone else, who went to a shot bar where they sold 1euro shots.. Poor Tattoo Tom who had his phone stolen the night before went out wearing his watch (which he was sure couldn't be stolen) and woke up on a bench without it. So from then on he was known as Barca-Tom.

We had an early start the next morning so we went to bed after we'd made the most of the free wifi at the hostel.

Next stop: French Rivera!

Festivals and Food in Avignon

16/07-17/07

Our next stop on the tour was just a short one. We spent one night in Avignon, a walled French city that was the residency of four (?) popes at some stage – once again on point with the facts.

I had been to Avignon before, when I was in Europe a few years ago with the parents and sister, but this time I really got to see the city, because we got a walking tour led by Kiki that showed us all the sights of the beautiful city. We were showed the Hotel De Ville, the main square, and the Palais de papes where the Popes lived for their time in Avignon. It was such a cool place with its small winding cobbles streets and what I think I loved the most is that there were no cars in the main part of the city, it was all bikes and people walking which gave it such a nice and relaxed atmosphere. After the tour we crossed to the other side of the river to where our camp site was – the view we had from the camp of the walls of Avignon was amazing!

Fun fact: every french town will have a carousel in their town centre! 

Proper french crepes and ohmygod they smelt amazing!

That night we had a completely free night, so after we had set up our tents and had showers to freshen up (because it was about 30+degrees) we walked across the river from our campsite and into the city. Dinner was incredible and we used our really poor french skills to order our food to a very patient waiter (who we later found out spoke perfect english..) After we had finished our dinner we walked into the centre of the city and were entertained constantly while we walked through the streets, because there was some kind of festival going on, so there were performers every few metres, so what should have been a 5 minute walk took us closer to an hour because we were constantly stopping and watching performers or listening to their music, which might have been why we got so lost... We ended up walking to the wall, and then following it around until we found one of the exists and then walking around the outside of the city until we found the entrance we wanted. We eventually made our way to the main square and walked up the srairs where we found another couple of people from the tour watching some dancers. So we sat on the railing in front of a 700 year old building watching incredible dancers. It was one of those moments where you just sit there and take it all in and feel insanely lucky to be there.

After the dancers finished we walked back through the city just as slowly as before, stopping at every performer and watching them do their thing, wether it be caricatures, dancing, singing, juggling, and everything in between. We finally made it back to the campsite after midnight and went straight to sleep, because when it's that hot, you're always tired!

Justin testing the caracture skills. I personally think they did pretty well!

The next day we had the usual morning routine of packing up our tents and getting onto the coach for our drive to Barcelona (!!!!). but before we arrived there, we stopped off just outside of Nimes and went to the Pont du Guard! For those of you who have no idea what that is, it's an aqueduct built by the Romans hundreds of years ago and is a piece of architectural genius! So it's safe to say my inner classics geek was seriously excited to see it (again, but this time I was actually interested in it, rather than just walking around pretending to be interested like I did last time..).

Gotta love graffiti from 1843..

Another fun fact: Napoleon liked to put plaques on things that were there before he was, and claim them as his own! 

We only had a short stop there before we got back on the coach and made our way to Spain, but that's another post... So stay tuned!

Brighton surprises and back to reality...

Right, so as you may have noticed this post is a few days late, which I do apologise for, but I'm back at work as some of you may have guessed, and my day off has changed from a monday to a Friday, so I no longer have time to post on a Monday (so new blog day is a Friday).

Right, so last Tuesday I went on one last little adventure before my summer holidays ended, so I got on the train and went off to Brighton. I didn't really have any specific plan for the day, but there were a couple of thing I wanted to see. Little did I know that whatever plans I may have had would be forgotten soon after I got off the train. I was walking down the street heading to the seafront when I happen to look up in a pub window and see two people from my topdeck sitting there! I was so shocked and so were they by the look of their faces when they saw me! So instead of spending the day wandering around by myself like I thought I would, I had two buddies to walk around with!

We went down to the seafront and had fish and chips at one of the restaurants, and then walked along the sea front to the pier. Now I was seriously impressed with the pier, there were arcades and a mini amusement park and food stalls and it was just awesome! We decided to go on one of the roller-coasters and it was hilarious! It was right on the end of the pier so as you went around the corners all you could see was the sea. Nat was shrieking so much that I was crying with laughter by the end of it. After the pier we walked through the shops and then through the lanes, which were so cute with their bunting and flowers and little boutique stores. Once we had managed to find our way out of the lanes we got a coffee, and then I got the train back to London.

I seriously loved Brighton, even if I was only there for a few hours, but seeing Paul and Nat again was increbidle, and we were all saying how much we missed everyone from the tour and wished we could do it all over again (but maybe without the tents this time...)

Me, Paul and Nat exploring the lanes and celebrating our being reunited with a selfie 

The inside of chocywocydoodah. Yes that is the shop's name (or something along those lines..)

Wednesday was a little bit different, because I went to visit my Grandad's cousin! I got on the trains across London to Cheshunt where Roy and Joan were waiting for me at the station. We soent the day comparing adventures around the world, talking about politics, current events, what our families were up to and drinking a load of tea. After a couple of hours of chatting we went to a local pub for a delicious lunch (and the biggest meringue for dessert) and then I got a tour of the town! I was shown the olympic white water course, their shops, community centre, and then they took me to the house that Grandad lived in when he was a boy! It was quite odd seeing where my grandparents lived, and Roy was saying that Grandad wouldn't recognise the area at all. It was interesting to see just how much it had changed even in the time that Roy and Joan had lived in their house. Roads and houses that were all fields and trees when they first moved there..

After another couple of hours of chatting that included seeing the family trees (and adding myself and my cousins onto one of them that was printed before we were born) I got the trains back into the city and back home.

My Great-Great-Great-Grandad... 

Thursday was spent making the all too familiar journey back to school for the inset days, which I was not so thrilled about.. However it was made a bit easier when I saw the parcel in my pigeon hole that had tim-tams and luxury hot chocolate packets in it (thank you so much Nanny and Grandad!!). There's not a lot else to tell you all about my week since then! Except for the fact that I have mastered the school car and can now drive to the local town without muttering every bad word I know as I try (and fail) to get into the right gear! Other than my timetable has changed so I no longer have games, I instead have admin and support for music and art, and then forest school once a week again.

Because of this I've been thinking, and because my week's aren't exactly riveting and wouldn't be too interesting to read about, I think I'm going to try to post my topdeck adventures instead of boring weekly updates. So from now on, no more dull posts about the woods and stuff like that! Unless I go on a trip or it's the holidays, in which case I'll keep you updated- don't you worry!

Some random cool looking thing i found in Shepton while i was there.. 

I guess it's not that bad to be back at work, especially when we have nights like this...

So until next Friday then!