Christine and I headed back to La Rambla for breakfast. I had hoped that La Boqueria was open but being a public holiday it was closed. Instead we settled for morning coffee and pastry at Escribà.
The pastries and cakes are beautifully presented and the chef is quite a celebrity, making cakes in all kinds of artistic styles for personalities and special events.
After breakfast we headed off to see the Picasso Museum. On the way we walked through Plaça St Jaume in the Barri Gotic. This had been the location for the display of Castell building the previous aftenoon but were were lucky now to see another treat that is part of La Mercé, the parade of the giants!
The plaça was quite crowded, what with the giants and the spectators, but I managed to get a couple of photos.
The Picasso Museum was very interesting. There was a short queue to get in but then because of the holiday admission was free! It was particularly good to see so many of his early works all together. You can really get the feel for his development of technique and then the way in which his style was influenced over time by other artists and particular artistic movements. His later paintings and drawings somehow seem to show him "unlearning" all of that to arrive at the simplest expression of the artistic idea.
Then it was back to the hotel to pick up our luggage and head off to the airport. While we were waiting for the flight I bumped into Annette Edmondson and congratulated her on her olympic medal. She was a little amazed to be recognised but of course we had also seen her live in Melbourne at the world titles. Annette has also been up near Girona and was headed home.
Arriving in Dubai - to even longer queues at passport control... this is now surely one of the slowest airports in the world! Makes me think twice about stopping over there!
Along the way I had caught a cold and so Christine and I spent a very quiet day in Dubai, in fact I spent the entire day in bed, just venturing out for dinner at the Bayt Al Wakeel restaurant overlooking Dubai Creek. Fairly standard middle eastern food, but good quality and with a unique view, watching the abras and dhows plying the river. Spoilt somewhat by me being sick, but these things happen.
Then it was back to the hotel for an early night and an uneventful flight to Australia! Another great holiday comes to an end.
After the very late night - I took a little while to wind down ;-) I expected a late start from the others. SO when I woke up I caught the Metro down to the beach to see the Sunday morning sights. Joggers, cyclists, volleyball players... and lots of people just after a coffee and somewhere to sit.
As you can see it was a cloudy morning, although still quite warm. This area has lots of cafes and restaurants and I expect that at night time it is fairly busy.
I found quite a satisfactory pastry, fresh squeezed juice and coffee and watched the world go by. By the time I was finished the others were up so I headed back.
Julie and Keith were about to head off to Granada on the evening train and I felt like a quiet time so I sat down and watched the men's road race while Christine explored the Museum of Contemporary Art.
In the evening we headed down to find Imprevist - a restaurant down near Sant Antoni and the old market building.
Having found it and made a booking we killed some time - first a drink in a small plaza where a game of football raged (look out for your glass) and then down to show Christine the market building that is being renovated. This district is interesting with a large migrant population. In the street football game there were boys and girls of Spanish, Korean, Indian and other racial groups all from the neighbourhood.
Mercat de Sant Antoni
Dinner at Imprevist was lovely - a degustation menu of small courses, all of them lovely. I chose a Ribera del Duero which went down very well.
After dinner we walked down to near the Contemporary Art Museum where there were two stages running as part of La Merce. Only one was active at the time and it wasn't really our cup of tea so we headed home to bed.
As we had agreed the night before, the day started with a visit to the Boqueria Markets, a real treat of colours, tastes and smells. These markets are just off the Rambla so it was only a short walk from our hotel in Universitat however we decided to take the Metro as it was a good opportunity to explain the mechanics to those who had not used the Barca metro before... A single priced ticket for any journey, checked when you enter but not when you leave... making sure that you follow the signs to the right line and travelling in the right direction... all metros are somewhat confusing at first use and simple thereafter!
We emerged from the Liceu station right outside the markets and headed in.
We had a fresh juice from the bewildering variety available. They all looked pretty good. Two euros per large glass... suck that up Boost Juice!
It was crowded enough that we agreed not to try to stay together but rather to come back to the entrance after an hour.
Mixed mushrooms
Christine and I had breakfast of coffee and eggs. I had mixed mushrooms which looked and tasted fabulous. There were at least six different sorts of mushrooms in the mix, many of which you just don't see in Australia.
Not exactly short of oil in the cooking method though :-(
Lots of the usual variety of things to see, like most fresh food markets it is a great place to take a camera.
Baskets of snails - some trying to escape
Even eggs for sale can be presented attractively
We then made the short walk to see Barcelona Cathedral which has a really beautiful circular stained glass window.
The church was badly damaged by looting and a fire during the civil war, and at several earlier times in the tumultuous history of the city.
After that we did some souvenir shopping and people watching in the narrow streets of this area.
Based on what Keith, Christine and Julie had seen the previous day from the bus we headed up toCasa Batlló on Passeig de Gràcia ,a house designed by Gaudi. Like almost any Gaudi creation it has the ability to polarise opinion - I would find it quite liveable but other people were not so warmed :-)
Talk about warming, there is this lovely fireplace nook inside the entrance.
Chimneys
Central light well. The house is spread over five floors. There is a life and a lovely winding staircase.
I went back to the hotel to sort out some last minute dramas with tickets (it all turned out OK) and then watched the road world championships on the tele.
So - the big night - Barcelona vs Granada! We had an early tapas dinner close to the hotel and caught a taxi out to the stadium. The 9pm start isn't late by Barcelona standards, often their games start at 10pm. At night the Camp Nou is even more impressive than in the day time. We started off on exactly the wrong side so we had a walk around half the perimeter to get to our seats but we had plenty of time. You could feel the buzz of excitement in the crowd as it slowly built. Lots of people in Barca colours but a few wearing Granada strip. In Spain there is little or no risk of soccer violence and the fans of other teams are welcome - well perhaps not welcome but treated with respect.
Before the game
Photos with the children
The team is introduced
Xavi scores!
... and celebrates!
The final result was 2-0, I sang and clapped along with the crowd and had a fabulous night!
After the game we met up again with Keith and Julie, had a drink at a bar as we waited for the crowd to disperse somewhat, but it was still a queue, hot and crowded to catch the metro back to the hotel but I was happy anyway!
Based on Chloe's recommendation we made a visit to the markets. Lots of produce, including these sheep heads and lots of seafood, but nowhere attractive to get a coffee, so after a quick explore we headed off.
We checked out of the apartment and got the cashier to call a taxi for us. The taxi to the station was a bit of a circus: muttering about the amount of luggage, running into a concrete bollard at low speed, going the wrong way down some streets, a near miss with another vehicle but we made it!
By comparison the train trip to Barcelona was uneventful: we had missed the MD train but there was enough room for us to sit with all of our luggage. Barcelona Sants isn't too bad with luggage and we were soon out of the station. Catching a cab was easy.
We checked in at the hotel... the rooms were less than perfect but OK. Ours fronted onto what is risibly termed a light well so the electic light was needed most of the time. The rooms were fairly quiet except for bathroom noise in ours and street noise for K&J. We had a late tapas lunch around the corner which was pretty good.
I made a solo trip out to Camp Nou, primarily to get tickets for K&J. I also bought a new #8 shirt and scarf. This all turned out fine, and it gave me a chance to check out the metro route. C&K&J took the explorer bus so that they could check out the layout of Barcelona and decide what to go back to on subsequent days.
For dinner we tried to go to a recommendation from Trip Advisor, but they were fully booked, so we ended up with cheap and cheerful paella at a cafe in between.
A very early start at Dubai but that's OK because our body clocks said it was much later. Dubai terminal 3 was the usual bustling throng although we sailed straight through luggage checkin, immigration and security. A nice breakfast at The Hub upstairs and we were on our way. The fed us more or less continuously on the plane and very good food it was. Once again the plane was a 777 which I prefer to the A380.
Barcelona airport was easy enough to deal with, minimal queues. We took the bus from the terminal around to the other terminal where the train station is, a suburban train into Barcelona Sants and then the Euromed train to Valencia.
Since the last time that we came along this coast (2003) the change was quite noticeable. A lot of development, mostly apartments, mostly ugly and many empty. A real disaster. It was a warm day and the Med looked very inviting, but I couldn't get them to stop the train for a swim :-(
It turned out that our Valencia accommodation was not ideal. A fair walk from Valencia Nord to collect the key, then a fair walk to the apartment, then a lift followed by a flight of stairs to the apartment. Most of the distance on cobblestones... a bit of a workout for suitcase wheels. Once we got there it was OK but not great, so we cancelled our later stay and decided to find a hotel closer to the station for when we returned to Valencia.
K&J got in fairly late but we connected up OK and I even had a cold beer waiting for them :-}
Goodbye rainy Canberra Airport. Not a bad day to be leaving town... we were packed and to the airport in plenty of time so there was time to relax and to look forward to some warmer weather!
The flight from Canberra to Sydney was delayed and then we spent a fair time in a holding pattern out near Warragamba Dam because only the E-W runway was in use due to the strong westerly, which also made for a bumpy flight. Everything in Sydney went smoothly and we weren't rushed despite arriving 40 minutes later than scheduled.
Onto Emirates, a 777-300 and an uneventful flight to Bangkok. A variation from QANTAS in that we didn't have to disembark for the refuelling stop. Dinner was pretty good, a beef stew washed down with a Ventoux Controlle. Not bad.
The age old question. Well not quite: probably a small fraction of people have been asking themselves this for a small part of human history but nevertheless the question is there...
Which cameras to take?
Next month we are travelling to Spain for a three week holiday that includes two five-day bike rides, with a few days either side in Valencia, Girona and Barcelona. I'll want to capture a record of the bicycle riding including my friends and the scenery we pass through. This will include both stills and video. It might be raining and cycling in the rain requires REALLY waterproof cameras. Other cycling characteristics require reasonable shock resistance. I'll want to take photos at the football (going to see FCB vs Granada), which may be a night game. I want street photography in the cities. I want food photography. I want everything but I can't afford the weight or space for a complete library of cameras.
At least one camera must be suitable for the cycling segments of the trip, but it is possible in addition to also have one that is only available in Valencia, Girona and Barcelona which are non-cycling times.
Here are the choices:
A Canon 5D MkIII with a fairly comprehensive library of lenses, strobes etc. to choose from:
Disadvantages: Heavy and bulky. Probably not suitable for on-bike use. Expensive so a little bit of anxiety.
Advantages: The best images. No question. Probably the only camera that can take meaningful images at the football.
A Canon G12:
Disadvantages: Not weatherproof. Low light performance not fabulous.
Advantages: Compact. Versatile.
An Olympus TG-1:
Disadvantages: Image quality compared to the above. Maybe not much worse than the G12.
Advantages: Weatherproof. GPS. f/2.0
Contour GPS:
Disadvantages: Still images are not usable. No zoom. No viewfinder.
Advantages: Durable. Handlebar and helmet mount. Sports video OK. GPS. This one is almost certain to go.
Actually there are more choices but that will do :-)
So what to take? I'll take more than one camera and probably less than four. Opinions welcome! If you suggest the 7D, what lenses (I have several primes and zooms from 10mm to 400mm, mostly L quality)?
If you stumble on this blog and and wondering what it is about...
In September 2012 I have organised a group of eight to do some cycle touring in Spain, using the "vias verdes", or rail trails as we know them in Australia. This blog is set up as a shared day by day account of the trip. It is a team blog so that each of the members can recount their experiences and upload photos.
If you would like more information about the trip, especially the planning, route and logistics, head over to the planning wiki where this is all described.
