Spain

A surprised me this (long) weekend with a trip to Barcelona for my birthday. I'd been before very briefly on a road-trip back in 2006 with Scott and loved the relaxed and friendly atmosphere of the city considering the size.

As per usual, no real plan existed for the weekend, so we relied on random wandering and the occasional geocache to navigate to interesting spots, so there's not a considerable amount to say really, and I haven't sorted through the photos yet. I tend to avoid playing the tourist and try to live like a local on holiday, so city trips tend to be more about shopping, eating, and exploring the life within the city, rather than queuing to see monuments.

Work has been hell since returning from holidays, and it looks like it's only going to get worse. I hope you enjoyed the tiny selection of photos taken while there enjoying the sun and the relaxation.

I have hundreds of photos to sift through now, but I think I presented the most interesting photo of each day.

I don't have much to post lately. Sorry folks.

Awoke this morning with a goal of getting the real part of the road-trip started. Now that the wedding was over, it was time to decide which way back to Brussels we were going to take. Specifically, we were trying to decide which side of France to traverse.

Armed with the 2€ road atlas that Scott and I bought on a whim just prior to taking our trip and a coin, it was decided relatively adventitiously that we would return via the Eastern side of France…

After a long sleep-in, we awoke to a boiling hot day in Aigua Blava. Since we could see Wedding HQ from our rear terrace, we noticed things were a little bit hectic over there. This isn't really surprising, considering Cath & Max were to be wed today!

We decided to head into Begur for some lunch, but indecision kept us from choosing a place to sit down for lunch…

After catching the last remnants of breakfast, and a brief visit to the ATAC in Aumont-Aubrac for some bottled water (and some other… stuff…) we headed back on the A75 through the Massif Central.

While heading over a ridge, I noticed a bridge in the distance that appeared somewhat familiar, if not somewhat enormous. An excited idea popped into my head that it could be the Millau Viaduct — the very bridge Scott and I were looking for when we were crossing back into France from Spain…

“Having problems calling/SMSing since Wednesday, sorry.. Now spending the night in Bordeaux after seeing Toledo -- we gave up on Madrid (too much of a maze)”

“Went to Málaga/Merbella (false, British, shit-house), turned around & wound up in Valdepeñas, during a festival. Just got back from fireworks at the carnival!”

“We're in Almería, after going through rural Spain (boring). No news...”

“Now in Spain; Spent the afternoon and evening in Barcelona (wonderful place, I think), & staying out of town in Granollers. I think Barcelona is really liveable..”