Collioure, France

Quite a lot has happened it seems in the 24 hours or so since I last posted. Before leaving Barcelona, Gaffer and I got a chance to vistit one of the world's largest Stadiums - Nou Camp Stadium in Barcelona....It's world famous and can hold up to 120,000 spectators. It is the home of the Barcelona Football Club and is a truly amazing place. There were people there from the world over, checking it out and taking a "backstage" tour. I've tried to include some photos. Later that evening (last night), we attended a match between Barcelona and Levante football club....Barcelona won, thankfully. It was just terrific. You really get a feel for life in Barcelona by going to a match....especially after the game when it seems like the whole city is pouring out of the stadium whooping it up and enjoying life. Barcelona is a very very livable city....the people seem very happy with life, and life for them seems to be quite leisurely and easy going.

This moring after breakfast at a cafe around the corner from the hotel, we rented a car and headed to France. Navigating out of Barcelona and toward France was a considerable challenge, but once we got our footing, it was pretty easy. We decided to take a small, narrow coastal road and ended up in the town of Collioure, which is just north of the French border. This is an amazing town, quite beautiful with a marvelous view of the ocean and a real relaxed atmosphere. Surprisingly, it seems most of the tourists are French themselves,and there is absolutely no evidence of restaurants or businesses catering to either British or German tourists. The food, as always is fresh and very good. We are going to stay in this part of the country for a couple of days at least....I wish I could post some photos, but I'm finding the internet speed of these places to be super, super slow....so I will try to get some photos as soon as I can......

Last day in Barca....

Well, this is our last day in Barcalona. A bit cold and wet, but hopes are high for better weather. We have walked our legs off in this city. Yesterday, we stopped at a little Irish/English pub where we got to see a bit of the Chelsea v. Bolton match and speak to some of the British expatriouts who are living in Barcalona permanently. One young guy was telling us how much nicer Barcalona is to live in than where he's from in Yorkshire.....he's been living here for 6 years and is having the time of his life. The two things most impressive with Barcalona are the markets and the architecture. So many Gaudi inspired buildings here which are truly distinctive and a real treat to see. The markets are like nothing else I've seen.......every kind of meat and fish under the sun, and the colors of the veggies are spectacular. The food has been top class....Baccala....fresh grillled veggies.....Tapas.....Sangria.....life is so leisurely. You can sit in the cafe or Tapas bar forever and just drink in the surroundings. Anyway, tomorrow, it is off to Avis to pick up a car and head for the French border. Sorry no photos, but it is truly a pain in the ass getting photos up using the hotel computer.....hopefully soon.....

Above is a market in Barcelona...one of the oldest outdoor markets in Europe. Sorry I don't have more photos, but I'm working on a computer in the lobby and am not that familiar with it....below is the church of the Holy Family, inspired by the artist Gaudi which has been in construction for decades, and the construction continues. This outer facade was built in around the 1880's. The inside is a complete construction site...lots of noise and scaffolding....

Arrived in Barcelona!

Hey Guys...just a quick note to let you know that we have arrived in Barcelona, but finding adequate wireless internet has been a bit of a problem. So unfortunately, I do not have any photos or movies to put up yet. The flight over was fine, but tiring. We booked a hotel in a great part of town, but only for two nights. We were not able to extend our stay, so we had to pick up stakes and move to another hotel a bit further from the 'old town' where we were. It's nice and very posh in this section of town, and about a 20 min bus journey from where we were before. So far though, everything has gone very smoothly. We are set to see a Barcelona football match on Sunday at the huge stadium here. We have spent most of today and yesterday just wandering around getting our bearings without any particular plan. The food has been fabulous and there is an outdoor market that rivals the one in Florence! So far it's been very relaxing. The weather has been great apart from a very brief bit of rain today. Gaffer has been introduced to both Tapas and Sangria and has liked both. Well, that's all for now, and hope in future to be able to post some video and photos.

Picasa

I just want to add that I will be uploading my photos to a site called Picasa (also a Google product) which I think is a terrific online photo site. You will probably need to subscribe to Picasa (it's free) in order to see my photos, but it is well worth the few minutes it takes to get it. You can find Picasa here.

To see my photos on Picasa, click here.

Introduction

Welcome to The Gaffer & Joe blogspot. On Tuesday, April 24th 2007, The Gaffer and Joe will be traveling to Spain and France and documenting their journey by way of this blog. The blog will include photos, video and maps provided by Google Maps in which you may follow the progress as The Gaffer & Joe make their way through Europe. By way of introduction, we have included a video of the planing stages of the trip. It may be interesting to compare the plans to what happens during the trip in actuality. So check back frequently to The Gaffer & Joe blog to see how we are getting on....

Where on earth are we now? Click here.