WEATHER: Hot and 31C – I think this is going to be quite constant
HIGHTLIGHT OF THE DAY: The Sangria Tower was cool
BUMMER OF THE DAY: Early wake-up
BUYS OF THE DAY: Sangria Tower for 20EUR
Early departure from Pamplona this morning at 8.15am. We drove for 2 hours to get to Zaragoza. It was pretty much just a break stop for Jose, so 45 minutes here. The main attraction is the The Basilica-Cathedral of Our Lady of the Pillar. It is reputed to be the first church dedicated to Mary in history. According to ancient local tradition, soon after the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus, Saint James was preaching the Gospel in Spain, but was disheartened because of the failure of his mission. Tradition holds that on 2 January 40 AD, while he was deep in prayer by the banks of the Ebro, the Mother of God appeared to him and gave him a small wooden statue of herself and a column of jasper and instructed him to build a church in her honor.
After another 2 hours of driving, a lunch stop, we pushed on another 3 hours through to Barcelona. I have been to Barcelona before, but a long time ago. I was also here on my cruise in April, but was too hung over to get off the ship, knowing I would be coming back this time. We attempted to do a city drive tour, but the traffic was shocking. A lot of roads were closed due to the football on tomorrow night. The European Football final between Barcelona and Manchester United at Wembley. But we got a good overview of the city, and it really does have a great vibe to the place.
After checking into the hotel, it was a quick turnaround for dinner. Dinner was amazing. It is a shame that I am not a bigger seafood eater, as the meal was buffet style and all the seafood you could imagine was at this buffet. From mussels, oysters, crab, 3 types of prawns, scallops, you name it they had it. They also had non-seafood food as well, but the calamari was to die for. A jug of Sangria was 15EUR though, so that was a bit of a rip – but I guess that’s restaurant prices for you.
We headed Cataluña after dinner, and as most cities we have been to – there were protesters in the main square and they had been there for 2 weeks. Something to do with unemployment for the younger generation. The atmosphere here was electric. I think also being the eve of the football final, there were hundreds of people in the streets making noise, from banging street signs, to blowing whistles and horn blowers to singing. It was insane. The perfect place for some-one to bet pickpocketed but we all made it through unscathed. From here we headed to a bar called The Black Sheep. It had no music, very rustic with wooden tables and benches and a really cool place. It was good to be able to chat to people without having some music blaring. They serve here sangria and beer towers. Basically it is 3.5L of alcohol in a tall chilled bottle, with a tap to pour our own drinks. All for the grand price of 20EUR! Makes the 1L for 15EUR seem even more of a rip!!!!! Insane right! Marc, Andrew and I went thirds in a sangria tower, so technically we drank 1.25L of sangria each!
A big day tomorrow – so back to the hotel by 12.30am. My room at the hotel is literally a single room. A single bed in a room that I can nearly touch both sides of the walls when I stretch my arms. The smallest room on my whole trip so far. Oh well, it has a bed and shower, what else do I need?
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