Carcassonne to Barcelona

We had breakfast then headed to the Medieval Cite of Carcassonne. The cite has drawbridges, machicolatrion and 52 towers. The cite is fortified and the lower cite has A lovely 13th century bastion. The cite was the inspiration for Walt Disneys Sleeping Beauty with its world famous and unique architectural heritage. The cite was restored in the 19th century and the buildings are in excellent condition.

We decided to split up to explore the cite as Noel will want to go places no one else does. Noel and I headed for the wall and Noel went into ever nook and crany he could. The tour from the tourist office was not on today so Noel was very disappointed. We spent about and hour exploring then we found the entry into the Castle Keep. This was amazing and the views and photo opertunites was worth the 8.50euro each to get in and well made up for the other tour not on today.

We meet up with Kathy and Richard at Midday, they had spent some money in the shops and Kathy had had a cappuccino however in France this means coffee with heaps of wipped cream. She didn't feel great so Hopefully she doesn't suffer the same fate as Richard in Milan.

We headed for the car and set course for Barcelona.

Angelina took us on a scenic route which included a very, very narrow road which we named the goat track. We got to see some amazing country side however and one village the streets were so narrow we could only just get the car through. The route also took us via a wind farm. The small villages on the Way of course were closed at lunch time so I was cursing the others that we didn't have lunch before we left Carcassonne. Eventually we made it to Perpignan and got some lunch at a fast food place much like McDonalds around 2.30. It wasn't too bad and the rolls were wholemeal at least.

Finally we made it on to the motorway and continued our journey to Barcelona. Arrived at the Hotel No problem and first thing was to do the washing. Barcelona is huge so we might do the tourist bus tomorrow.

There is an exercise bike in our rooms, what does that mean????

We thought we might take on Spanish names while we are here - Julia, Katerina, Ricardo and Noel is Juan.

We decided to eat seprately tonight as we wanted paella and Richard is not into seafood. Noel and I stopped at a outdoor restaurant as it is a lovely night and ordered 2 paella, one made with rice and the other with noodles. Both where good but the rice was defiantly better. I had the 1/2 litre of Sangria which was really good and Noel the local San Miguel beer. Our waiter was excellent and spoke English so we left him a tip. We also had a busker playing the clarinet who was also really good so we tipped him too. Must of had too much Sangria and feeling generous.

We took a bit of a walk around the city, the hotel is in the heart of Eixample on Catalunya so everyone walks around this area at night and there is heaps of places to eat. We are one road off the main road of Barcelona so very near us are all the designer shops where everyone wants to be seen.

We get back to the hotel and decide to have our welcome drink and everyone is watching the soccer, Barcelona v Real Madrid, half time and no one has scored so we head back to the room to read and blog.

Almost forgot, I scored a Barcelona Soccer team eraser, the shop keeper was excited I bought it and raved onto me in Spanish. Don't know what he said but he was happy and so was I.

Buenas noches