BCN

I love Barcelona. The nightlife, the architecture (Barcelona was the chosen home of renowned modernist architect Antoni Gaudí), the close proximity to the Med and amazing beaches.. yes, again, this is another place I could quite happily live in despite it's noted high cost of living.

I met up with an Australian girl named Maeve my first night here and we went out for dinner and cocktails and then down La Ramblas to check out the waterfront. They ended up closing the bridge back to Las Ramblas, so we walked around, and caught a nightbus to what we assumed was the direction of our hostel.

No such luck.

At about 3 am we finally sucked it up, hailed a taxi and made it back to the hostel where I fell into bed fully clothed and deeply asleep until the next morning.

We caught the metro over to check out Casa Batlló and La Pedrera, 2 of Gaudí´s more well-known structures (besides the Sagrada Familia, of course) and then up to Park Güell and spent the morning there taking pictures and generally playing tourist and then made the decision to head off to the beach for the afternoon.

Maeve picked a beautiful beach and so we spent the afternoon playing in the water (yes, again, I braved 'shark infested waters' for a swim), sun-tanning and even getting a €5 massage from a little Asian lady in the sand. In fact, I was so relaxed that I even sort of took off my top. But not really, since I was lying face down. I'm still not that brave.

Anyway, Hedonism at it's best. That, my friends, is what is generally known as The Good Life.

We picked up some veggies and fruits for dinner and generally just had a really laid back day.

Today on the other hand has been one cock-up after another. Woke up at 6:30 to head to the train station to book my ticket to Nice. Unfortunately that train is all full, and my only option is to catch 4 connections there and to arrive at near midnight tonight. Not all that bad if you can find a reasonably priced place to stay for the next few nights.

Unfortunately, I've thought through very little of this section of the trip and didn't realize how difficult it would be to book a hostel room in the French Riviera in mid August. Near impossible, in case you were wondering.

So I debated all morning, trying to decide where I should go instead. Maybe just on to Cannes? Or all the way to Italy?

Had breakfast with Maeve and made my decision... I'll be in Torino, Italy in the morning after spending over 70 Euros on a sleeper berth on the train leaving Barcelona tonight.

I'm only planning to spend a brief period of time there, and then onto La Spezia and the 5 villages of Cinque Terre as soon as possible.

I'm the TINIEST bit disappointed that I'm missing Southern France this trip, but I assume that my good paying career working as a multi-lingual design consultant in a architectural firm in Southern Spain will allow enough flexibility and money to do it in style in a few years time, anyway, so I can't be TOO sad.

Maybe I'll even have acquired a latin lover by that time. Ooh La La.

*sigh*

Back to reality.