Barcelona

Barcelona seems to be living on borrowed time. Yes Gaudi was a fantastic architect, but he has been dead a long time. Despite the Sagrada Familia temple, (not cathedral as is generally assumed) being started in 1882, it is still not finished. Yes these things take time, but in the meantime the land all around it has been built on so it will be interesting to see if they ever do finish.

Sadly all the Gaudi buildings are heaving with tourists and it is almost on a par with Versailles as one of those places you really don't know if they are worth the hassle, even though spectacular. Once more my opinion somewhat influenced by the travel agent booking me into a hotel nowhere near where I had asked, nor where I needed to be the next day. I resolve never to use travel agents again.

Eventually got into the swing of things and found some great eating places, including one which, for reasons which quickly became apparent, had a queue from the minute it opened to the minute it closed. Great food at silly prices and wine at more or less what it costs in the supermarket. Beautiful position in the Plaza Real, Les Quinze Nits.