Gaudi Oranges?

While wandering around Spain on our own for a week, we came to the realisation that we really enjoy going on tours in countries that we've never visited before. We just had no-one to go to when we wanted to ask questions... about buildings, culture, where the nearest supermarket was. I guess we've been a bit spoiled.

We both thought that Barcelona was a beautiful city filled with gorgeous buildings. You could wander around the streets and really allow your imagination to transport you to another time. (It was the smelliest city we've been to though, and that did interrupt the happy thoughts on occaision.)

We decided to take the hop-on hop-off bus for two days around the city and it was great because we got some of the information we wanted while having the chance to se all of the important sights. Adie mainly wanted to see Gaudi's work so those were the stops we made most frequently. His work is so unique and quite beautiful, although I guess that's a matter of opinion. Here you can see me lounging near some of the beautifully mosaicked seats at the top of the Park Guell.
The city of Barcelona seems to be consistently busy after about 11am. Before then I think everyone sleeps. It's vibrant and exciting, especially around the Ramblas. We didn't really venture out much at night though, contenting ourselves with day trips. (We'd just heard too many bad stories about tourists getting themselves into strife or losing their wallets after dark.) We did manage an early dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe, so Adie was happy with that.

To be honest I can't remember the name of the museum located behind Adie in this photo below. Not that it made a difference to us as everything seemed to either be closed (it was a Monday) or under restoration and therefore covered in scaffolding.

Once we were done in Barcelona, we took the train to Valencia for some R & R on the beachfront. Our hotel was quite literally on the boardwalk you can see in the photo below and we did some serious sunbathing here. At night the place was lit up and there was a market running on one section so we had a lot of fun wandering around looking at the things people were trying to sell. One night there was a group of guys playing beach volleyball with soccer rules... no hands! They were so much fun to watch. I found myself cheering them along.
If we were to go back to Spain I think it would be as part of a tour. There's one we've seen that also does Portugal and Morocco that looks brilliant. Maybe in a couple of years.