Ughh

Hard drive appears to have just failed on my Laptop, so blog posts might be a bit more infrequent till I'm able to fix it when I get home on the 10th April.
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Barcelona day 2………..

Went for a run this morning, i ran up the steps up to and past the “magic fountain” there were about 12 sections of steps and a total of 212!! my legs were burning like mad when i got to the top but it felt great, i then ran back the long way down, through the Olympic Park by the venue for tomorrows show and back down to the hotel, about 40 minutes in total and it felt great running in the warm weather for a change!

I went up to the rooftop and straight in the pool for 20 minutes before laying out on the terrace till nearly 2 o clock and enjoying the sunshine.

The banks of steps up past the “Magic Fountain”             My view for a couple of hours.

 

After taking a shower i headed out across the street to look at the old Bullring which they have converted into an amazing shopping/restaurant/gym/cinema complex. It was only opened 4 days ago and although its still a bit dusty from construction inside and a few places are still yet to be leased the place is amazing! They kept the whole of the outside building of the old bullring and built a new building inside it. it looks like they then supported the whole outside on huge metal supports so it actually looks like the exterior is floating off the ground!

   

The interior is full of shops, restaurants, bars and even has a 13 screen cinema in it. The top floor also houses a huge health spa with an amazing gym and has doors all the way round the outside leading to an outdoor running track that goes all the way round the building just below the rooftop so is also covered from what rain they do have out here in Barcelona.

Outdoor running track accessed from various doors in the gym

 

You get an amazing view of Barcelona from the roof top and can walk a full 360` around and see for miles across the rooftops.

Couple of panoramas i took below, the first one you can see our hotel roof top pool on the left:

More views from the roof:

   

As i made my way back downstairs something Floyd related caught my eye in one of the stores.

Hammers                                           A fan on the roof!                             Kevin at the rooftop pool

     

I've now just got back to the hotel, Its 4:30pm on Monday afternoon and Jackie and Dave are coming over at 6 for drinks on the roof top again before heading out for dinner.No show again tonight but there's 2 shows in a row tomorrow and the night after and we then fly down to Milan early Thursday morning. Gonna do the sightseeing bus tomorrow morning after another Run and have another friend

Album with more pictures and views from the Bullring rooftop below:

View Full Album

Madrid to Barcelona

Woke around 8:30 A.M, but it was 7:30 A.M. really, because we put the clocks back last night. Showered, packed, and headed out of the hotel to get the 10:30 train to Barcelona.

Had some breakfast at the station before taking our seats on the train. The trains in Spain and most of Europe are a fantastic way to travel. It's like taking an aeroplane! There's a person stood at each door in uniform to welcome you on the train, the seats are comfy and recline, and staff comes around with a set of headphones that plug into the seat for everyone as you're leaving the station--there are also TVs in the carriages showing films.

I managed to get an hour and a half's sleep when we left Madrid, and I woke with just over an hour to go before we arrived in Barcelona at 1:15 P.M.

We walked the short walk to our hotel and checked in without a problem. My friends Jackie and Dave had flown into Barcelona earlier this morning and were staying at a hotel across the street from us. I sent them a text, and half an hour later we were all sat on the rooftop deck at our hotel having a drink and basking in the Barcelona sunshine!

Kevin, Dave and Jackie by the pool       Dave and Kevin having their first beer    Jackie after her first vodka and Coke!

     

The view from our rooftop pool              Jackie, Dave and Kevin in the sun         Even the locals drink here!

     

Around 4 P.M. we all headed off for a siesta before meeting up again in the bar of Jackie and Dave's hotel. Two rounds of cocktails later, we made our way outside and started to search for somewhere to have dinner. After a 15 minute walk we found a nice Italian restaurant with tables and chairs outside and had an excellent meal and a bottle of wine. The temperature here is just right both day and night. It doesn't drop drastically at night, so it is still great to sit outside at 11 P.M!

We all made our way back to our hotels, said our goodbyes for the night, and headed up to bed.