Katty's Little Adventure - Oh yes I'm stressed, I'm sorry I digressed

Well as I'm still very unsuccessful on the job front, I took a week out in SPAIN with my mom... We toured Zaragoza, Barcelona and Girona...

Zaragoza

As you all know, Zaragoza is not that great for sightseeing, apart from the Pilar, Seo and Roman Ruins. So we went on the Bus Turístico a great 3 times. The route has changed, now there are 2 routes, a historical one going past the uni, the Romareda, Don Jaime, Gran Vía, Parque Pignatelli, the Canal, Parque Grande etc. And the Aljafería route, that quite obviously takes you to the Aljafería. Both now however take you onto the other side of the river, to the Pabellón de Aragón from the '92 Expo, and to the site of the 2008 Expo. The Noche version does the old route.

So there was the Bus, the Seo, the Pilar, the top of the Pilar, the Aljafería.... Err... Eating in those little cafés out on the Plaza del Pilar. I also had a Fanta Naranja for old times sake in Flaherty's, where just by pure chance, they played Should I Stay Or Should I Go..! Also many trips to the Rincón, none of which resulted in sweeties!!

On the first night we met with María Pilar. We wanted to go for a nice meal somewhere in the Casco.. So we left the 'restaurant' choice up to her. We got quite dressed up. We meet outside McDo's, go for a little drink in one of the cafés in Independencia. Anyway, we end up in a bar on the Coso, I have Ternera of boot leather proportions and my mom has Jamón de York, yuck! It was quite disappointing because we wanted to go somewhere nice, which we thought we would with a local, but this place was just a bar, like going out for a nice meal at the Cafetería Interfaculdades.

Barcelona

This is more like it!! Hotel right on the Ramblas, yeah!! We ate Tapas each night, it was wonderful!!

We did the Bus Túristic, both routes. Casa Battló, Casa Milà, Sagrada Familia, Estadi Olímpic, Parc Guell, a walking tour of the Barri Gotic, and various wanderings around. We ate one night in the Poble Espanyol, the reconstruction of different parts of Spain in one, with craft shops.. Unfortunately nothing was open, so we just ate and walked round. Then we walked down to the bottom, Plaça Espanya, where we watched all four displays at the dancing fountains.. On the walking tour I was mistaken for being 17, by a rather dashing young man called Ángel (the guide).

Ooh, we also went to the Castell Monjuïc, where there are stunning views, we walked for ages, from the bottom of the hill. I was really really excited because the guidebook said there was a statue of Franco! I was going to have my photo taken with the man himself. So we walk around this incredibly dull military museum in the hope of seeing Franco at the end. Only to reach the ticket office bit and way out again. So I ask the ticket office man. Franco has been in storage for 4 years. Seriously I was really disappointed.. But we'd had a nice walk up there, and then down to the Olympic Stadium..

All a very beautiful city, I was looking out for job vacancies. I'll never tire of Barcelona.. (The company however is a different story)

Girona

Girona is very very pretty. I would recommend that you go there.. It's very small however, but with a beautiful cathedral and views from the Roman Walls. It was the public holiday of Sant Joan when we were there, so all shops were shut. But we managed to fill the afternoon with Ortxata and Granissats, or Horchata and Granizados. It's very Catalan, which was good, and full of little streets in the Jewish Quarter. We ate at a little resaurant, where they have a queue for sitting outside!! I had a salad with jamón serrano, manchego cheese, and lettuce and stuff...

So now I'm back in Birmingham, and it's quite boring. I graduated a couple of weeks ago.. It was cool, the Summer Ball was cool too... Sad though. I was quite upset that there was a Casino with a great big sign saying 'Gamble' and I told them that that was my name and they still wouldn't make room for me at the table.. But we danced the night away, had a bit of a heart to heart, took loads of photos and lost everyone I went with.

Tomorrow I'm going to Leicester for the day. To see Dave.