Following the traffic difficulties we experienced entering the heart of Paris, we had told google maps to lead us to a suburb a little out of Barcelona. Unfortunately it wasn't far enough, so once again we found ourselves lost in the streets of a large foreign city. Being unable to enter a new destination into google (and the newly bought GPS still unrouteable) our only option was to retrace our steps out of Barcelona. Once we were in a less chaotic  area we found a MacDonalds whose wifi we could use to search for a campsite that we could base ourselves until we got our bearings. Things started to look up when we found one a short distance away only to discover that most campsites are closed this time of year in Spain... Back to the drawing board we went. We finally found a site right on the beach that promised wifi, hot showers and a laundry... 2/3 wasn't bad and after freshening up we spent our first night in Barcelona.

On our first day in Barcelona we wondered from the campsite in the general direction of the city enjoying the walk along the beach while seeking a train station. After a short detour to an ATM and a couple of train stations later we were on our way into Barcelona. The first thing we noticed was how high tech the trains were. Many offered toilets (even though the longest train trip was ~45minutes) and all were very clean. The first thing we saw exiting the train station was Barcelona's own Arc de Triumf (which is much better than the French one according to the Spaniards we asked ;) ). From here we began to wonder the many small streets and alley ways taking in the many differences. One of the best things we discovered is the lack of large shopping centres (which they do have in some areas) but instead every street was scattered with unique little boutique shops. La Ramblas, the main shopping strip, was filled with performers and artists which all could be viewed from the alfresco cafes that filled the area. After a short stop to enjoy some tappas, paella and Sangria!! our journey continued with a nice warm glow. Our next stop was at an alfresco sports bar offering the best Mojitos in Spain (said the waiter). We spent the next hour enjoying a few quiet drinks while we watched an artist draw us a picture of Cooper.  Our first full day in Barcelona had been fantastic and we couldn't wait to see what tomorrow would hold.

We spent the morning finally getting the last of the maps for our GPS downloaded and packed up to find parking closer to Barcelona. After a quick train trip in we started with a light lunch at a beautiful restaurant on the way to Sagrada Familia. This was to be our next destination but with a mile long line and an exorbitant entry price we found the cathedral looked fantastic from outside. This also gave us time to discover some more of the building designed by Gaudi and more of the treasures that Barcelona had to offer. As the day started to grow to a close we noticed more and more people lining up on the side of the street in anticipation as if something was about to happen. As good tourists we did the same waiting with bated breath for a spectacle that we had stumbled upon. An hour later we were still standing there and all we had seen were numerous police cars we decided to head off to find some dinner. As luck would have it just as we sat down to eat, with window seats, the  Catalunyan Christmas parade started where the streets filled with floats often containing young performers throwing lollies to (sometimes at) the crowd.

In our final day in Barcelona we partook in a walking tour (lead by an Irish tour guide) around the old city of Barcelona. This explained many of the history and buildings we had seen over the previous days as well as took us into secluded areas that we easily would have missed. We were also educated as to the reason for the parade. Catalunyan's don't believe in Santa Clause but instead a character which is in the shape of a log. Each year the children are given a log a week before this parade and they are meant to care for it until the day of the parade. On the day of the parade they then get to beat the log with a stick whereby lollies shoot out it's arse. For added practice the city is filled with logs prior to the day for the children to work on their beating skills. We also learnt that Catalunya was extremely powerful in Roman times and it wasn't until much later the country was (forcefully) incorporated into Spain and as such they are now pushing to once again become independant.