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Euro Beer & Magnet Tour

March - May 2023
A bit of a jaunt around Europe, to see some interesting spots and share beers with a few pals….plus collect a few fridge magnets along the way 💪 Read more
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  • TravelerEuro Beer & Magnet Tour
    Day 1

    Dodging the French strikes via Perpignan

    March 27, 2023 in France ⋅ ⛅ 13 °C

    After the Taxi of Pete got us to Leicester station nice and early, our luxury First Class tickets got us a light breakfast on board, before easily getting our Eurostar to Paris with no trouble.
    St Pancras was pretty busy, but the queue moved fast, & we got aboard for our comfortable seats and light lunch 👍

    At Gare du Nord we took the metro across to Austerlitz to complete the next piece of our Day 1 puzzle 💪

    Our original plan had us on an overnight train to Toulouse, but the impending French strike made us change tack just a couple of days before leaving. We were able to get a refund on that train, and we headed directly south to avoid trouble and get as close to Spain as we could 👍
    Hence we changed to go from Paris to Perpignan on a fast TGV: very comfortable.

    Once there, we had chosen the Hotel Kyriad inside the station.

    We made a decision early on to always try to find accommodation close to the stations, to minimise lugging our bags about. Might not be the most salubrious area, of course, but certainly on this occasion it turned out to be a good decision: Kyriad was easy to find and very pleasantly decorated with Space wall art, funky carpet and flooring ….very cool!    Read more

  • TravelerEuro Beer & Magnet Tour
    Day 2

    Perpignon, & eventually to Figueres

    March 28, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C

    Today, we started by figuring out how to escape France. There was an option of a bus, but that looked slightly confusing. Instead, we discovered we could pay a wad of cash for the ONLY train to Spain in the afternoon. This reminded me about much of my working career: “every technical problem has a commercial solution”.

    Although this was nearly £80, the alternative was spending out on another night in Perpignan and missing our first night in Figueres, so we took the hit: day 2 and we are already into the contingency funds 😱

    On the bright side, it gave us a chance to leave our luggage at the hotel and spend the day taking a look about town, where we started by discovering we could watch a small demonstration from safely across the river. The Police looked bored, and heavily over staffed for the small number marching: I think I could have controlled that rabble🤣

    We headed up hill to the Palais des Rois de Majorque - we didn’t have time to pay to get in, but there were some lovely views from the top, and it turned into a nice relaxing day 😎

    We headed back down and got aboard the Escape France Express.

    At Figueres, we had a good walk towards town to find our cheap Airbnb. Hosted by Paulina, she left her lovely mum to deal with guests….it was a nice spot!

    We wandered down the hill to Bar Caballeros we had spotted on the way in.
    The landlord, Fernando, appeared surprised - this was a “locals bar”, unused to tourists dropping in. He enjoyed our conversations via google translate, & we asked him to “surprise us” with some snack food.
    In the garden at the back, the smiling waiter brought a seemingly endless stream of snacks….some obvious (olives), some less identifiable (perhaps bulls *ahem* private parts 😳)….all well received, and washed down with cool lager 👍

    After a while, we heard “Oh Flower of Scotland” ringing out from inside the bar. It was clear we should investigate, & we discovered Scotland were playing Spain in the Euro qualifiers. We moved inside, & managed to get the locals (Catalans!) supporting Christine’s beloved Scotland, as they beat Spain 2-0: what a memorable evening 😎👍

    Back up the hill later to retire for the evening.    Read more

  • TravelerEuro Beer & Magnet Tour
    Day 3

    Dali-town!

    March 29, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 15 °C

    Figueres: what an absolute delight!

    We wandered into town, where it felt like EVERYTHING revolved around the crazy mind that was Salvador Dali.

    He designed and indeed built the museum from the shell of a building, and what a place he created: simply astonishing, & a fabulous place to spend some hours to learn more about his life and works😎

    From there, we walked into town, trying our best to follow the pavement ‘mice’, and visited the smaller art museum, Museu de L'Empordà - one ticket gets both entries. Some nice pieces.

    We had a nice lunch on the market square, as we followed the Dali ant trail about the town, past the home he lived in, and indeed out to the station we would leave from in the morning: Figueras. The local slow-speed trains…..not to be confused with the high-speed one we arrived in: Figueres 🤪

    A final beer at our favourite bar to round off a nice day before heading home.    Read more

  • TravelerEuro Beer & Magnet Tour
    Day 4

    To Barcelona

    March 30, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 14 °C

    Time to say farewell to our lovely host (with the help of Google Translate, of course!), to move on, to get to our hostel (#privateensuite!) in the heart of Barcelona.
    Sad to leave, but so much to see ahead of us.

    From Figueras, it was an easy journey.
    At the station I was able to make the day for one man who was rushing to the toilet, dropping his wallet on the way. He came out very anxiously a few minutes later, & was relieved to be rejoined with his ID and money!

    At Barcelona, there was some mild confusion as we were unable to exit the train from the main station to the local network…..eventually some staff let us through, & we had some local transport to take in order to reach our hostel near Las Ramblas….pretty straightforward enough.
    We took our time to settle in, orientate ourselves, and then headed out to BierCaB, a bar with food recommended by my Parisian pal, Yves. A great decision - good beer, & good food🍻💪

    Back at base, we were to discover that our room was great, but by heck the bin men and street cleaners work ALL through the night…Room 4 was a very noisy front room at an otherwise delightful hostel 😱    Read more

  • TravelerEuro Beer & Magnet Tour
    Day 5

    Casa Batllo

    March 31, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C

    I was suffering some groin pain, but not walking was not an option: this was a day to wander about.
    Christine was of the view that if my pain hadn’t eased by Montpellier, we would have to go home, & as things felt, I couldn’t really argue…..so getting things looked at was pretty important. Reception suggested we could visit Hospital Del Mar 🏥

    But first: the target was Casa Batllo.

    What a fabulous Gaudi building & indeed history: we paid up for the the “augmented reality” tour, & it felt like money well spent!

    Afterwards we headed down to the hospital, where I was in and out inside an hour: the young doctor declaring it was not a hernia, just a groin strain. He prescribed some double strength ibuprofen, some Tramadol, and some Nolotil. A quick google suggested the last one should never be taken by north European people, since it can cause seriously reactions leading to death, so the decision was taken to just kill the pain with the known ibuprofen 😳

    Reassured, we returned to rest at our hostel with celebratory microwave empanadas and a couple of bargain beers 🍻👍    Read more

  • TravelerEuro Beer & Magnet Tour
    Day 6

    Sagrada Familia

    April 1, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C

    Had a bit of a lie in, to rest the leg….and also considered buying a roller bag to avoid lugging my rucksack 😱

    Then on to the spectacular Sagrada Familia. What a place. Just an amazing structure, a veritable forest of columns inside.

    Antoni Gaudi was in no rush to finish his work there: he considered God to be the client, and ensured enough of his plans were understood so that the work could be completed after his passing.

    Speaking of which: such a sad death.
    At the end, aged 73, he was so obsessed, he was living in the Cathedral. He was taking a daily walk for prayer and confession when he was struck by a tram. People who saw him assumed him to be a tramp, and he failed to get the immediate care he needed. Only recognised the following day, it was too late. Very sad end for a total genius.

    We walked up one of the towers: the art of Gaudi is truly amazing, and it was a joy to spend some hours there.

    Afterwards, we wandered on, choosing to dine at Honest Green, where a beautiful salad and roast cauliflower fed us well.

    In the evening, we headed out to Ølgod, a fine brewpub offering flights of ales 🍻👍    Read more

  • TravelerEuro Beer & Magnet Tour
    Day 7

    Joan Miro and Parc Guell (almost!)

    April 2, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 17 °C

    Last day here, so we headed to the funicular and went to visit the Miró Foundation: another very cool place to visit 😎 ….although his massive single line ‘triptic’ did make me feel I should pick up the brushes and give it a stab 👨‍🎨🎨🤣

    Barcelona showed us some great bars (Biercab, Ølgod) & quality cafes (Honest Greens, Oakanda stood out!)

    After an incredibly steep climb, we learned that Parc Guell is now *entirely* ticket entry only, & of course they had sold out (changed in 2019!). Pffft: looked like a poor man’s Disney park anyway 🤪

    I’ve had a painful groin strain since day 2, so taking it easy on the walking front, but still averaged almost 12k steps each day 🤪

    Getting more au fait with the travel/tickets etc👍    Read more

  • TravelerEuro Beer & Magnet Tour
    Day 8

    To Valencia

    April 3, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C

    We left around 9am to find our train at Barcelona-Sants for Valencia.
    One man at a ticket booth couldn’t understand why we wanted the slow train. Short answer was that train reservations were pricey, and doubly so for First Class in France and Spain.

    Spain, indeed, was not very Interrail friendly. As The Man in Seat 61 put things, our tickets have lost their convenience factor, because every Spanish long-distance train requires a reservation….and can only be booked at a Spanish station…

    Anyway, we enjoyed a comfortable 5 hours, arriving in the lovely Valencia Estació del Nord for a short walk to our Casual València Vintage hotel.
    A stylish spot to stay, with room for us to do a little hand washing before heading out.

    The afternoon was warm, and we met our old volleyball pal Simon at the appropriately named Beer and Travels bar, before moving on for a fine tapas dinner, with Sarah joining us. A smashing evening 😎👍    Read more

  • TravelerEuro Beer & Magnet Tour
    Day 9

    A day storming Valencia

    April 4, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 16 °C

    Got up for a rare hotel brekky, before setting out to walk all day - 22k steps ahead for us 😱

    Started in the city centre, with the interesting Silk Museum, then on through the busy market and out to the main park in Valencia.
    The Turia River used to flow through, but flood management mean that it was diverted, and the result is a long, winding park with many features along the way.

    It was a hot day, and we paused to try the local horchata and fartons - a sweet creamy cold drink with a sweet pastry to dip. Unusual yet tasty!

    Onwards to the Science Park with some simply astonishing buildings. No time to visit the museums, however: we will have to return one day: we continued to the seaside, where we sadly chose a very average paella.

    Finally, realising our exhaustion, we caught a bus back to town.    Read more

  • TravelerEuro Beer & Magnet Tour
    Day 10

    Unscheduled Ulldecona bus replacement

    April 5, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 14 °C

    Our journey back north was interrupted by a bus replacement service…..the first of a few.

    This one was a simple case of following the clear directions and joining back with the train a bit further north.Read more

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