something else

The morning started early with another yummy breakfast at Hotel Regis, Barcelona. I like their muesli and fresh fruit the best, but Cath and Gill enjoy the range of smoked meats, cheeses and pastries, especially the chocolate ones. The taxi picked us up at 7.30am as arranged. The streets were only just gaining light and office workers were making their way to work, coffee and papers in hand as we circuited the one way streets to get out onto the main road to the airport. This looked more like a working city, rather than the image we had gained over Thursday, Friday and the weekend. I think a lot of people must have been extending their summer vacation, taking advantage of the National holiday, last Wednesday. Barcelona airport is huge and the electronic billboards notifying the flights, times and gates, tantalise the imagination. Bucharest, Miami, Buenos Ares, Istanbul, Rome, Paris, Chicago. It seems as if every city in the world is listed there. There was a huge queue at every desk. ...

We walked down La Rambla to the port and the beach. We passed the market along the way, that we had visited yesterday. The thing that most suprised me about Barcelona is the number of tourists. I reckon about 80% of the people on the street are tourists, no more so than at the beach. The beach scene is quite different from that in Australia. We were suprised at the number of people who go to the beach quite dressed up. You don´t see many men in shorts, unless they are swimming. There were also very few people swimming, although the water looked gorgeous. It seemed to shelve off quite steeply and there were good body surfing waves of about 1m rolling in against the haze of the deeper ocean. Perhaps there was an undertow? It was lovely and warm, I would have been tempted to swim at home in Melbourne. There are so many cultural mixes here, we saw families where the children were running around naked up to the ages of 6 or 7, and ones where the children were dressed in `Sunday Best´compl...

Yesterday afternoon as we walked through the del Born area it started to rain. It had been humid all day and finally it rained, great big splashy drops turning into a steady down pour. We all got wet feet and legs and had great fun finding a local bar to dry off in. In the evening we walked over to the Port area and had dinner at a seafood restaurant, ordering tapas of sardines in raspberry vinaigette, mussels in wine, and calamari rings followed by rice noodle paellas, which were so yummy. Our eyes were bigger than our tummies and we really could have had only one serve between the three of us. We were still very tired, and all slept well. We've had a wonderful day today. It's been gloriously sunny with a cool breeze, perfect for walking. We walked back to the Temple de la Sagrada Familia, Gaudi's church, then up to the Hospital de la Santa Creu I Sant Pau, which he also designed, then right up the hill to the Park Guell. Spent the whole day sight seeing and walking. I...

Well all my planning for being able to post photos and txt to the blog, from my mobile whilst travelling have come to nothing. I first suspected problems when I tried to send a photo from Tullamarine and the phone gave me a message saying that the blog didn't recognise my carrier. I figured that it was because I had switched to roaming and so I re-registered the blog and I got a photo through. Thought I had fixed it, so I have sent a couple of photos over the last 24 hours, but no luck - they haven't turned up on the site. Today I think some gypsies put a moker on me. I got stung by them in an absolutely typical scam. We were in a courtyard behind the Barcelona cathedral, admiring some buildings and listening to a guitarist. A young girl came up to me and asked me to sign a petition to fund a home for deaf children or some such rubbish. I should have told her to go away. Things happened very fast, the minute I hesitated, she became very insistent and I, stupidly gave in and e...

I'm so nervous. I've been packed for hours. What if I've forgotten something critical? What if they don't validate my e-ticket when I get to the airport? What if customs doesn't like the fact that I've got two back up systems in case my pump fails? Arrrgh!

It's fabulous how when no-one else will do any of the sometime extreme things I decide to do in training for the various events I commit to, my sisters can be relied on to turn out and accompany me. I think about 2004 when Gill & I did our first `Great Vic' bike ride, and Gill would turn out at Sparrow fart to do training rides. This week it's been doing long walks as I prepare for my trekking in Morocco. Last Sunday Gill & I did nearly 3 hours around Jells Park and the Dandenong Creek trail - enduring an absolute lack of loos along the way. Lucky we're both used to bush camping! Today it has been Sally who joined me and did a full 20klm walk from Williamstown back to Seabrook providing much needed company and good cheer. This time loos were available and the weather was perfect for walking, although we did run into some fairly hefty headwinds. John started out with us, but unfortunately his knee started to play up and he had to turn back and take the train back...

I feel like I'm living `travel tips for idiots' at the moment. Travel tips for Diabetics How to travel with an insulin pump DAV Increased Security for Air Travel Travellers Health - Polio, Cholera, Typhoid, Rabies shots New Rules for Taking Liquids Aerosols and Gels through Security onto International Flights Free International SIM card for your Trip! Fast track online registration Confirm your ticket online Make sure you've left copies of EVERYTHING at home Make sure you've actually remembered to take the originals! The biggest drama is the medication. Since insulin is something I literally cannot live without, it and the equipment used to administer it become a prime focus of my life. Because of the security now necessary at airports, I have to make sure that everything I carry has it's original labels & prescriptions. I think I have to put it in plastic bags so the customs officers can screen it easily. I have to carry doctors letters, extra medical insurance...