Spain

Saturday was an early morning with us catching a bus from Birmingham to Luton (Britain´s most beautiful city) so we could catch our flight to Barcelona the next day. We spent the afternoon in Luton trying to find a bar that was playing the All Blacks game. It took us about ten no´s before we finally got a yes - a bar that was willing to put the game. So we watched the victory which lifted our spirits and made Luton seem a bit more bearable. On the way back to our hostel we passed a memorial for a policeman who had been shot dead in the streets of Luton a week earlier - that made us walk a bit faster.

On Sunday morning we flew to Barcelona, into much nicer weather - 32 degrees and not a cloud in the sky. We spent the afternoon and evening exploring Barcelona on foot. We spotted an interesting building in the distance so walked towards it - a huge multi-coloured dome shaped building. We found out later it is one of Barcelona´s newest and most popular architectural attractions (on lots of postcards etc). We then walked past the bull-ring where a night of bull-fighting was about to begin - complete with protesters outside.

We found La Sagrada Familia, and went inside to have a closer look. It really is an amazing building, which began construction in 1882 and is still a fair way from completion. However it already has 8 spires that reach 100 metres into the air and on completion will have 16 spires with one dwarfing all the other 15. We can´t wait to see it when it´s all done!

The next day began with the joy of dealing with the Spanish rail service - or lack of service. We waited in a queue for an hour, with some people at the counter for over 15 minutes, just so we could pick up our tickets to Valencia, which took us 2 minutes. We were glad to be out of there. We then hopped on the bus tour, which took us around all the main sights, including the Emperor´s Gardens, an old monastery, many of Gaudi´s works (the guy that designed La Sagrada Familia), the Olympic Stadium on the hills that surround Barcelona with amazing views of the city and Mediteranian Sea, a 100 foot monument with a statue of Columbus on top, the foreshore, the Olympic village, the Gothic quarters of the city and much, much more.

In the evening we walked down the famous street, La Rambla, and along the waterfront. We walked back to La Rambla, by this time it was in full swing, with crowds of people watching any number of different performers from Michael Jackson impersonaters to breakdancers to magicians and street hawkers and everything in between. We had dinner at one of the restaurants that set up tables on the wide cobblestone walkway that runs down the middle of La Rambla. We enjoyed a meal of tapas and huge glasses of Sangria.

On Tuesday morning we caught the train to Valencia and headed straight to the port to watch the race. We watched it in the "wool-shed", the kiwi hang-out, a huge shed with a massive screen and hundreds of supporters. It was delayed until 5pm but was worth the wait once it began - labelled as one of the best America´s Cup races of all time. It had everything, from huge leads to lead changes, to costly crew errors, and poor decision making, to a nail-biting finish, and a New Zealand win! The wool-shed erupted with cheers at that point.

We then met up with Steph who had been watching the race from inside the Team NZ base, and we headed down to wave the boats in, and wave our NZ flags. That night we enjoyed a home-cooked meal and some amazing hospitality from Steph, which made us feel right at home.

On Wednesday we walked throught the Turia, the huge park that runs through Valencia. We stopped to look at the awesome playground, which is a replica of Gulliver being tied down by the Lilliputians (this part is played by the kids who climb all over it). His arms and legs are huge crazy slides or climbing walls. It is nothing like a NZ playground - complete with a lack of safety standards and gravel for kids to land on, but the kids don´t seem to mind.

We continued through the park and saw the massive Opera house in the shape of an eye, and the huge Arts and Science Museum with an impressive glass building. In front of this was a field of wrought iron sculptures, showing an impressive display of what can be done with recycled iron.

We met up with Steph, picked up some 1 euro rolls for lunch, and headed down to the port to watch the days racing from the wool-shed. There was a lot of expectation, but unfortunately the race did not live up to the excitement of the day before, and it was a much more subdued crowd that watched the NZ loss, in which Alinghi led round every mark. Afterwards we headed up to the China Bar, a bar on top of the Team China base. We mingled with the rich, famous and drunk, including a brief meeting with Steve Tindall. After a few drinks we headed to dinner at Don Salvatore, the best Italian restaurant in Valencia. We enjoyed some amazing stuffed gnocchi with authentic Italian sauces.

Today there is no racing, so we are planning on exploring the old city of Valencia, with our awesome local tour guide (Steph).