So here we are again, back on the road. BMIBaby were excellent, and we arrived on time in Barca. By the time we'd grabbed our ludicrously heavy (30KG) suitcase from the baggage reclaim and jumped in and out of a cab it was 11.30ish and we were fast asleep by…er…11.31 (ish).

Although it looks a bit dodgy on the outside inside Hostal Goya is really nice even though we’re paying a night what we were for a week in South America and Asia. It doesn’t have a telly in the room though which is a bit of a pain in the arse.

On first sight Barcelona is very similar to Paris, all boulevards and balconies (I seem to remember saying that about somewhere else ;) ). It’s also busy and full of rude people who barge in front of you/trip you up without even an apology. The city itself though is beautiful, and we have spent most of today (after Jen’s ridiculous 12.30 lie-in) wandering round soaking it all in. We have raided our wardrobe from home and don’t feel like scummy travellers any more, having worn the same clothes for the last 11 months you have no idea how nice it is to put on a Paul Smith or Ted Baker shirt again, especially as they seem to fit better than when we went away in January.

We walked down the famous Las Ramblas, which is reminiscent of the Champs Elysees, but it has a pedestrian walkway in the middle, sorely lacking in Paris where if you so much as step foot on a road you are likely to be, at best, maimed by a passing 2CV. It had it’s fair share of those weirdos who cover themselves in silver/gold or dress as an ape and then expect money for doing nothing. In my mind they have taken over from clowns as chief nightmare givers to young children. There were a couple of those 3-matchbox/pea con-artists and it was good fun to watch them con a few gullible Americans…

We eventually pitched up at the museum of erotica, which was quite interesting. Having previously visited the one in Copenhagen last year, which was effectively 4 floors of hard-core porn we were expecting much more of the same but instead got an interesting view of erotica through the ages. It was almost educational (!) and was an interesting way to spend half an hour or so. The best bit was definitely the cinema where they showed movies from the early 20th century that were almost like some sort of bad comedy porn. The actors were all fat with bad facial hair, and that was just the women. Although it was quite amusing there was something intriguing in the naivety and naturalness of it all, a far cry from the silicone-enhanced splatter-fests of the 21st century.

Our tour of the Barri Gothic took us past the Cathedral that, unfortunately, is covered in green mesh at the moment. You could just about make out the beauty of it behind the renovations. We will be going inside for a look around in the forthcoming days.