Archive for May 20th, 2003

20
May

barcelona

By rightee 1 Comment
Categories: life

Barcelona - such a beautiful horizon, as was sung over 10 years ago now. I agree with them too, from Park Guell, Montjuic or on the cable car, it looks fantastic. The mix of the Mediterranean, low rise cityscape with 3 million inhabitants and the mountains in the distance - it’s a perfect setting.

Not that we saw too much of it. The problem (or not?) with Barcelona is the night life is one of the world’s best. How do you fancy going out for dinner from 9-12, going on a little bar crawl until around 3, then going to a club until 6-7 then maybe (ok I flaked out but well done to JA, JHob) for a few more drinks (they stayed up til 10am one night…).. I think overall we managed 3am (Moog), 7am (Drum N Bass club on Nou de la Rambla), 7am (The Loft - Techno) and 3am (’just’ bars..) which wasn’t bad.

We still managed to get up around 2pm each day for some lightweight tourist action (Ramblas, Montjuic, Park Guell, Cable Car, Pedrera)

I’m still not 100% sure about Tapas - it always seems to be some day old meat or fish thats been reheated, or a plate of Potatoes and tomato sauce… Give me Paella any day ;-) (which was very nice infact)

I honestly can’t thing of a better city to live in (really), less developped than Paris/London. Better weather, very musical/art culture and a beach! It’s also really cheap, we were surprised how cheap drinks were even in clubs (€6 for vodka/lemonade but they were triples) People also have their own identity more there - very refreshing considering the McDonalds-isation of our own society (Food/Drink/Clothing) - we really should try to reclaim our own destinies back from the multinationals, but thats of course for another day….

20
May

paris

By rightee 0 Comments
Categories: life

Not wanting to go on about how much I think other countries are fantastic (I still love you, UK!…) Paris has reminded me once again the quality of life in foreign lands. I didn’t leave the office after a day of speaking and listening to French and after booking into a dubious hotel opposite the Gare de l’est I set out to explore Paris.

Ok, well maybe not explore but I walked down Rue de Strasbourg through the 10e, until I eventually hit the Pompidou centre, and hit tourist Paris. Still full of Americans I hasten to add. I then walked down to the river, to the Louvre, past the Pyramids, through the park (yes it’s predictable), Champs Elysee (where there was a relatively interesting SNCF exhibition), Arc de Triomphe.. blah…blah…

Then I walked back along the back streets, where I noticed a lot of police and then I realised I was walking past the American and British embassies. Not quite as drastic reinforcements as the US Embassy in Mayfair but nevertheless it was protected.

I kept walking past the Opera, and final managed to find somewhere to enjoy my favourite french foods; Snails (still I there shells having to pull the critters out is quality), and Moules-Frites..mmm… I also managed to have a thimble full of coffee for €3.60 which is quite possible the most I’ve ever paid…

So what else in my 36 hours here.

Good Stuff: Clean streets, double decker trains, cheap metro tickets, nice weather (luck?!), the architecture (both old - tube stations, and new - CDG2 Airport), Tete dans les nuages (of course) and Pyramide sur France 2!

Bad things: the traffic at 8am, the fact every bus is always rammed, getting lost, dodgy hotels, Americans being rude to waiters, rough areas, drunkards everywhere, expensive beer/coffee, waiters being rude to Americans….