Tibidabo

The hotel has a lovely terrace and garden around the back, no breakfast but plenty of free coffee and they don't mind if you nip round the corner and bring back some pastries - a very good way to start the day. We were still too early for our slot at the Segrada Famillia though - and the security men are very strict - so we had to sit in the park opposite for a bit first. Top-notch people watching, mind. And the Segrada was great, of course - they've certainly done plenty of work since we were last here in 1999. Afterwards we made the epic journey (metro and two buses, the funicular railway being, unfortunately, out of action) up Mount Tibidabo to the fabulous retro fairground that we'd seen last week in Woody Allen's otherwise pretty forgettable 'Vicky Christina Barcelona.' They've got a shiny red airplane that swings out over the edge on a big mechanical arm - it's been doing it since the 1920's - and vintage Big Wheel so we went on those and just basically enjoyed the amazing views of the City. And it would have been rude not to go back to our neighbourhood restaurant find later on to see what else they could tempt us with...