Frontier Psychiatrist…

Ok, it’s not possible to leave Barcelona, even on a short trip, without visiting at least one of the crazy mans iconic works. After a morning cortado at our favourite old coffee house its was time for a walk up the impressive and affluent ‘Passeig de Gracia’ to take a gander at old Antonio Gaudi’s avante garde workmanship. His backer, Mr ‘loadsamoney’ Guell, gave him free rein, and boy did he take advantage of this opportunity. ‘Casa Batllo’ was testimony to this and his bonkers architecture can be found dotted all around this city. 

When you have seen one work of art, you get the gist…

“This boy needs therapy”

“ you’re crazy in the coconut”

To pay homage to this guy I have selected an appropriate track by the ‘Avalanches’, ‘Frontier Psychiatrist’ fits the bill with an equally bonkers video to accompany. Relax, kick off your courgette root slippers and enjoy…

Here comes the sun…set!

Without a doubt, Barcelona is a cool place and a vibrant revamped city so heading back down to the waterfront, catamaran ‘Orsom’ was waiting to take us out to catch the evening sunset with a bit of on-board live jazz wafting around the spinnaker… 

  

Il finish the evening blog with a bit of classy and sassy, Nina Simone…Buenos Noches!

Barcelona…

 So it turns out we got scammed last night on arrival…

It wasn’t the Arc de Triumf in gay Pari but a poor Chinese replica erected for the gullible tourists visiting downtown Barthalona. That said, it was a pretty good copy.

A walk into town in the morning revealed all. We quickly skiddadled down the easily forgettable touristic Ramblas high street to visit the historic landmark which is a celebration of the great Catalan explorer Christopher Columbus after he heroically found the U S of A in the 1400’s.

His erect colon stands proudly overlooking out towards the Mediterranean Sea , in front of a modern marina built in the early 90’s, like a lot of this area, for the Olympic Games of 1992. Off then for a spin around the seafront on a Bolt bike and then up to the spot where old Tony Gaudi was killed. 

Gaudi was a pretty famous architect and a DIY hero around these parts but died in 1926 before he could finish anything he had started. He was  run over by a tram after a darts night in the Marsella bar after a heavy drinking session on absinthe with his good mates, Salvador Dali and Ernest Hemingway. Reminiscent of when Alan Bradley got fatally killed in Blackpool by a tram when he was chasing Rita Fairclough….

I digress…

Anyhow, they were celebrating after beating Pablo Picasso’s boys from the Red Lion up the road and strangely, when he was found, he had safety pins holding his undies together and he  was discovered wearing a pair of slippers made out of courgette roots….FACT! 

I couldn’t face selecting Freddie Mucury’s appalling version of this song so I went with the popular, but less known, ginger version singing it actually in Barcelona.

Laisse tomber les filles…

I wish Emirates flew to here…maybe then I wouldn’t have felt like I’d spent 2 hours in a bloody crèche with noisy brats, high on Haribo, squawking and banging the back of my chair all the damn way! It was a relief to see the Pyrenees below as we started the decent back into normality and away from irresponsible parenting!

Metro to the hotel was a blur then it was time for a cold beer by the local landmark, the Arc de Triumf…I love France!

You gotta love a quirky catchy song when your on yer hols and this from the lovely France Gall is no exception, so enjoy some French flair remastered from 1964.

 

The Weight…

 “Take a load off Fanny, take a load for free…”, crooned the lyrics by ‘The Band’, but this was back in 1976 when hippies used a magic bus to get around and excess luggage wasn’t an issue. They didn’t have to use Ryanair to get to the seaside back then but no  ‘loads for free’ around here nowadays!

If Fanny had showed up overloaded with excess clobber she would have met the waiting ‘Ayatollah de Baggarge’ at the check-in, whose job it is to ensure that the permitted 10kg allowance is not abused and then, God forbid, if the parameters have been exceeded, appropriate extortionate tariffs are imposed forthwith . No free-loaders here, in fact she will absolutely ensure your gelato fund will be severely dented before you have the slightest possibility of entering the Eurozone.

For us, we were way under the required limits so it’s off to the VIP lounge for a couple of relaxing G’n’T’s and a charcuterie platter before we head for the skies.

This classic track ‘The Weight’ by ‘The Band’ from back in 1968 which is a great song that featured as a backing track in the wonderful hippie road movie, ‘Easy Rider’, the following year.

Holiday in Spain…

 

I thought that would prick your ears 🆙 

So the plan is…

Leaving the wind behind, the forecast is looking good for the Iberian Peninsula where it’s time to explore Catalonia’s Costa Brava and travel down the eastern coastline on a road trip from north to south. Expecting August to be hot and busy so it’s almost time to get outa here…one more sleep 🛌 💤 

Just time to dig out my passport and peg out my holiday thong…

‘Holiday in Spain”, original single version from the album ‘Hard Candy’ in 2002, which is the best listen as most of the live versions are dire…sorry Adam!

Shall we take a trip…?

LISTEN UP……

******SPOILER ALERT FOR NEXT TRIP******

It’s nearly time to check in wi’ th’iPad and sober up the copilot, so a warm welcome onboard and strap yourself in again for another adventurous blogfest…I’m just checking that the dashboard still works and that the literal controls are illuminating, then we will soon be climbing above the little fluffy clouds, expecting a smooth flight with favourable weather conditions, so thankyou for choosing to fly with the Narrowboatboy…😎

The more astute will have noticed that each daily blog title also matches the handpicked track from my repertoire of banging tunes, and this first one is no exception and the lead Indie‘banger’ for this trip, I give you “Shall we take a trip?” Made by the baggy outfit ‘Northside’ from the hazy dayz of 1991…enjoy.