Blowing your own horn

Gaudi was pretty impressive - and Sagrada Familia is right up there with my favourite buildings. It is just so otherworldly, right out of a Gothic nightmare. 

Even in the pouring rain, surrounded by baying throngs of Japanese/American/elderly tourists, you are still blown away by its brilliance. 

We also went to the other cathedral today, the Camp Nou. Ottawacker Jr had refused to wear his Liverpool shirt because he didn't want to make his hosts sad. I, on the other hand, am not filled with such 21st century niceties. Mrs Ottawacker refusing to spend 30 Euros on the entry fee, the role of tour guide was left to my friend Frédéric, whom I was seeing for the first time in 23 years. The three of us went along to the ticket office, where I proudly asked for four tickets. "Four?" asked the attendant, incredulously. "Oh, I'm sorry," I said... "I was thinking of the semi-final match against Liverpool."

The other good thing about Barcelona is the dosing of drinks. The extra photo is of our Ricard apéritif prior to the Sagrada Familia tour...