Hello you bunch of cunts. Barcelona was good, although I didn't see enough of it.
The chafing had me almost in tears on day 1. I obtained some fungicidal cream and powder as per Monkey's recommendation... I told the pharmacist I had athlete's foot, I didn't fancy trying to explain my sweaty crotch in broken Catalan.
On day 2 morning, it was as if it had never happened. It had felt like my flesh was rubbed through to the nerve. Clearly the monkey knows his sweaty crotch shit! Thanks chimp
The pain did return now and then but I kept it under control with the medication.
Spent day 1 evening meeting my hosts over food and booze. Day 2 on an amazing beach in Sitges, a bit down the coast from Barcelona. Weather was fantastic yet the beach was not that busy. Went out to sea on a pedallo, good fun! A yacht would have been even better though but we can't have everything.
Day 3 I sat in the local A&E with my pal who's ears were fucked - presumably a sinus problem of some kind. He'd been using some drops which weren't really working, and it was becoming a bit of an issue as he'd been there for a few days before me and it hadn't got any better. We waited... for four fucking hours before he was seen! Then they wrote him a prescription for ear drops, and charged him 120 euros for the pleasure, then his card transaction failed so I had to pay! Fantastic. Apparently he can claim some of the cost back from Her Majesty's government and he'll square me up...
Finally went into Barcelona on Friday evening. My pal and his gf are moving into a flat in the Gothic district, it'll be like living in Soho only the sea is five minutes walk, quite mad and the rent is fucking cheap considering. There was a five day festival just starting - Festa Major de Gràcia - apparently there's always some festival or other on. Bands and DJs were playing and there seemed to be a lot of cheap drinks available, so we had a walk round and it was pretty cool, everyone seemed in a good mood. Some amazing street decorations too.
Would like to have seen more of Barcelona but I liked what I did see. It's a small enough city that everything is in easy reach, yet there's plenty going on. And the weather is fantastic. So I'm thinking of moving there. In fact I'm planning to move there, but I have a lot to sort out this end. Busy couple of months ahead.