06.41 My last Portugal morning for this time is here. The question is whether there will ever be any more of these. Time will tell.

07.52 A self-composed breakfast is completed in our kitchen. Among other things, we drank orange juice. Here in Portugal orange is called laranja.

08.31 We said goodbye and happy New Year to the receptionist here at Smile Hostel. After a brisk walk on the familiar streets of Baixa we now travel with the metro to the airport.

09.39 We're now at Lisbon airport, Portela. Everything has moved on well. We don’t have to go to Iberia's office for the luggage payment. It went well to pay directly to the Indian man in the check-in disk. Everything was paid for with my card and the debt is balanced. The Indian was a man from India if you thought otherwise.

10.13 The controls are passed. It beeped for both of us in the security check. What was the cause of that? Have we inhaled lead from the exhaust fumes? Did the wine we drank last night have iron in it? You never know if it will beep or not in these controls. The sensitivity varies greatly between different airports. Now we are having a coffee at the café/restaurant Unitrato. They have good sandwiches and good coffee. I guess that Christer's Fanta is also good. It is expensive 2,95 euros. The restaurant section here at the airport is a replica of downtown Lisbon. It has been decorated and signs that correspond to different streets and squares in the city have been put up.

Peter is drinking expensive coffee at Portela airport.

Iberia will transport us from Lisbon to Madrid.

Our Portugal visit ended with a fantastic view of Lisbon from the air.

11.00 Time for a last note of the current time in Portugal. Soon we move the watches forward an hour. Then we will fly to Madrid. Until 1942 Spain had the same time and time zone as Portugal. Then a certain Spanish leader wanted to feel more similarity and proximity with a certain German leader and his country. We will fly with, as I mentioned, Iberia. The plane in question is an Airbus A-321.

CHANGING TIME ZONE

12.26 Cloud haze sweeps across Lisbon. Down there in the haze we have seen Europe's longest bridge, the Vasco da Gama Bridge and even Lisbon. Now we will just relax.

12.46 We fly over Extremadura in western Spain. A mountain range to the north has snow on the peaks.

13.05 We are approaching Barajas, Madrid Airport. It has been a comfortable journey.

SPAIN

13.17 We have landed ahead of schedule. We were given information about which gate we will stop at, K69 and where we will find the luggage. Did he say building 10 and belt 18? I guess we will find out. Anyway, it is excellent service to know this already in the plane. In Jakarta last summer, we did not know it at all.

13.48 The information was all correct. Our backpacks were among the first five on the belt. So far so good but now the fun is over. Christer has trouble to untie the knotted straps of his backpack.

14.08 We solved the knot and are now in the arrivals section of the airport. There are less then few places that offer food here. Have we been looking in the wrong places or is this what is offered?

14.21 Christer has been and searched for a place to eat. There are simply not many places that are offering food. He has seen a McDonalds. However, it was beyond the check-in and, you guessed it, McDonalds, not food. We might confine ourselves to the cafeteria Caffriccio.

14.43 We sat down at Caffriccio for a cup of coffee, 0,5 liter of soda and a bread roll with toppings for 10,60 euros! We got a dinner with wine in Lisbon for the same amount. Now we are thinking about how we will get from here at the airport to the accommodation. Will we use the metro all the way or a shuttle bus and then the metro? Everything is as always a matter a question of cost weighed against a question of smooth.

15.14 After buying a ticket for the Madrid Metro for 5 euros and then a complementary ticket for 3 euros (why not all at once ?), we´re ready to go into the city. There will be some changes before we get there. It's a bit cold today. Madrid is far from the sea. Here it is winter for real.

15.34 We travel along metro line 8. The information about the next station is read by both a man and a woman. He says ”next stop” and she says the name of the station. Any info about intersecting lines, he takes care of before she mentions that.

Barajas is a good airport unless you want to buy a cheap lunch somewhere.

Puerta del Sol, the center of Madrids and the whole of Spain.

Christer walk towards our hostel among the crowds in Madrid.

16.27 The line was changed twice, first at line 10 and then line 1. Last stop was Vodafone Sol, is the station sponsored? We wandered a few streets away from the Puerta Del Sol square and have now checked in. We stay opposite a beer hall. Our new home is called Equity Point (http://www.equity-point.com) and the room number is 204. Equity Point is a chain that has a hostel in eight cities. Here in Madrid, they have taken over Hostal Cantabrico’s premises. Their sign is still in place on the building. We have an hour of daylight left. We pull enough out to take a look at our 41st European capital. There are not that many left to visit for me, only Ankara, Berlin, Bern, Moscow, Nicosia, Oslo and Reykjavik.

17.00 It's time to leave the 204 for a while. We have stayed at the common room downstairs but quite soon we´ll go out to Madrid's streets, squares and crowds.

17.48 After seeing the squares near us, Plaza Jacinto Benavente and Plaza Santa Ana, we have entered Restaurante Con Alma (http://www.restauranteconalma.es). We will have their "menu del dia”, the daily specials. This should be good. We ourselves have been able to choose a starter, main course and should be allowed to choose for dessert later.

18.26 First Christer had Pasta Bolognese and I had a Caesar salad. The main course was entrecote with good strips. Now we wait for the coffee, the selected dessert, to top it all.

19.00 The dinner cost us 20 euros for two people. I think it is an absolutely fantastic price. Now we wandered aimlessly or less blindly. We have walked where the nose pointed, although we have walked in circles and seen the same thing several times. It is time to check the map before it enters more confusion.

Peter is preparing the Madrid visit.

View from our room at Equity Point Hostel.

Calle Nuñez de Arce, Madrid.

Christer is finding his way in the big city.

Our dinner restaurant Con Alma was an excellent choice.

19.40 It feels good to be at home in the room again. It's really cold outside. Now we´ll just relax. On the way home we stopped at the grocery store SPAR, dear old faithful SPAR, and bought some things for the evening. We even saw a cow, a cow statue.

20.43 A small visit to the balcony has confirmed what we have suspected for a while. It's colder in Madrid than in Lisbon. I have picked up the travel thermometer to check the current indoor temperature.

21.06 The thermometer says it is just below +20ºC in here. If we're going to head out and what we do there are issues that concern us right now.

22.53 We are returning home after a walk in a Madrid filled with people. The squares were filled with people in funny hats. People were dressed up as all sorts of things, smurfs, aliens, who knows what, a goat and more. Here and there were groups of police officers. At Starbucks we weren´t successful. We went up the stairs to see if there was room to sit down. The staff at the counter called after us, ”chicos” (boys), we're closed! Who could believe that with people at the counter and lots of people sitting upstairs.

23.30 An old tradition is back. We have indulged ourselves a balcony beer. The sound from people and the low temperature led to another classic, evening beer. Yes it was the same beer but tradition is tradition. To the beer we had chocolate and cured ham. For 120 grams of ham, Christer has paid 2 euros. It means 16,67 euro/kg. What is the price at home? All snacks were bought at the store Carrefour Express.

Decorations along the streets of Madrid.

A Christmas tree on the head, why not?

A begging goat was one of the attractions on Puerta del Sol square.

Tuesday 31st of December

08.20 We have just woken up for yet another New Year's Eve on foreign soil. This is the sixth in a row. From the street we hear cars. Christer has just climbed down from the top bunk.

09.32 There are a few more than us here in the breakfast room. I do not know if the breakfast room is the right word. It is a maze of small stalls and corners where you can eat at different tables. Now the foundation is laid for a long day of exploring Madrid. What will we see today? What will happen today? May we come inside and even get a coffee at Starbucks? Here in Spain breakfast is called desayuno. It is now finished.

10.12 Plans for the evening have begun to be forged. The people who plan to meet us this evening have been given free hands regarding the New Year dinner.

10.57 Today's first stop was made at Plaza Mayor. Here are some blue kiosks which sell Christmas things and here is a man with sticks, a rope and soapy water who creates huge soap bubbles. These lead to mixed emotions among the children. There is also an equestrian statue of King Philip III and behind me there's a lamppost. At its base are engraved padlocks fixed. I suspect that they might be love bestows of the kind we have seen in Riga in 2008 and Montevideo in 2010. There are however fewer padlocks here.

The breakfast room at Equity Point Hostel.

Plaza Mayor, the famous square from 1619.

The small square Plaza de la Villa. Madrid was ruled from here in the past.

11.04 We left the Plaza Mayor behind us. Beside the man with the soapy bubbles wandered none the less but Winnie the Pooh. The square is certainly more worth seeing in the summer when all the stalls with Christmas stuff and all the decorations have been excluded. Now we walk westward.

11.15 We have walked past the indoor market, Mercado de San Miguel and we have photographed the Plaza de la Villa, where the ruling politicians in Madrid had their base before.

11.28 We've reached yet another royal palace. We are at the Palacio Real, Royal Palace (https://www.patrimonionacional.es). Here is also a large cathedral, Catedral de la Almudena (http://www.catedraldelaalmudena.es). Well, they are not in exactly the same place but right next to each other. It's a little cold today, it feels that it is winter.

11.41 An accordionist plays ”Jingle bells” and "Moscow nights" outside of the gates of the castle. Everything seems dead, deserted here. The royals are probably somewhere else than here right now.

11.51 We've walked on around the fence of the castle. Outside of it, we have seen a golden man who seemingly floated in the air, a carousel of older model and another outdoor ice rink. On the inside of the beautiful castle are innumerable rooms. Do they use all of them and if so, for what?

12.04 There was a stop at the gates of the Jardines de Sabatini, Sabatini Gardens. The gates are locked and the sun is trying to break through the clouds.

Catedral de la Almudena, built from 1879 until 1993.

Palacio Real, the Royal Palace in Spain.

A hovering man outside the Royal Palace.

A skater has fallen.

Christer in front of Palacio Real.

12.54 At Plaza de España, we saw a small roofed market, a statue of Miguel Cervantes and Don Quixote and Sancho Pancha. The entire neighborhood here has buildings erected during General Franco's rule. The biggest house here is similar to the houses that were raised in communist countries during the Stalin era. Had the gentlemen the same taste? We then wandered along the Gran Vía, and at the third attempt we went into a Starbucks, it was full on the first two. This means that this year I had time with six new Starbuck countries. For Christer's part is actually seven.

13.38 Here we and others are in front of the Opera in the Plaza Isabel II. There is rain in the air and even a whiff of something edible. Here are several small kiosks and a statue of Isabel II. She was queen of Spain from 1833 to 1868. What is going on in the square is some sort of Christmas market titled Dulce Navidad.

13.56 We have been into a large souvenir shop and made some purchases. Christer has among others bought some Real Madrid things to his nephew Noah's birthday.

14.09 To my right is Eurico, to my left is Ataulfo. I assume and expect that they are old kings. We are in Plaza de Oriente. At Eurico it says 484 and at Ataulfo 415. Not far from here sit a man sits and strums his guitar. He sings a mutation of country music.

15.06 We have been at home at Equity Point and gained information about the future. Christer can log on to the internet through the WiFi network at the reception. Now we know that it will be a New Year dinner at 20.00 tonight. I also have notions about how I take from Sundsvall and home next Monday.

15.47 Our tour of the neighborhood has brought us to the Asian restaurant Eat is wok. Now we got a Mahou beer and a plastic mug each. The address is Calle Principe 15.

16.37 The food was simple but tasty. The price was also good. We are home again. In the neighboring room, the atmosphere is good. Someone has taken out the garbage in our room. Furthermore, my lower bunk is embedded and sweetest of all, on the pillow and under the blanket is the book I read, Saints of the Bible shadow of Ian Rankin tucked in. Christer's bunk is however unmade by our unknown literature friend.

Plaza de España.

Gran Vía is the name of this avenue.

Two generations are baking at the christmas market Dulce Navidad.

Peter is writing between two old Spanish kings.

18.03 We have rested, well in my case also slept some. Now Christer is lecturing some about Madrid. The information comes from the Lonely Planet book we brought with us. The city was founded by the Muslims in 700’s, and was then called Mayrit. It became the capital under Philip II, 1561. The city got its metro 1919. Franco was thinking about moving the capital to Seville because he had so many enemies in Madrid. 1973 took the ETA, the Basque separatist organization fighting for independence, the life of the Prime Minister and President Franco's proposed successor, Luis Carrero Blanco.

19.01 I sit and read about Goya, the painter. Some of his work was La Maja Vestida (The Clothed Maja), La Maja Desnuda (The Nude Maja), El Dos de Mayo (The Second of May 1808) and El Tres de Mayo (The Third of May 1808). The variation is not too great. The last two works are related to the wars against Napoleonic France in 1808.

19.36 This New Year's Eve is far from over. It is now time to go out to dine with some ladies.

20.12 We have been united with the four ladies, Haydee, Gloria, Viridiana and Diana at the restaurant Parrilla Alhambra. The four are from Mexico even though Gloria lives in Sheffield, England. Haydee is a longstanding pen pal to Christer. She and the others are on a European tour. They have been in countries like England, Germany and Italy before coming to Spain.

20.36 It immediately became an intensive pace with food orders, conversations and finally lots of food on a way too small table.

21.08 This was very, very tasty. First, Christer and I shared paella with rice, chicken and seafood as an appetizer. Then we had the main course, the mixed grill. There were heaps of grilled meats and sausages. To this we drank a good wine.

Parrilla Alhambra is tonight´s dinner restaurant.

Haydee, Gloria, Diana, Viridiana and Christer at the dinner table.

Paella was one of the dishes.

Lots of meat was served this New Year´s dinner.

22.25 Pleased and happy, we left the restaurant. At the door sat a Swedish couple and munched on the delicious food served here. A stop was made outside the ladies apartment on Calle Barcelona. There, they picked packs with twelve grapes in each. When we passed our accommodation, a man came and offered all manner of novelty to have on your head. It was yes, thanks to the grapes, and no thanks to a new hairdo. It's Spanish tradition to buy grapes to eat at the stroke of midnight. The grapes should be eaten and New Year's resolutions to be provided when the New Year begins. It remains 1,5 hours of the year that started in Muscat, Oman, for our part.

23.15 The Puerta Del Sol square is hiving with activity. There are people in caps, hats, wigs and other things, firecrackers and fireworks. Now it is just three quarters left of this year. A bluish wig has been purchased by Viridiana and tested now by us all. Christer and I are otherwise some of the few here in the square that does not come with wig, hat or amusing spectacles.

23.38 We've been off for a 24 hour shop and ordered something to toast with. Grapes must be said will be ingested one for each clock connotation and the grapes are followed by a New Year’s resolution. You should have all twelve grapes in your mouth when the New Year arrives. Do they really fit?

23.52 The atmosphere is at its peak here in the square. A flying thing, possibly a camera, hovers over the crowd and greeted by the crowd's cheers. On a balcony in a nearby house, some out and wave at regular intervals. People get crazy when they show themselves. Who are they? Probably some celebrities as they filmed with a big camera up there.

Green grapes were distributed in a suspicious greenish yellow light on Calle Barcelona.

Blue hair was popular tonight!

Puerta del Sol is completely filled with people before midnight.

Famous people are having a New Year´s party.

Happy New Year! This is the start of 2014.

Wednesday 1st of January

00.01 Feliz nuevo año! Goodbye 2013! Welcome 2014! It was tough to get all the twelve grapes in the mouth. A new travel year is here. The passed one took us to thirteen countries outside Sweden. I think there will be fewer in 2014.

00.21 We left the chaos in the square and have strolled along the streets of the closest neighborhood. We have decided to meet again tomorrow evening for coffee.

00.58 Now we are home again. We sit in the common room here at Equity Point. We have been in Plaza Mayor and seen the beautiful lights before we went with the ladies home to their accommodation on Calle Barcelona. Soon, we'll go up to room 204 for sleep.

01.00 Now Lisbon and Portugal celebrates the New Year and says feliz ano novo. For us it is time to sleep.

08.33 Buenos Dias! It's been a good night's sleep. Left out there is Madrid. Today awaits tours to the metro network. Next in line, however, breakfast in the ground floor.

10.12 The breakfast is eaten, bodies are showered and teeth are brushed. Now we must be on our way. Unfortunately the weather is not the best, cold and rainy.

11.08 Today's first trip is on its way. We have bought a day pass valid on the entire metro system here in Madrid. Christer also helped two Japanese ladies while we were waiting on the platform. The two did not know which platform they were standing on when they were going to Atocha Station.

Christer is sitting at a metro station that many football fans have got off at during the years.

Peter in front of Real Madrid´s ticket office.

Christer is standing in front of one of Europe's most famous football stadiums, Real Madrid's Santiago Bernabéu.

11.30 Yet again, we are at one of Europe's major football stadiums. This time it is the Estadio Santiago Bernabéu. It is the home of Real Madrid. We are wondering what we will do now? We want to take advantage of our one-day ticket in the transport system as much as possible. But first we will look around here near the stadium.

11.55 We had time to walk a lap around the arena and found out that a liter of diesel costs 1,435 Euros. Estadio Santiago Bernabéu is big and mighty. It's more than what you can say about the surroundings. They are, as so often in the past when we have seen a famous soccer stadium, common to say the least. The best example was in 1999 when the hypermodern Anfield Road in Liverpool looked like a spaceship that crashed among worn brick houses.

11.59 Just as we got to the platform, the train we were supposed to take left without us.

12.30 It is easy to travel on the metro. However, it is very timeconsuming and some hassle to walk between the different platforms and tracks at the stations when switching line.

13.16 We got off and up at the station Retiro. There, next to the park of the same name, we saw a large triumphal arch, the Puerta de Alcalá. There is also the Plaza de la Independencia, Independence Square. From there we strolled back home in the drizzle passing the beautiful Plaza de Cibeles. Now we are in the common room at Equity Point for a short stop.

13.38 After some searching for a place to temporarily stop the hunger we have mostly found locked doors this holiday day. We have because of this returned to Eat is wok today as well.

Lots of metro trips this first day of the new year.

Puerta de Alcalá is in the middle of Plaza de la Independencia.

Plaza de Cibeles.

Calle de Alcalá, Madrid.

14.44 The lunch ended and was paid for. A curiosity is the fact that the same girl sat at the table next to us when we ate here yesterday. After lunch we went to Sevilla, the metro station that is. From there we made our way back to the station at Retiro Parque Del Retiro. Here it rains considerably so we have entered the café Las Estatuas inside the park for coffee and pastries. Speaking of coffee, we have found a suitable café for evening snacks with the Mexican ladies.

15.18 We left the park due to the eternal rainfall. We soon passed the museum Prado´s academic library, Casón Del Buen Retiro. Now we are at the sandy-colored church where King Juan Carlos I was crowned, the Iglesia de San Jerónimo El Real.

15.30 Right now we are at the main entrance of the Prado Museum, one of the world’s most famous art museums. In here are all of the great Spanish masters' works. We will, however, not go inside. It's locked here because it is New Year's Day.

16.12 We had problems at Atocha Metro Station. There I was able to pass the turnstiles but Christer couldn’t. His card does not work anymore. We wandered on to the railway station Atocha to get dry and find a solution to the problem. The station is beautiful and has a pond where we watched the turtles. Here, however, there is no one manning the ticket counters and the result at the barriers is the same. Now we get to figure out a good solution.

16.46 Christer had to buy a one-way ticket to get back. Now we are back at Equity Point Hostel to rest and get dry. In just over two hours, we will pick up the ladies before the evening coffee. Before that, some other things will be taken care of.

17.33 I have by using the computer here at the accommodation unsuccessfully tried to book a train ticket from Sundsvall to Örnsköldsvik on the 6th of January. It’s good if you come home. I will try again later.

Parque del Retiro.

Iglesia de San Jerónimo El Real.

Museo del Prado.

17.55 The last Madrid dinner will be eaten at Taberna la Pompeyana (http://www.lapompeyana.com). We are opposite the restaurant we visited on Monday, Con Alma. It is argued, clearly in jest, that the tavern was founded LXXIX i.e. year 79. The city of Pompeii in Italy was buried in the ashes of Vesuvius in 79.

18.24 This is a nice and interesting place. Here we hear Spanish music through the speakers and see powerful murals, including one of a bearded man with an enormous genitalia. It's clearly just as the paintings I saw in Pompeii 1982. One of the staff stood and cut into slices of dried meat. It was cut from the leg of an animal.

18.48 After dinner we got a tasty orange liqueurs, schnapps completely free. I praised it as we were paying and we got another one. We asked what the drink was called but it was difficult to hear the name. The restaurant is recommended, especially for the fabulous decor.

19.01 The time has passed 19:00 and we are now outside the Mexican women's house with Haydee and Gloria. Viridiana just joined us.

19.20 There will be evening coffee at the café Hontanares. We chose this place because there was a sign about Mexico at the entrance. Diana has chosen to stay at home. She isn’t feeling well. Now we are here to enjoy a nice evening here on Calle Sevilla 6.

20.35 It was a nice coffee break with many conversations and discussions about both this and that. It's sad that we do not understand each other better. Christer's Spanish has been better and some of the girls are not so good at English. Gloria, who lives in England, speaks perfect English and can sometimes be an interpreter when we’re talking about complicated things.

21.10 We have said hasta luego to the three ladies. Maybe we’ll meet again in Barcelona where we all are going next. Now it's time to look for bread, beverages and more for the long train trip tomorrow.

21.50 We've walked in central Madrid around and around trying to find a real grocery store but nothing is open this evening, just simple small boutiques.

22.56 We finally had to buy expensive groceries at a Chinese-owned small shop and supplemented in another one of the same kind. It went smoothly to pack. Worse, it has not been possible to get train ticket. I will try again in the next city.

Taberna la Pompeyana, a very special restaurant.

Haydee and Christer are visiting the café Hontanares.

Thursday 2nd of January

06.10 It’s moments like this that are appreciated on the trips. To eat a breakfast in all simplicity, a breakfast of the simpler kind while sitting on the edge of a bed. Moments when you know that soon you will take your belongings and walk out towards unknown horizons and goals. Was that really true?

06.56 We have hurried through a Madrid with rain in the air and rain on the streets. Hopefully we´ll travel towards better weather today. Now we are sitting and waiting on a bench for the train that will take us to a train.

07.33 We have, after a lot of metro travelling, arrived at the railway station Chamartín in the north of Madrid. Here I have arranged with one of life's essentials, a visit to the toilet. I will, when Christer done likewise and possibly completed with more travel snacks, treat myself some coffee. There is no information about which platform we will depart from.

07.53 We do not know whether it's routine or pure luck. The right platform, number 15, was right next to where we have sat down. We are, in the next quarter of an hour, on the way from Madrid to Barcelona with Renfe. Renfe or Red Nacional de los Ferrocarriles Españoles is the Spanish state-owned railway. We will travel by train in our, if I'm not counting all wrong, 33rd European country.

08.21 The conductor has been here. We passed the ticket control. We had already bought the ticket in Sweden with the help of Renfe’s website. Now we'll see if I can manage to examine what the train has to offer.

08.27 The outing forward did not give much. I found the locomotive which wasn’t that surprisingly and a machine for candy, snacks and soft drinks. It dawns outside.

09.11 A bit late, we will leave the station Humanes de Mohernando. The landscape is slightly undulating and wrapped in a light rain.

10.22 Slightly red and probably also blasted rock formations are visible on the sides of us. We are heading towards Arcos de Jalon. The Spanish countryside do not bid on any excitement. It is barren, rocky, and the small towns we pass look very dull.

The sun is giving us daylight and we can see the landscape.

Most of this day will be a long trip by train through Spain.

We are making a short stop in Arcos de Jalón.

11.54 There has been an exchange of travellers. We just made the first stop in Zaragoza which has a plurality of stations. We are now underground and have not really seen anything of the city itself.

12.31 There were three more underground stops before we again saw the light. We are now, after around twenty-five minutes in the light, in Quinto. Around us, the land is farmed. 14.10 Newly, we stopped at the station in Riba-Roja D' Ebre. To the left of us is the landscape is dry, but beautiful as well intersected by a stream.

15.22 We have for a while travelled in the region Catalonia and the Mediterranean Sea has been sighted. Soon after we rolled into the station in Les Borges del Camp.

15.48 The waves are rolling onto the beach in Tarragona. It remains around 1,5 hours of the trip. I'll try to stay awake for the rest of the trip. There has already been a lot of sleeping for me.

16.55 I had some more sleep after all. Soon, we are at our final destination. We have decided that we shall walk to the hostel. We need it.

Peter in our room at Fabrizzios Terrace.

17.50 We arrived to Barcelona and got off at the underground station at Passeig de Gràcia. From there it was a nice walk here to Carrer de Girona 49. Fabrizzios Terrace will be the last home on this New Year tour. We have a private room and a door, a door that has no number and name. The tour here at the accommodation with the man that checked us in was, to say the least, quick and thorough. We each have a bed in a bunk bed and two pieces of candy. Now we will treat us some solid food in form of a dinner. First, however, the travel dust will be hosed away.

18.37 Finally, the shower isn’t occupied any more. The former person there must really have liked it.

18.57 We backtracked the way we came earlier today but did not find a lot of restaurants, at least not the kind of restaurants we want.

19.21 Cerveceria Campeón will serve us our first Barcelona meal. It is more than a day since we last ate something filling. It's peaceful and quiet here. Besides us are two Russian women who find it difficult to decide which table to sit at.

20.08 It was great and tasteful with sausages. Now, we stroll around and look around, get to know the local area. The district here called L' Eixample, a typical well-planned neighborhood according to the grid principle.

Antoni Gaudí´s famous building Casa Batlló.

Casa Milà, also known as "La Pedrera".

20.56 We've walked along the Passeig de Gracia. Right now we are at number 97. Here is a Starbucks serving us coffee. On the way here we saw some of the architect Gaudi's masterpieces, the houses La Pedrera and Casa Batlló. Casa Batlló is popularly known for Casa dels ossos, house of bones. Both masterpieces are on UNESCO's World Heritage List. They are to say the least different in their design, no straight lines. Gaudí did not like that. He preferred the natures own forms.

22.38 The coffee was drunk out and we took a closer look at La Pedrera. It's a really impressive building. There are, as I said no straight lines. The figures on the roof have reportedly been the inspiration for Darth Vader's costume. We stopped and bought some for the evening in the shop Open Cor. Here at home I once again tried to buy a train ticket for Monday, also this time without any success.

23.41 Another day draws to an end. Just today we have mostly been on the road. Tomorrow we will be more things happening and it'll be more of Mr Gaudí too.

Holiday greetings in L´Eixample.