Day 19 - Tuesday 31st May

We had breakfast again at our favourite cafe just around the corner. The waiters and waitresses seemed disappointed that Amelia wasn't with us. We explained that the others had already gone back to London.

Back in the apartment, we packed our bags ready for our departure for Croatia this evening. The check-out time for the apartment was 11am but the agent had agreed that we could leave our bags in the apartment provided that we were out by 11am (so the cleaners could come in) and we came back to remove our bags by 3pm.

We left the apartment at 11am and walked down to the shops near Catalunya Plaza. The weather was not as good today as we have experienced so far in Barcelona. It was cloudy and there were occasional light showers. Except for one brief light shower yesterday morning, this was the first rain we had seen since we arrived in Barcelona.

We caught a taxi to the Spanish Village (El Pablo Espanyol) which is near the first place where we stopped on our "glimpse of Barcelona" tour a few days ago. It was built in 1929 as part of an international exhibition to showcase Spanish architecture from the various regions of Spain.

We got there at about noon and managed to see most parts of the complex. It was worth the visit. There were numerous lanes and plazas with cute little shops aimed at the tourists. There were several group of school kids there on excursions. Suzy enjoyed pottering in the shops while I took photos of the architecture and scenery.

There were plenty of cafes throughout the complex and we chose one open-air cafe in the main plaza for our lunch. It might not have been the best choice because the service was slow. By the time my pizza arrived, we were starting to panic about getting back to the apartment in time. The pizza was pretty ordinary and naturally I didn't bother leaving a tip as we rushed off to find a taxi.

It turned out we need not have worried as much because there was a taxi waiting outside and we were back at the apartment before 2:30pm. The cleaners were still there and the agent, Mathias, was snoozing on the lounge in front of the TV. We said goodbye and took our bags one by one down to street level in the tiny lift.

Once again there was no problem getting a taxi. We reached the airport in no time and we were checked in and through security by about 3pm which gave us about 3 hours to fill in before our flight to Zagreb. As we waiting in the terminal, the rain changed from light showers to heavy rain. We'd picked the right time to come to Barcelona weather-wise.

The flight with Croatian Airlines was only about 2 hours and so the cabin crew had to work pretty fast to serve us dinner etc before we landed. The crew were good and the meal was simple but quite tasty. At the front of the cabin, there was a sign in several languages saying that Pope Paul II had flown on this plane in 2003.

Our driver, Igor, was waiting for us at the airport. We changed our euros to the local currency. As he drove us to our hotel, Igor explained some of the sites of Zagreb. He said the current Pope is visiting Croatia this weekend. He said Croatia is a deeply religious country with almost 90% being Roman Catholics. We drove past the oval where he will appear on Sunday.

The Regent Esplanade Hotel in Zagreb is very elegant. Apparently it was originally built as a stopping point for the Orient Express. They have recently refurbished it but they have kept the old world charm. It is an amazing hotel. Top grade luxury and fabulous service. It was like walking into a Hollywood movie set.

After settling in, we went downstairs to have a tawny port and a cocktail before bed.

Day 18 - Monday 30th May

One of the reasons we decided to come to Barcelona this weekend was that today is a bank holiday in the UK and so John had the day off work. It meant he could have a long weekend holiday here. It ended up being four days for him because he took Friday off too (and arrived late on Thursday night). The rest of us have been here since Wednesday.

Although Suzy and I fly out for Croatia tomorrow night, Nicky John and Amelia needed to fly out today for London. Once again we slept in. We were starting to worry that there might not be enough time to go out for breakfast before they had to leave for the airport.

Our favourite cafe around the corner was open this morning and so we had another great breakfast. This time we managed to get a table on the footpath rather than having to eat inside. The waitress and waiter seemed to want to spend most of the time playing with Amelia.

The car arrived for Nicky, John and Amelia at about 11:30. When we got back upstairs to the apartment, it seemed remarkably quiet. Today needed to be a washing day and so we took advantage of the washer and drier on the balcony outside our bedroom.

Suzy wanted to go out shopping and so I was happy to stay in the apartment to update my blog and photos and to read the Herald. There was left-over bread and ham for my lunch.

After Suzy got back, I decided to go for a walk to get some exercise. I went to Catalunya Plaza and then down the full length of La Ramblas to the Christopher Columbus monument. La Ramblas was busy as always. I saw six or eight street performers at various points along the plaza area in the middle of the avenue.

In the evening we caught a taxi to the luxurious W Hotel on the beach at Barceloneta. Yesterday they'd told us they allow the general public into the hotel's pool area after 6pm and so we took advantage of this to have a beer and a sangria.

Next we walked along the beach promenade to the Place de la Mar which is another wide avenue lined on one side with cafes and a plaza next to the marina on the other side.

The guide on our "glimpse of Barcelona" bus tour had recommended a particular cafe there. It turned out that it didn't open until 8pm and so we had about 20 minutes to relax and take in the atmosphere of the area. It was worth the wait - it was a very nice meal.

When we got back to the apartment at about 9:30pm, we heard a noise out the back. When we opened the balcony door, we saw a woman on another balcony banging a saucepan with a spoon. I thought she might be trying to get her cat to come home. Soon there were lots of other people doing the same - banging a saucepan with a spoon. Suzy did a quick Google search on my laptop  and found out that this is in support of the current student protest in Barcelona.

Day 17 - Sunday 29th May

John had found out more information about the police attack on the students on Friday. Apparently the police had acknowledged the students' right to protest but not their right to move in and live in the plaza for weeks uninterrupted. They wanted the students to vacate the plaza for two hours so they could clean the plaza because it had become dirty and smelly. When the students refused, the police used the tear gas to move them.

Once again we managed to sleep in and it was almost 10am by the time we set out to find somewhere for breakfast. Plan A was to go back to the same place for breakfast but unfortunately it was closed (probably because it was Sunday morning). We found another cafe on the next corner that served croissants, baguettes, muffins and coffee. Not as good as the other cafe but it would be good enough considering we were hungry and needed a coffee fix.

After allowing my coffee to cool, I was about to start drinking it but was amazed to see the coffee level in the cup dropping and the saucer filling with coffee. I went over to the counter to get a staff member to help as John tried to find more saucers to catch the disappearing contents of the cup. That was a first for me. Suzy thinks I stirred the sugar too hard.

We had decided to go to the beach today at Barceloneta which was one of the stops on our bus tour a few days ago. It seemed too complicated to go by public transport because we didn't know where to buy tickets and so we caught two separate taxis to the spectacular W hotel at the western end of the beach.

After admiring the entry area of the hotel we walked along the promenade next to the beach. Along the way we saw some topless women (very pleasant) but we also saw several middle-aged men who were completely naked (not so pleasant).

The promenade must be more than 1km long. There are a few cafes on the beach side of the promenade at various spots along its length. However, most of the cafes are at the eastern end. Each of these cafes is open air and covered with large umbrellas or awnings. Their business model seems to be the same - put a pretty girl at the entrance to tell you about the menu and then serve you with fabulous food and wine when you get inside. This is very easy to take - especially on a brilliantly sunny warm day.

As usual, Amelia was making friends with the waiters and waitresses. When the waitresses walked past, she would smile and wave. By the end of the meal, she was giving them high-fives as they went past. Every time the wine waiter came to our table, she would flirt and make eyes at him and bat her long eyelashes.

After a long lazy lunch, we decided to walk past the marina to a shopping complex near the marina. Along the way, we saw countless boats including one very large motor yacht with an Australian flag. John did a quick internet search on his iPhone and found out that it belongs to Frank Lowy. John and I entertained Amelia while the girls looked at clothes shops.

When we left the shopping centre, we started to walk across the park to find a taxi back to the hotel. When we reached the street, we noticed a large crowd of people lining the streets for as far as we could see. Many of the people were wearing Barcelona supporter colours and they were all looking down the street in one direction. We concluded that they must have been waiting for the victorious soccer team to return.

About 15 minutes later, the police closed the street to cars and buses. The crowd continued to grow and to get more excited. Sure enough, about 30 or 40 minutes after we'd arrived, the parade came past. It was lead by police cars, police vans and policemen on horseback. The players were on the top of an open-top double-decker bus. Behind them was another open-top double-decker bus with a band and dancing girls.

It was quite deafening with the sound of the band and the wild enthusiastic cheering from the supporters around us. Interestingly, they we chanting songs in English such as "We are the champions". Strange because they had just defeated an English team.

We obviously picked the right weekend to come to Barcelona. Not only was the weather perfect, but we also witnessed the celebrations for the local soccer team - both last night and then again this evening. This town certainly knows how to put on a party. I've never seen anything quite like it.

There was no chance of finding a taxi to get us back to the apartment and so we walked all the way. As we went, we saw many thousands of supporters because the parade was still winding its way through the streets towards La Ramblas and Catalunya Plaza. The atmosphere was amazing.

By the time we reached the apartment, Suzy was having trouble with one of her knees because of the distance we walked. Nicky, John and Amelia were already there.

Nicky had found a highly recommended cafe for dinner using her Barcelona iPhone app (TimeOut). After we'd gone a couple of blocks, Suzy and John thought we should try somewhere closer. We'd just stumbled across another plaza we hadn't seen before. After picking a cafe, we decided that the service was too slow and felt that Amelia was too tired. So we walked out without ordering and went back to the apartment for dinner. Nicky and John went to the same place they went last night to get hamburgers and club sandwiches and more wine.

Day 16 - Saturday 28th May

Suzy and I had booked to go on an all-day bus tour today to a couple of towns north of Barcelona - namely Girona and Figueres. Originally we had wanted to do a tour that went along the Costa Brava to a town in the Pyrenees but this tour was not available.

The bus left Catalunya Plaza at 8:30am and reached Girona at 10am. They gave us 30 minutes to have a coffee and a comfort break before giving us a 90-minute walking guided tour of the cathedral area and the old walls. Girona has a long history going back to Roman times. It reminded us of some of the old towns we have seen on previous holidays in France and Italy.

The bus was not due to leave Girona until 2pm and so we had two hours to have lunch in an open-air cafe in the plaza near the river and to wander through the shops near the plaza and the old cobblestone streets of the town.

We reached Figueres at 3:00pm. This town is famous because it was the birthplace of an artist called Dali. There are several museums in this small town of which two are dedicated to Dali. We didn't think it would be of great interest to us because we are not art experts but it was really worthwhile.

In the first museum, there is artwork from a few other artists apart from Dali - including Picasso, a contemporary and friend of Dali.

The entrance to the second museum was an opaque rotating metal door. When you got in, it was almost pitch black - the only lighting in the first room was the narrow lights highlighting the jewellery displays. Suzy was wearing a black outfit and so I kept on walking into her because I couldn't see her.

The bus didn't leave the town until 5:30pm and so we had plenty of time to look at the shops in the town. We had a beer and a sangria in an open-air cafe in the plaza and an ice cream in a different plaza. The owner of the ice cream shop was very friendly. He had seen my Australian cap when his staff were serving me and came out to chat to me in the plaza.

When the bus got back to Catalunya Plaza in Barcelona at 7:30pm, we rang Nicky to plan the evening. They were just about to get back to the apartment. We decided to eat in the apartment so we could watch the soccer final on TV. John had organised for the agent to come today to get the TV working again.

John and Nicky managed to find somewhere that sold hamburgers and club sandwiches nearby. They came with a mountain of French fries and wedges. The hamburgers were much better than you can normally get in Australia.

It was the first time I'd ever watched an entire soccer match (although I was sitting at the dining room table updating my photos and blog at the same time). Barcelona kicked three goals to Manchester United's one. Every time Barcelona scored, we heard the explosion of fireworks in the streets outside the apartment. There were more fireworks at the conclusion of the match.

We decided to go out to watch the celebrations in the centre of town. Suzy stayed behind to look after Amelia (who was already in bed). The police had closed all streets in the centre of Barcelona for the large crowds that were streaming in.

Catalunya Plaza wasn't particularly crowded but La Rambas was very crowded - it was wall-to-wall people. Many of them were wearing the Barcelona jerseys and there were lots of Barcelona supporters flags. Some people had climbed to the top of lamp posts or any other vantage point. The fireworks continued to explode and there were flares burning at various points down the street.

As we moved into the crown at the top of La Ramblas, I noticed a man crouching down playing with the knees of my cargo pants - not something that I'm used to. I'd put a wallet in the zipped pocket near my left near and the apartment keys and coins in another zipped pocket near my right knee. The wallet contained euro notes and my MasterCard credit card.

The crouching man was holding coins in an open palm and looking up at me. Next to him was another man crouching down who seemed to be with him. Other people on both sides had stopped to observe what was going on. I reached down to feel whether the key and coins were still in my pocket and then I felt my left knee to see if my wallet was still there. All seemed to be OK and so I was confused as to what they were doing and why.

The two men then disappeared into the crowd. Nicky and John had been right behind me and they couldn't work out why I had suddenly doubled over. Nicky thought I must have had a problems with my knees. John thought someone must have attacked me and he was looking for someone to punch in retaliation.

After I stood up, another man tapped me on the shoulder from behind and handed me a wallet. I opened it up to confirm that it was mine. It was the wallet that I keep in my back pocket. It is a bulky wallet but I don't put anything in it - no cash, no ID, no credit cards. Nothing. It is designed to be a decoy for pickpockets. Before we left on our holiday, we'd learnt that Barcelona is the top location in the world for pickpockets and La Ramblas is the worst place in Barcelona for these thefts.

The man who gave me the empty wallet had a look on his face that seemed to indicate he was sorry about what had happened to me. I thanked him and told him it was a decoy wallet but it was clear that he didn't understand anything I was saying. My guess is that he was probably confused that I wasn't at all upset to see that there was nothing in my wallet because I was smiling and happy that all my planning to counter pickpockets had payed off.

Later I thought I should have asked him where he found the wallet. He must have been watching because he knew it was my wallet. The thief might have undone the button on my back pocket and taken the wallet while the other two people were distracting me. Alternatively, perhaps the pair took my wallet from my back pocket, realised it was empty and so went looking in my other pockets.

We decided that we had seen enough of the celebrations and that it was time to head back to our apartment. After about 200m, we found that the police had blocked the street that we normally use to go from the plaza to our apartment. Once again there were black police vans waiting behind the barricades.

We approached one of the policemen on the barricade and explained that we are tourists. He asked us for the name of our hotel. When we told him that we were staying in an apartment, he asked us for the address. We couldn't remember and so he was far from convinced. It probably didn't help that John was wearing a Barcelona soccer jersey. We gave up and decided to walk a couple of blocks further to get around the barricades.

When I got back to the apartment, I double-checked all my pockets, wallets and the pouch I wear around my neck under my shirt (passports, drivers licence, cashcards, credit cards, etc). Everything was present and accounted for. It had been an eventful evening.

Day 15 - Friday 27th May

Although, we didn't sleep as soundly last night, we managed to sleep in again. In fact, Suzy didn't get up until after 9am. John had arrived late last night after flying in from London and so it was understandable that they were sleeping in too. They were getting up just as Suzy and I left to get some breakfast just before 10am.

On the way back to the apartment last night, Suzy had noticed several cafes that might be suitable for breakfast. When we came to the first one, it seemed quite small. The tables outside were occupied and, when we went inside, we found the cafe was quite large. It turned out to be a good choice. We had baguettes, fruit salad and coffee.

Nicky and John took up our suggestion to go to the same cafe for their breakfast. We met them there later and we then set off to explore. The first stop was a nearby shop that sold a fascinating range of dried fruit, nuts, bread and cakes.

When we reached Catalunya Plaza, we noticed that the student demonstration had grown. In previous days, there were placards and a few dozen student protestors but it had been quiet.

Today there were many hundreds of demonstrators surrounded by a ring of tourists looking on. Although we kept our distance on the other side of the street, we could hear speeches and chanting. There were police helicopters hovering overhead adding to the noise.

We headed down La Ramblas towards the old part of the city. After a couple of blocks, we found a children's play area. We left Nicky, John and Amelia there while we went further into the old part of the city.

Nicky and John were booked to go on the same "glimpse of Barcelona" bus tour that we went on yesterday. The arrangement was that we would look after Amelia while they did the tour.

Suzy and I got back to the tour pickup location opposite the Catalunya Plaza at about 12:40pm. The demonstration had become larger and noisier. On the street next to the demonstration, there were four large black police vans. It wasn't clear to me whether they were paddy wagons to take people away or whether they contained more police. There were a few police in riot gear standing next to the vans. At that stage, they seemed quite relaxed.

Nicky, John and Amelia reached the meeting point at about 12:50pm. Just as they arrived, we heard explosions from the plaza that sounded like gunshots. This was enough to get the tourist onlookers running away but it didn't seem to disturb most of the students. The tour guide with the orange umbrella told us it was tear gas.

More police cars arrived. The tour guide with the orange umbrella didn't seemed to be particularly worried but the man behind her was beckoning us to move back and "get that baby out of here". At that point, Suzy and I grabbed Amelia and ran in the direction of apartment leaving Nick and John to wait for their tour.

Originally Suzy and I had intended to take Amelia for a walk while Nicky and John went on the bus tour before taking her back to the apartment for a sleep. These plans evaporated instantly. Our only goal in life was to get Amelia back to the safety of our apartment.

As we crossed the first intersection, we saw five or six more black police vans waiting outside the big city department store. A few seconds later, another van screeched to a halt behind them and we saw more than 20 police in riot gear  running down the opposite side of the street outside the department store with batons drawn. More police cars raced past them towards the plaza.

By the time we had travelled to the end of the block, we noticed that the police had closed off all roads leading to the plaza. The only people getting through were more police cars, policemen on foot and journalists with cameras running beside them.

There were plenty of tourists like me taking photos of the dramatic scenes. Most of the locals (who weren't involved in the demonstration) were screaming abuse at the police as they went by.

It was a relief to get back inside our apartment. We rang Nicky to see if they were OK. She said they were still waiting for their tour bus to arrive but they had been moved to a different location to wait for the bus.

Amelia didn't seemed to be at all fazed by the commotion - as if to say "I'm fine provided I'm with grandma and grandpa". She enjoyed her lunch and went down peacefully for an afternoon nap.

Then it was our turn to have some lunch. We'd already bought bread on the evening we arrived and so I went to the small supermarket across the road to buy some sandwich filling.

When I got back to the apartment, an email message came through on my laptop from the Australian embassy in Abu Dhabi warning of an increased security risk to westerners in the UAE following the death of Osama bin Laden. Naturally, we'd registered our travel plans with the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs' SmartTraveller website before we left Sydney. We plan to go to Dubai for four nights on our way back to Sydney from London.

That was the last straw. I decided that I needed a drink and so I opened one of the bottles of wine that we'd bought on the first evening in Barcelona.

Just after 3pm, we got an SMS message from Nicky saying they had finished their bus tour and they were getting some tapas for lunch on the way back to the apartment.

When they returned to the apartment, John said that, after we'd left the plaza, he saw riot police moving into the demonstration and using their batons to beat students - even those who had their hands in the air. He wasn't impressed by the police actions.

This evening we decided to walk to the Sagrada Familia which is one of the main attractions in Barcelona. It is a church designed by Gaudi to have twelve huge towers. Although it has been under construction for almost 100 years, some of the towers are not finished yet because of lack of finance.

The church is 2.7km from our apartment. Yesterday I'd blown the data roaming limit for the day on my iPhone plan from Vodafone UK and I still had data roaming turned off. I let Nicky guide us to the church using a tourist app for Barcelona that she had downloaded onto her iPhone. It was an easy walk because there were no hills. Although I was the one who had a knee operation recently, it was Suzy who had some problems with her knee.

It was worth the walk. From the outside, the building is imposing despite the scaffolding. Inside it is breathtakingly beautiful. The atmosphere is the result of a large open space with a marble floor, tall columns, stained glass windows. There are modern elements such as a circular elevator in one corner that you can use to get to the top levels (if you book in advance).

On the our walk back towards our apartment, we stopped twice. The first time was for John to buy a Barcelona soccer jersey. We watched while the shopkeeper applied the name and number of one of the Barcelona soccer stars (Messi) to the jersey. There is a big soccer match tomorrow night at Wembly stadium between Barcelona and Manchester United. The people in Barcelona are very excited about the game. You often see people wearing the Barcelona team's colours in the street.

The next stop was a children's playground. While Nicky and John looked after Amelia in the playground, Suzy went to a nearby shoe  shop. Finally we stopped at the cafe where we had breakfast this morning for a dinner of tapas dishes. It was an excellent meal.

Day 14 - Thursday 26th May

Ever since we had arrived in the UK, we'd had difficulty getting a full night's sleep because it was light at 5am. The blinds in our apartment in Barcelona must be very effective because we slept in until 8am. Nicky and Amelia were still asleep at 9am and so Suzy and I went to find somewhere for breakfast.

We found a small cafe about a block away that served coffee, croissants , etc. Although there were some tables on the footpath outside, they were already taken and so we sat inside. It was a surprise to see that many of the people were drinking beer and wine with their breakfast.

Nearby there was a patisserie selling a range of delicious looking food. Very tempting. Next we went to the supermarket for more supplies.

We got back to the apartment at 10am to find that Nicky and Amelia had only just woken up. Nicky was very pleased that they had both managed to get such a good night's sleep.

By the time we were ready to set out again, it was 11:40am. The initial goal was to find the tourist information office in the Catalunya Plaza. Suzy and Nicky waited in the queue while I entertained Amelia by walking her in the stroller. They booked a two-hour  "glimpse of Barcelona" bus tour with an English-speaking guide. Suzy and I would do it today at 1pm (in 5 minutes time) and Nicky and John would do it tomorrow (John arrives tonight) while Suzy and I look after Amelia.

The bus tour was excellent. It took us past many of the major sites in the city and stopped twice. The first stop was at the top of a hill that overlooks the city - a fabulous view. The second stop was at the beach. One of the people on the tour was from Kenya. He was a amazed to see topless women on the beach. He was even more amazed when he noticed one middle-aged couple about 150m away who were completely naked walking towards the beach showers.

In the port, there were three very large cruise ships. Apparently, this city is a very popular destination for these vessels and it is not uncommon to see six or more in port at any one time.

In the guide's commentary, she often referred to the Barcelona Olympic Games in 1992. She said this transformed the city with many new roads and buildings. Also factory areas were relocated and turned into large plazas and modern buildings (including the athletes' village). Unfortunately, the tour did not take us to the Olympic stadiums.

Our bus driver's name was Jesus. Although most of Barcelona's streets are wide, he occasionally had to turn a sharp corner or get through congested traffic. The guide would then say, quite appropriately, "thank you Jesus".

Our tour group was only quite small and included some Americans and Canadians. One man asked a lot of questions about the Olympics. It turns out that he is the Mayor of Lake Placid where the Winter Olympics have been held twice.

We took a mental note of places to come back to while we are in Barcelona. The guide was helpful in giving advice on good places to go for sightseeing and meals.

When we got back to the apartment, Amelia was still asleep. Nicky had been busy doing research on her Macbook for places to go for eating and sightseeing.

We were ready to set off again by about 5pm. Suzy and Nicky wanted to go to the big department store in the centre of town near the Catalunya Square. The student demonstrators were still occupying the plaza with their placards over the statues.

I filled in time while they went shopping. Eventually Suzy rang to say I should meet them in the cafeteria on the top (9th floor) of the department store. They had been given three vouchers at one of the counters for a complimentary glass of wine - because they were foreigners who had purchased over a given amount.

The cafeteria had amazing views of the plaza below, the city in the middle distance and the hills beyond. We had some difficulty in explaining to the waiter that we wanted red wine. We still haven't been able to find the correct Catalonian phrase for "red wine" but we successfully told him we don't want "blanco".

Nicky's research had located somewhere for dinner. It was a great choice. It was an open-air cafe in a plaza a few blocks from our apartment. As usual, Amelia spent most her time smiling and making eyes at the waiters and the people at the next tables. It was a good meal.

It was still daylight when we strolled back to our apartment.

Day 13 - Wednesday 25th May

Today we are flying to Barcelona with Nicky and Amelia. We had breakfast at the B&B at 7:30 and the car arrived to pick us up at 8:45. By the time we had loaded up the car at Nicky's place, the boot was very full. Once again it took a while to figure out how to install the child seat for Amelia.

The flight was on easyJet from Luton airport which is about 40 minutes north of Hampstead. It was an easy run on the motorway despite being peak hour - probably because we were heading out of London. EasyJet rigorously enforces their 20kg limit for checked baggage and so we had been very careful to stay within the limit. It turned out that my bag was 20.2kg and Suzy's was 20.1kg but the check-in clerk didn't question these weights.

There are some advantages in having a baby with you because they give you priority boarding. With easyJet, there is no allocated seating and so everyone lines up to rush for the best seats. At Luton, they had three queues at the gate - the first one for people who paid extra, the second for special boarding groups (like us) and the third queue for the masses.

Nicky's plan was to get four seats near the front of the plane and put Amelia in one of them. The plan worked because nobody asked for Amelia's seat.

Although, we managed to keep Amelia quiet for most of the journey, she wouldn't go to sleep. Her crying attracted some unhappy looks from other passengers but this changed when Suzy and I took turns to walk her up and down the aisle. The passengers were now waving and smiling at Amelia.

At Barcelona airport, our driver was waiting for us. Originally we had wanted to find an ATM to get some euros. However, we insisted that there was no time. We were worried that this would be a problem because we had to pay for our accommodation in cash on arrival at the apartment.

It didn't take long to reach the apartment. When the driver tried to double-park outside, he became very unpopular with the cars behind and so he drove around the block until he found a nearby loading zone. He didn't speak much English. His comment was "many traffic".

I managed to find an ATM about a block away in a room next to the bank. Because it was siesta time, the room was locked. Just as I was giving up and going back, a bank customer came along and opened the room with his bank card. So I followed him in and got my cash once he had finished.

Although the apartment building looks old, our apartment is modern and spacious with a large lounge area, three bedrooms, kitchen and two bathrooms. There is air conditioning in the lounge room and two of the bedrooms.

The kitchen is well equipment with a dishwasher, oven, cook-top, microwave, crockery, cutlery and large refrigerator and freezer. On the balcony outside one of the bedrooms, there is a washing machine and clothes drier. The agent asked if we keep washing machines and driers outside in our country. I think he was joking.

After settling in, we set off to explore the streets. We went through Catalonia Square to the beginning of the La Ramblas area. In contrast to when we had arrived, the streets were now teeming with people because the siesta time was over and all the shops were open again.

We had dinner at a bar across the road from our apartment. Naturally we went for Sangria (and some red wine). The girls had tampas while I ordered from the standard menu. By this time we were tired. Nicky was particularly tired because Amelia hadn't slept well last night in Hampstead.

Before going back to the apartment, we went to a small supermarket a couple of blocks away to get food, drink and other supplies for the apartment. We'd heard that you should drink bottled water rather use the tap water.

Day 12 - Tuesday 24th May

Today we would be travelling to Oxford. Suzy and Nicky wanted to go to an outlet shopping centre at a town called Bicester which is close to Oxford. I don't like shopping and so I would travel from Bicester to Oxford to go sightseeing.

Orignally the plan was to leave Nicky's place at 8:30 and so we had breakfast at the Costa Cafe at Golders Green and then caught the bus to Nicky's. It turned out that Amelia was unsettled and had gone back to bed. We got underway at 9:30 and headed north on the motorway (in Nicky and John's BMW). It was an easy drive. We got to the shopping centre by about 11am.

I spent 5 minutes having a look at the shopping centre (which was more than enough time for me) and walked to the Bicester railway station which is about 500m away beyond the shopping complex and car parks. The station doesn't have any staff and doesn't even have a ticket machine. You are supposed to buy your ticket on the train (if there is a guard) or at your destination.

When the train arrived shortly afterwards, it was clean and modern but only consisted of two carriages. Until the next stop, I was the only person in my carriage. It only took 30 minutes to get to Oxford.

At Oxford, the first task was to find the tourist information office which is in one of the main streets about 15 minutes by foot from the railway station. Last night I had made an online booking for a walking tour of the university and the city that started at 2pm. I wasn't sure if my booking had been successful because, although they sent me a confirmation email, they said my payment hadn't been processed successfully.

The lady on the walking tours desk had a great deal of difficulty getting the computer to tell her whether I was on the tour or not. She went to ask two other people to get help. It took three of them 30 minutes to figure it out. When she concluded that the tour was full and I wasn't on it, she made numerous phone calls to someone to beg them to put me on the 2pm tour.

After she succeeded to achieve this and to take my payment, she said she could have put me on the 1:45pm tour because that wasn't full. I thought to myself that it would have been good if she had told me that 30 minutes ago but it was too late to change it. I just wanted to get away from the walking tour desk - as did the many other customers who had witnessed the whole charade.

Last night I had registered a Costa loyalty card in my name so I could use it rather than Suzy's card while she wasn't with me. I found a Costa cafe in one of the busy open-air shopping malls in the centre of the city.

The walking tour was brilliant - very informative. The guide had countless stories to tell about the university and the many famous people who have attended the university. These include many prime ministers and presidents. It is the place where Rhodes scholars (such as Bob Hawke and Bill Clinton) went. She even stopped outside the room where Bill Clinton lived and she speculated that this was probably where he smoked marijuana but didn't inhale.

The university also has links with the arts including Rowan Atkinson (Mr Bean), Harry Potter and Alice in Wonderland. Apparently Lewis Carol was the adopted name of a mathematics lecturer at the university.

She said the university is not really a single entity. Instead it is a combination of colleges that jealously guard their independence. We went past some of the colleges and inside a few.

After the the tour finished just after 4pm, I walked back to the railway station in time to catch the 4:31pm train to Paddington station in London. Once again the train consisted of just two carriages but this time it was almost full.

The journey to Paddington took only about an hour. I changed to the Circle line on the underground  and changed at Kings Cross to the Northern line for the trip to Golders Green. I was back at the B&B by about 6:30pm. By this time, my iPhone battery was flat.

Tomorrow we are due to leave the UK for Europe. Our plane trips to Barcelona and Croatia and back have a 20kg limit on checked baggage. So I sorted out the things I want to take and put the rest in my small bag to leave it at Nicky and John's while we are in Europe. When I got there at about 7:30pm, Amelia was already asleep. Suzy and I walked down to the Bull and Bush pub for dinner and then we walked back down to the B&B at Golders Green.

Day 11 - Monday 23rd May

Just for something different, we had breakfast this morning at the Costa Cafe in Golders Green rather at the B&B. After that, we tried to take our washing to the laundromat but it wasn't open yet. Suzy then caught the train to London to go shopping while I drove the car back to Thrifty at West Hampstead, stopping along the way to fill it up with petrol at a petrol station about 1km from Thrifty.

The TomTom got me there successfully despite telling me a couple of times to turn right over a very high median strip. I figured that Thrifty wouldn't have been happy if I had tried to batter my way through these obstacles. Yesterday it had suggested that we turn left into the ocean and we had decided not to follow her suggestion then either. I then walked back to Swiss Cottage station and caught the bus back to Golders Green.

I tried the laundromat again and this time it was open. She showed me how to use the washing machines and then the drier. Each time I filled in time by going for a walk.They offer a special price of 99p to iron a shirt but charge 2 pounds for anything else such as trousers. They even charge 2 pounds to iron a handkerchief. I left her with just my shirts and came back late afternoon to pick them up.

The internet access is faster at the B&B than at Nicky and John's at present and so I took advantage of the good signal at the B&B. John has been in touch with their supplier and they think the problem might be the modem and so they are sending out a replacement modem.

After buying a couple more bottles of wine, I caught the bus to their place but, when I got there at 6pm, there was nobody home. Nicky had gone to the hairdresser and they were all still there.

Nicky cooked a lamb roast for dinner.

Day 10 - Sunday 22nd May

Being creatures of habit, we arranged for breakfast at the B&B at 8am. Suzy had the granola again but I went for the Traditional English Breakfast option. It was very nice indeed. As I told our hostess later, Australians tend to knock English breakfasts but there was no way anyone could complain about what I had today. Her bacon, egg, sausage etc were perfect. Roy gave much of the credit to the quality of the local butcher they use.

After packing up and checking out, we left the B&B at 9:30pm. The first stop was a nearby town called Lymington where we had agreed to meet Nicky, John and Amelia at 10am. They had decided to have breakfast there rather than at their B&B. I didn't need anything to eat or drink because I had just had a big breakfast and so I took Amelia down to the old part of the town that had cobblestone streets leading down to the port.

The next destination was a town called Beaulieu where there is a motor museum. We didn't go to the museum. Instead, Suzy looked at the shops in the main street while I took photos of the lake, houses and castle.

The main event for today was to meet with Jane and Alan (Sarah's parents) for lunch. They live in Felpham near Bognor Regis. They had suggested that we meet at 1pm at a seaside town called Emsworth which is near Portsmouth and so is part-way between New Forest and Felpham.

We drove into the main street of Emsworth at about 12:45pm and saw Alan standing on the side of the road. We found a parking spot nearby and we all set off towards the water to find somewhere for lunch. We found a tiny cafe just near the wharf and had an enjoyable lunch.

It was a cold, cloudy day with a strong wing that reminded us of the wind on the evening we had arrived at Milford-on-Sea. After lunch, we went for a stroll past the mill pond, through the town and down along the jetty. The mill pond is like a man-made lake about 2m higher than the sea. On the sea side, there is a rock wall with a walkway on top.

The swans and ducks were taking shelter from the wind wherever they could. From time to time, it started to rain and then it would clear and turn into sunshine. The sailing club was running a charity afternoon tea and so we stopped for tea and cake.

At 3:30pm, we said good-bye to Jane and Alan to head back to London. The TomTom took us along the A3 and then to the M25 ring road. It was an easy run and were back at the B&B by about 5:15pm. We had expected there might have been heavy traffic - like you would expect  heading back to Sydney on the F3 on a Sunday afternoon.

We drove the hire car to Nicky and John's for a take-away Lebonese meal.

Day 09 - Saturday 21st May

We organised to have breakfast at the B&B at 8am. You need to let them know the night before which main course you want and so Suzy opted for Granola and I chose pancakes. I don't normally have pancakes for breakfast because they are usually too heavy. However these pancakes were perfect. Rather than being covered in maple syrup, they had a selection of berries.

The dining room is very elegant just like the remainder of the building. There are five large rooms upstairs for the guests - each with ensuite bathrooms. Downstairs, there is a lounge room, kitchen and dining room. The owners, Carolyn and Roy, live on the top storey above the guest rooms.

Apparently the house was built in 1923. Back then, it was probably a mansion owned by a family. The current owners bought it 12 years ago and have been running it as a B&B ever since.

After breakfast, we set off for a walk along the beach. Once again it was a bright sunny day and it was starting to warm up after a cold night. There was no cold wind on the seashore as there had been last night when we arrived. When we reached the main swimming area, there was a row of changing huts but no swimmers. Even though the beach consisted of large pebbles rather than sand, I expect it would be a popular spot in summertime.

Next we walked a few blocks into the centre of town where we stumbled across Nicky, John and Amelia getting out of their car. They had come to town to find a coffee shop. The others went to the coffee shop while I took Amelia for a walk in her stroller to try to get her to sleep. She sang and babbled as we walked and eventually fell asleep after about 40 minutes.

Suzy and I decided to walk back to the B&B along the stream in the bushland behind the houses. Unfortunately, as we got close the B&B, we lost mobile phone reception and so we couldn't use the map on the phone to work out where to go. After asking directions, we walked through a field with wild horses grazing to get back to the road. It turned out to be a longer walk than we expected.

The girls had booked for us to have lunch at Pebble Beach, a 5-star restaurant on the seaside at Barton-on-Sea, the next town to the west. We had only been back at our B&B for 10 minutes when Nicky and John called by to pick us up.

It was a very nice meal indeed. We ate inside but there was an outdoor area that overlooked the sea. Hang gliders were taking off from further down the beach and some of them sailed past us as we dined.

In the afternoon, Suzy and I decided to visit Hurst Castle which a fortress built by Henry VIII at the entrance to the river about 1km from the town. To get there, you need to catch a ferry. It turned out that the ferry was just a small 12-person motor boat. The captain was very friendly and helpful. He chatted to us about the history of the castle and the area. He also explained the unusual tides in the area - they have two high tides about 2 hours apart.

The castle is low and long with a central turret area that gives you a good view of the river and the surrounding area including the Isle of Wight and a few tall rocks on the horizon known as the Needles. We wandered up and down and around the fortress finding all sorts of interesting nooks and crannies.

On the way back, we had the same ferry driver and once again he chatted to us about the area. We shared the ferry with a family with a golden retriever who looked identical to Cleo.

We were tired by the time we got back to our B&B and so we had a rest for about an hour before driving the short distance back into town to have dinner with Nicky, John and Amelia.

Once again, we went to a quaint English pub. This one was called the White Horse. It had low ceilings, timber beams and posts - and customers with dogs. The food selection wasn't as good as the pub we went to last night. However, we weren't hungry because we had a big lunch earlier.

Day 08 - Friday 20th May

We had organised to hire a car today for the weekend from Thrifty at West Hampstead. After getting advice from Jackie and Nicky about getting there, we caught a bus from Golders Green to Swiss Cottage station and then walked the last km. We arrived at the Thrifty depot on time at 10am.

Originally Suzy and I were going to New Forest by ourselves but Nicky and John decided a couple of days ago to come with us. Nicky and Amelia would drive down with us and John would come after work on Friday evening. So the compact car we had booked on line in Sydney was not going to be big enough. We made several calls yesterday to Thrifty and ended up booking a 7-seater Ford people-mover with a child seat.

The man at Thrifty said he wasn't allowed to install the child seat for us and so we did it ourselves. It took about 20 minutes by the time we figured it out. Having conquered that challenge, we drove to Hampstead to pick up Nicky and Amelia and then to Golders Green to pick our gear. Jackie had offered to let us leave our big bags at the B&B for the weekend and so we only needed to take small bags for the weekend away.

It was just as well that we got such a big car because we managed to fill the boot - mainly with Amelia's gear such as clothes, stroller and portable cot.

The TomTom directed us north to the ring road before we headed south-west along the M3 motorway towards Southampton and Bournemouth. Along the way, we stopped for lunch at a Costa cafe in a service centre next to the motorway.

Once we reached the New Forest area, we turned off the motorway and headed towards Milford-on-Sea. The first stop was at Brockenhurst where we came across an area where horses and ponies were roaming free. The animals were very tame - you could walk right up to them as they grazed on the grass.

Since our B&B doesn't accept children, Nicky and John had booked a B&B in the nearby town of Everton. After meeting the owners and leaving their gear upstairs, we went to our B&B in Milford-on-Sea.

Next, we drove to the sea-side which is only a block or two away. It is a beautiful coastline and very windy. The girls decided it was too cold to go for a walk and so after I'd taken a few photos, we headed into town for an early dinner. Amelia was getting tired. The aim was to get dinner and have her in bed by 7pm.

Both B&Bs had recommended a pub called the Smugglers Inn. It had great character, good food and a children's play area. One thing that fascinated us was that several customers brought their dogs into the restaurant.

Day 07 - Thursday 19th May

We probably slept better last night but Suzy got up at 5:15am. I can't remember any time she has got up this early. She did some accommodation research on the laptop for the weekend while I went for an early morning walk and got some coffee.

We got to Nicky's apartment at 10am - because that's when Nicky expected Amelia to wake up from her mid-morning sleep. She must have been tired because she slept until close to 11am.

Nicky has been keen to take Amelia to London Zoo for some time and today was to be the day. I wasn't sure where the zoo was and so I followed along as Nicky led the way. We walked past the bus stop and then past the railway station. In fact, we walked all the way. It took almost an hour. Lots of good exercise.

The zoo is near Regents Park. It has a variety of interesting animals but is not a patch on other zoos I've been to such as Taronga Park Zoo, the Western Plains Zoo (Dubbo) or Singapore Zoo.

By the time we were ready to leave, Amelia was ready for a sleep. Nicky put her in the pram and said we should walk until Amelia fell asleep and then get a taxi. I couldn't understand how this would work because I thought Amelia would wake when we put her in the taxi. Besides what was the chance of finding a taxi with a baby car seat.

Once we crossed to the other side of Regents Park, Nicky hailed a taxi. I'd forgotten how much space there is in a London taxi between the driver and the passenger seat. Nicky just wheeled the pram into the taxi and the three of us sat behind her in the passenger seat.

Nicky got the taxi driver to drop us at the Hampstead shops so we could get something for dinner at the butcher shop. Then we stopped in a laneway cafe for a coffee.

Nicky went to several other shops while Suzy and I walked Amelia home in the pram. She was awake and restless by the time we got to the top of the hill.

At about 5pm, Nicky went to an exercise class in the Heath leaving Suzy and me to babysit. By the time Nicky got home just after 7pm, Amelia was bathed and fed and ready for bed. Mission accomplished.

John was working back again tonight and so Nicky put some of the meat in the freezer. The original plan was to do a barbecue but I couldn't see how the barbecue connected to the gas bottle. Judging by the amount of dust on the barbecue, I suspect that nobody else in the apartments had been able to figure it out either for many months. Instead, the girls cooked the meat on the griller in the kitchen.

We caught the bus back to Golders Green. This time it was still light (9pm) when we got there.

Day 06 - Wednesday 18th May

We must have been suffering from some jet lag because we had a restless night's sleep. At breakfast at the B&B, Jackie our hostess said we must have brought the rain with us because there had been light rain over night - their first rain in more than a month.

After breakfast, we caught the bus to Nicky's place. Nicky had planned to take Amelia to "Monkey Music" at a childcare centre in Hampstead shopping centre at 10am. We arrived at the apartment in time for Suzy to go with them while I stayed at the unit to update holiday photos etc. I met them at the childcare centre at 10:45.

The first stop was to go to the ATM outside Barclays Bank to get some more UK pounds. All was going well at first. The ATM accepted my card and produced a large wad of bank notes. I took my card out of the machine but, as I was putting it away, the cash suddenly disappeared back into the machine and the hatch closed shut. Horrified at seeing 500 pounds vanish in front of our eyes, we went inside to inform a teller what had happened.

He got the manager and she went to the machine to investigate. After a few anxious minutes, she returned with our cash and handed it over to us. We were very relieved. She said the ATM has self-checking mechanisms and takes back the money if it thinks there was an error in the process but it keeps the cash in a special location in the machine.

The next stop was the post office to deposit some of the cash in my new CashPlus MasterCard. It was a long wait because there were not enough staff on duty - just as slow as Australia Post used to be in the bad old days.

Next we went to the Vodafone shop to organise UK SIMs for our iPhones. Originally, I planned to use my new UK cash card but they wanted to use Nicky's debit card because she is a UK resident. The main advantage of having UK SIMs is cheaper rates for data in the UK and Europe - although you can use a mobile phone to make phone calls, this is no longer the main purpose of having a mobile phone.

We bought some baguettes for lunch and some wine for dinner and headed back to Nicky's unit after an eventful shopping trip.

After lunch, we went for a walk in Hampstead Heath and stopped in the children's play area. Amelia has no fear. For example, she climbs to the top of the slippery dip and then throws herself headfirst down the slope. It's a two-person supervision task - one to watch her as she climbs the ladder and another to catch the kamikaze pilot before she crashes into the ground at the bottom.

John was working late - as he often has to - and so he wasn't home for dinner. After dinner, Nicky went to a meeting and left Suzy and me to babysit. This was easy because Amelia was already in her cot and sleeping like a baby. Once Nicky got home, we caught the bus back to the B&B at Golders Green after another eventful day.

Day 05 - Tuesday 17th May

After enjoying another excellent breakfast in the hotel restaurant, we packed up and checked out of the hotel. The concierge desk arranged a taxi to take us to the airport. This time, the fare was only 95 Yuan - less than half the price that we were charged by the taxi driver who drove us from the airport to the hotel on Saturday.

Terminal 3 is very large and impressive. It was probably built for the 2008 Olympics. There is a train service to take you from the building where you check in to the building containing the departure gates. I waited in the China Air business lounge while Suzy checked out the shops.

For this leg from Beijing to London, we were flying with British Airways (using Qantas Frequent Flyer points). It was a 10 hour flight that left Beijing at 11am and reached London before 3pm on the same day. Although it wasn't an overnight flight, we managed to get a few hours rest.

The seat configuration is interesting because adjacent seats face in the opposite direction. This means that you don't need to climb over the person next to you to get out. The seat positions are very flexible. You can adjust it to lay flat and horizontal when you want to sleep.

Business class was only about one quarter full and so we got great service. I thought the food was excellent but Suzy didn't think it was that good.

Nicky had organised a car and driver to take us to our B&B in Golders Green. Despite the fact that it was peak hour, the trip was very easy and only took about half an hour. After settling into the B&B, we set off to catch the bus to Nicky and John's place at Hampstead.

It was great to see Nicky and Amelia. We were pleased that Amelia seemed to recognise us but she was quite shy and kept snuggling up to Nicky.

Nicky had organised a CashPlus MasterCard for me to use in the UK. The card uses UK pounds and is registered at Nicky's address so I can use it in the UK for online purchases such as topping up a UK mobile phone. It also operates as a normal MasterCard except you need to put money into it to spend (it's not a credit card).

John got home in time for dinner and drove us back to our B&B later in the evening..

Day 04 - Monday 16th May

We’d booked a tour today to visit three of the main sites in Beijing: the Forbidden City, the Temple of Heaven and the Summer Palace. The tour was due to go all day from about 8am to 6pm partly because it also included visits to showrooms where they would try to sell us things. We’ve seen this before in Asian cities.

The tour guide and bus arrived on time at the hotel at 7:50am and proceeded to pick up a couple from a different hotel. There were only five of us plus the guide and driver on the tour in a big bus. The young couple were from Brazil and the lady was a Romanian who currently lives in the US.

We found it hard to understand our tour guide, Michael. Although he was Chinese and his English was quite good, he spoke like Fronk the wedding organiser from Steve Martin’s film Father of the Bride. You had to listen hard to work out what he was saying. By the end of the day, I’d decided it was too hard and relied on Suzy’s quick summary of the parts that she had caught.

At the Forbidden City, we saw where the emperors lived since about 1400AD until 1925. There were lots of temples and lots of tourists who were mainly Chinese. You can see why it is the centre of Beijing and the top site-seeing destination.

The next stop was the silk factory. We saw a demonstration of the production of silk that reminded us of our childhood hobby of keeping silkworms. Initially the hard sell convinced us to buy a silk quilt but as we waiting for the others to buy what they wanted, we decided it was all too hard to carry it home in our luggage with our restricted weight limits.

Next we went to the Temple of Heaven. Although, there are not as many buildings there, the surrounding park area is huge and peaceful. For lunch, they took us to a restaurant for a Chinese banquet in the grounds of the Temple of Heaven.

It was a 30 minutes drive on the bus to the Summer Palace. This is built around a very large artificial lake. We caught a dragon boat to the other side of the lake to the empress’s palace and climbed many stairs to the top to get a great view of the buildings, lake and surrounds with the modern city buildings in the distance.

The last stop was a pearl showroom. Suzy doesn’t wear pearls and so we waited patiently while the others spent money.

We got back to the hotel in time for happy hour and more red wine. After the big lunch, we only needed a simple dinner and so we decided to stay in the hotel restaurant.

The same head waitress, Lisa, was on duty again and she asked us about what we had done today. She also made the mistake of asking whether we were happy with the hotel and we spent a long time telling her how very impressed we have been with the quality of the hotel, the service and the staff. Trip Advisor has great reviews for this hotel and they weren’t wrong.

Once again, we had coffee up on level 15. When we got there, everyone else was using iPads. I felt guilty because I only had an iPhone. The WiFi reception is better on level 15.

We had an early night in preparation for our departure tomorrow morning for London and a long flight.