Barcelona - First Impressions

Wow! Talk about a lot to take in. I arrived in Barcelona yesterday morning at 11pm and it was already scorching like 23 deg celcius or something. It is still a bit nippy in the evenings but what a contrast with Ireland. Eimear, my friend and her boyfriend Kevin met me at arrivals by car and gave me a quick tour of their lovely apartment. My bedroom is small and cosy and the window looks on to the atrium that most Spanish aparments have so you get to see everyones washing and conversations etc its actually quite nice and keeps you company. Then after something to eat I got into my bikin and we headed down to the beach. We went to Platja Icaria which is the one further down from Barceloneta and the one that is much cleaner, though you don't go swimming anywhere on these beaches cos they are full of crap. You just go there to chill on the beach and tan. I took it easy and we met some of Eimer and Kevins friends, a Norweigan couple and a dutch guy and took it easy, which was nice for me because I was still feeling a bit dodge from the previous nights festivities. We then whent for tapas and a Coronita - Corona to all you Irish (Chirac's drink) and I was given the 411 on "Where to go and where to stay away from in Barcelona". Today, Kevin, who is actually only here on a few days holiday before he starts his job back in Dublin, took the time to accompany me to the local cop shop to register, the local job shop and the local vodafone shop to get all the boring admin stuff sorted out and we wandered through some of the nice areas off the Ramblas, Ciutat Vella and Barri Gotic and to the various lovely Squares. All in all a lovely start. I have uploaded some photos of my first impressions so feel free to have a look