Spain where we are now and Serbia from where we’ve just flown in, are at opposite sides of southern Europe. More than just distance separates the two nations. But these two very different countries do have at least one thing in common. It might be a bit of a push to equate Serbia’s Kosovo with Spain’s Catalonia: Kosovo has broken away from Serbia although the latter doesn’t recognize the former as an independent nation; Catalonia has tried to break away from Spain, supported by a regional referendum a few years back that Spain’s central government disregarded as being unconstitutional. And Spain refuses to recognize Kosovo as an independent nation, afraid that such a move would counter their argument against an independent Catalonia.

We’ve stopped off for a couple of days in Barcelona, Catalonia’s flourishing and dynamic capital city before carrying on to Gijon in the Asturias region of northern Spain where we’re visiting with our old friends Janet & Celso for a few days. It’s quite a long time since we were last in Barcelona and we have to admit it is an amazing surprise!! What a beautiful and enchanting city with a skyline totally dominated by Gaudi’s bizarre and still unfinished masterpiece, La Sagrada Familia.

Our Pacific Council friends and travel companions, Carol & Pete have a home in the centre of Barcelona and they have given us a few tips. An amazing tapas restaurant a short walk from our historic hotel - once the Ritz and now just “El Palace” and the ornate Palau de la Musica Catalana where we are in the audience for the truly breathtaking “Gran Gala Flamenco”.

The rooftop bar of our hotel offers a panoramic view of Barcelona but to just get a glimpse and feel for the city during our brief stay, we opt for the “hop on/hop off” bus  which takes us around both the central area of the city with its stunning array of Modernist, Gaudian and Gothic architecture, the Olympic sites overlooking the city, past FC Barcelona’s stadium and the port area.

According to the mostly awful commentary on the tour bus, Barcelona as a city underwent a remarkable transformation in order to host the 1992 Olympics and has gone on from strength to strength ever since.