Full English breakfasts, drag queens and pre-Carnaval preparations

We are in the Mediterranean coastal town of Sitges awaiting the Carnaval time tonight ... already things are hotting up and it is getting exctiing. Tonight is the finale of the Carnaval week, finishing with The Extermination Parade!!!!

We arrived in Barcelona on Saturday ..... and what a gorgeous place it is. Completely blown away by the stunning architecture and the energy of the place. We have fallen in love.

Whether it has been milling around alleyways and side streets, munching on tapas at a local streetside cafe, or shopping for cheeses and fruits at the Boqueria market, it has been a blast.

The apartment we are renting is several stories above the street where there is a continual flow of street life, we views of the neighborhood and the apartment itself is way more than we expected.

Highlights so far include touring La Sagrada Familia, stopping off last night to eat pinchos, and drinking cafe con leche and watching the world go by.

But last time we posted, we were in Newcastle .. so from there to here? We had a couple of great days in York, including attending evensong at York Minster (we sat in medieval carved wooden niches decorated with the symbols of different bishops - Andy even sat next to the choir leader, and was very well behaved), attending a very dramatic (and factually questionable) ghost walk of the local haunted sights, and eating a very expensive and decadent cream tea at The tea shop in town Betty´s (very Miss Marple).

From York, we went to Manchester and stayed above an pub called The Rembrandt in the gay district. Lots of dodgy drag queens and party people .... Evan had his first (and last...) full English breakfast - lots of fried things basically). Indeed one of the more memorable moments was watching a ´seen better days´drag queen(at least 65) totter in to the bar one morning in full make up, long blonde wig and red high heeled boots order a ¨Full English breakfast love¨in a smoky barritone voice...

We toured Manchester, as well as visiting with an old school friend Helen in the town of Whaley Bridge in the Peak District. This included a chance to visit the ´plague village´of Eyam .... check this out on wikipedia ... the town has a fascinating history.
Next was Liverpool and Chester, where we met up with our friend Gina from California at the train station as planned. Liverpool is brilliant - we absolutely loved it - Evan was already checking out rental apartments! Vibrant, fun, full of cool people and just fantastic - we were surprised we loved it so much. We also toured Chester - an old Roman and Tudor town, and had another cream tea ......

Well, there so much more to tell, but it will have to wait until next time ... got to get ready for Carnaval and try some paella along the promenade. So until then, adios!

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"Life is without meaning. You bring the meaning to it. The meaning of life is whatever you ascribe it to be." (Joseph Campbell)