Playa Tropicana and beyond. 20/7 - 25/7.

Following Benicassim we stayed at a caravan park called Playa Tropicana for a few days. Great surroundings and facilities, about 60 km's north of Benicassim and right on the coast. We went to the beach which is directly opposite the campsite and apart from that have nothing major to report as we were relaxing. Ahhhh! Nice! We managed to push start the van ourselves this time thanks to good positioning at the site. We drove to Barcelona with the hope of sorting the starter motor but have not been successful. We took the van to a Fiat mechanic as we were told that the motor in the Talbot is a Fiat Ducato. The guys at Fiat were generous to us with their time however they could not help us. They reckon that the serial numbers on the engine don't match up with Fiat numbers. It is most likely a Peugeot meaning that the Phat White Duke is actually a Fat faux Duke. Anyhoo, we are now in a lovely campsite called Camping Barcelona. Tonight will be our third night here and it has been very enjoyable. Yesterday (Fri 24/7) we caught the bus from the campsite into Barcelona. Very convenient as it went from right outside the campsite to the heart of the city and back. On our tour back in 2000 we visited Barcelona but I had forgotten how lovely a city it is. First stop was La Rambla. After a yummy espresso and a chocolate croissant (yeah baby) we walked down the paved foot traffic only part that runs down the centre of La Rambla. We took in a visit to the Museu de l'Erotica for a bit of a giggle. On display is a variety of different artworks from all different cultures. Some more artistic than others... as you can imagine. Things of note were: original Playboy covers from early editions (very modest by today's standards); some prints from the 1800s (beautiful artworks in their own right even though they are a bit raunchy) and an original copy of a Norma Jean (Marilyn Monroe) calendar. Apparently Ms Monroe was paid the exact sum that she needed to get her car out of hock and that is the reason she agreed to do the saucy shoot. The things we do hey! After a walk towards the port we needed a bit of rest so recharged with a lemonade and watched the world go by for a bit. We pushed on walking through a few side streets and visiting a funky bar for another drink and a snack. We took in some window shopping before jumping on the Metro to see La Sagrada Familia. An amazing building that was started in 1882 and still isn't finished. It is a pretty crazy looking building and historically very interesting so check out the link if you want to know more about it. Our day was drawing to a close so we Metroed it back to where we started the day and treated ourselves to some consumer/exploitative/mass market fun at the Hard Rock Cafe Barcelona. We chowed down on some yummo Nachos and nearly missed the bus back whilst we were finishing up. A really enjoyable day and yes, very tiring. By the end of the day I was suffering with my first case of swollen ankles. Today has been spent chilling out by the pool. We will be on the road again tomorrow to head a bit further north. We are thinking we will try to get the van fixed once we reach France. Till then we are a bit of a comedy act with our push starting.