Thursday 24 October

After yesterday’s trip to Barcelona, we were both exhausted. Also the coldest day of our trip. First the sun went behind the clouds, then I needed to put a thin jumper on.

Pierce Brosnan is frequently seen on Spanish TV promoting something called “Qualitas Auto”. He’s dubbed throughout, talking in Spanish, except when he says their strap line at the end in English – in his normal voice – which is a bit odd having it in a different voice to the rest.

Spot Anuncio Qualitas Auto, I Trust – Con Pierce Brosnan from Salas de Casting Callback on Vimeo.

We watched the film “Knight and Day” – in Spanish, which made me wonder: Does the same Spanish person always dub Tom Cruise or is it numerous different people?
It was quite good dubbing – the mouth movements matched the sound well. I think I could watch it easily, if it had been Spanish, dubbed into English that well.

For dinner this evening, we went to Uncle Sam’s American diner ( http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Restaurant_Review-g562814-d1166150-Reviews-Uncle_Sam_s-Salou_Costa_Dorada_Province_of_Tarragona_Catalonia.html ). I wasn’t sure about this place to begin with, but in fairness, it had more vegetarian options than anywhere else we’ve been so far. Sadly, the vegetarian burgers were out of stock or something, so removing pasta and pizza, my girlfriend ended up with a jacket potato. It was nice though, apparently.
Anyway, if you want to feel good about yourself, your looks, etc. then this is the place to go for dinner. Me and my girlfriend together didn’t equal the weight of some of the customers in there. They had bench style seating and I think this is maybe to spread the huge load, rather than to fit any more people in.
I ordered chicken and got something that was probably the diameter of my head (side-on), coated in bacon, then that coated in cheese, then that coated in barbeque sauce. I couldn’t even finish that, let alone the chips that came with it. It tasted nice though.
It was one of the cheapest places we’ve eaten too. The whole meal including a drink each (and a milkshake to share…well it is an American diner..seems rude not to) was €21.

Friday 25 October

After a leisurely start to the day (I am on holiday after all), we caught a bus to Reus (town).
I guess Reus airport is a bit like Bristol airport in that it’s miles away from the city of the same name, because Reus (the town) does not resemble an airport, and I didn’t see or hear any planes.

It’s the first time we’ve been somewhere when most of the shops are having their siesta, and are thus closed, although this is probably a good thing as we’re nearly out of money by this point.

I tried repeatedly at cash points to withdraw some money off of this stupid travel money credit card I bought last year, to no avail. I think there’s about €14 left on it. I can’t withdraw it in Reus because the ATM machines only seem to  dispense €20 or €50 notes (why?!). And I can’t withdraw it in the UK because there’s some kind of fees attached to doing so that I think means there’s not enough left after fees to give me a note.

Also, when you try and withdraw it (somewhere that does give notes smaller than €20), it asks if you want to withdraw from current account, savings account or credit card. Who knows which option I’m meant to choose. The card is a preloaded credit card, but selecting any of those options fails to give me money, and just results in an unhelpful message which doesn’t tell me what the problem is and my card being ejected. It won’t give me a balance either, in case I wanted to use it like a credit card without embarrassing myself. It looks like I may be destined to lose however much is left on it. Rubbish. Cash = much better.

Reus is a nice town, which feels tiny in some parts, and enormous in others. Some streets could be a village, while some a city. Tiny European streets in the centre, but then a dual carriageway round the corner.

There’s some nice arty pieces. There was some things (shapes, letters) made out of wool. And a ceiling of umbrellas down one alleyway.

There are interesting sculptures like this child playing boules (or whatever the Spanish equivalent is) behind this man.

It’s also the birthplace of Gaudi, but I’ll be honest – the “house he was born in” is incredibly dull.

It has a sign saying it’s his birthplace, and a note that it’s a private residence and can’t be visited. But what a boring looking building! The other houses in the street have at least got some colourful blinds to jazz them up a bit.

Before we left, we were wandering down a road and happened upon an organic health food shop and cafe.

My girlfriend was excited as she perused aisle after aisle of beautifully-arranged vegetarian and vegan food. She bought some vegetarian burgers for her dinner.

We returned to Salou, and that’s it really. We leave tomorrow. We didn’t get around to swimming in the sea. And we didn’t use the swimming pool at our hotel once, as it was either cold, dark by the time we got back from trips, or full of French people.

I’ve slept badly all week, partly due to the hardest bed in the world, and partly the French people downstairs banging around, slamming doors, scraping chairs along the floor and chattering away til the early hours every night. They really did make A LOT of noise. And were also quite rude – several times I held the door for them on the way in/out, with not even a nod of thanks for my troubles. I am aware that this is not the way all French people are, don’t worry – I’ve met nice French people before.

Anyway, one quick walk along the beach…

..and goodbye Salou. It’s been nice. Back to rainy Bristol we come.