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(A) The weather: it was fabulous. We left the UK with temperatures struggling to reach double figures (Celsius\/centigrade, of course) and arrived in Barcelona where the sun was shining, the sky was bright, bright blue and the temperature was in the high 70s to 80 (24 to 26 C). Lovely!<\/p>\n
(B) La Rambla<\/a> and la Mercat de la Boqueria<\/a>, the incredible food market about half way down La Rambla with its mountains of chocolate and strawberries the size of grapefruit. Hordes of teenaged school children, mainly French, racing around like packs of dingoes, their poor, bedraggled teachers wondering what on earth possessed them to volunteer to supervise a gang of wild animals in a foreign country.<\/p>\n (D) Wandering around El Barri G\u00f2tic<\/a> with its narrow alleys opening on to grand plazas such as the Pla\u00e7a Reial<\/a><\/p>\n (E) Tapas at Irati<\/a> just off La Rambla. A long, narrow counter laden with trays of tapas from which one helps oneself to be washed down, in our case, with a couple of glasses of Vino Tinto. When you\u2019ve had enough the waitress counts the number of toothpicks on your plate and you pay accordingly.<\/p>\n (F) The Wilson Boutique Hotel<\/a> which is where Nick and Lucy stayed on their visit to Barcelona a few years ago and which was excellent. The room was very comfortable, the location was good \u2013 just a short stroll from the Diagonal metro station \u2013 and the staff were very friendly and helpful. Absolutely first class.<\/p>\n We had a great time last weekend \u2013 on Saturday we went across to Nick, Lucy and Annabelle\u2019s to (a) thank them for a wonderful break and (b) take them out to lunch at Wagamama\u2019s in Leamington<\/a>. While we were eating, Annabelle was busily scoffing whatever she could grab and I was reminded of a dinner many years ago when we were visiting Miles\u2019 beach house and we all went out to a Chinese restaurant nearby. Sallie & Rod came up with, I think, some of the Rinderkinders and Susie, Emily and David were also amongst the several guests. When we arrived at the restaurant, I quickly grabbed the opportunity of sitting between David and Emily, imagining, for some reason, that they would not be overly keen on all the things I love, especially the various variety of prawn dishes. Imagine my dismay when, at the arrival of the first prawn-related dish, both David and Emily pronounced in loud and enthusiastic voices how much they loved prawns. I can see I am going to have the same problem with Annabelle.<\/p>\n [portfolio_slideshow id=4687]<\/p>\n And, just so that you don’t feel you’ve missed out on any of Greg’s Rants, a couple of links and snippets which caught my eye this week.<\/p>\n How democracy works<\/a> – All but three of the 45 senators who torpedoed gun control measures in Congress have received money from firearms lobbyists.<\/p>\n How journalism works<\/a> \u2013 the Daily Mail was \u201cfurious\u201d at the BBC\u2019s allegedly \u201cbiased\u201d coverage of Mrs Thatcher\u2019s funeral and backed their hypothesis with a genuine and accurate statistic:<\/p>\n So far, the corporation has received 766 complaints over its coverage of Lady Thatcher\u2019s death<\/p><\/blockquote>\n and they left it at that. What they neglected to point out was that 227 complainants felt the coverage was too anti-Thatcher (as they were claiming), 268 complaints were about the BBC\u2019s alleged pro-Thatcher<\/strong> bias and 271 just thought they were broadcasting too much about her altogether. Never let the facts get in the way of a good story.<\/p>\n Gove and the Education Department have overspent on their Academy programme by \u00a31bn<\/a>, (yes, that is \u00a31 billion<\/strong>) according to the Commons Public Accounts Committee, money which has been diverted from funding which was supposed to have been used to help struggling schools.<\/p>\n If Gove wants to know what education could be like rather than pursuing his 1930s ideology, he should perhaps have a glance at an article describing a new Lego school in Denmark<\/a>.<\/p>\n In the UK you’re taught how to pass exams. In Scandinavia you’re taught how to think.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n![\"La](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.stragnell.com\/befoulednews\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/Sagrada_Familia_01.jpg?resize=350%2C235\")
<\/a>(C) La Sagrada Familia<\/a>, Gaudi\u2019s wacky basilica, was absolutely wonderful. Unbelievable, but wonderful.<\/p>\n
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