I had quite a filled weekend, I thought that I might have slept all day after getting back from Spain but instead I woke up about 9.30. I collected Joshua, took him to see my Mom and then we took a long walk through lots of different parks.
Saturday, Me and Joshua went to see Warwick castle - the jousting was very exciting. ;)
Later on Dan, Me, my Brother, Matt, Jon and Hugh went to a party in a big house. It was a little strange in that everybody in the house went inside their rooms and had there own mini parties. We didn't stay too late and ended up in a curry house where I managed to spill Chicken Korma all down my nice white shirt.
I did sleep all day sunday.
Sunday evening I took Joshua to see Cars, I thought some of the animation was eerily real, the story was so-so but Joshua enjoyed it. It was funny watching him try to not fall asleep on the bus on the way home.
Sunday, July 30, 2006
Thursday, July 27, 2006
Last Days
Returning to Barcelona was not nice, I had a monster hangover, every movement on the train would cause my stomach to turn some more. Somehow I wasn't sick. Dan and I had planned to spend a couple of days in Sitges but chose the lazy option of staying in Barca.
We spent the last couple of days wandering around museums. Miro is a big pile of poo. We saw some excellent Spanish Civil War photographs.
We just chilled.
The plane ride back was bumpy.
We spent the last couple of days wandering around museums. Miro is a big pile of poo. We saw some excellent Spanish Civil War photographs.
We just chilled.
The plane ride back was bumpy.
Monday, July 24, 2006
A Messy Beach Party
The day sort of went like this:
Hungover
Waterpark
Sangria
Pizza (Very nice if you are in Benicassim try their smoked salmon pizza)
Beer
Cava
Cava
Cava
Cava
Rum and Coke
Ramón, Marta and María
Whisky and Coke
Pint of Rum and Coke
Another Pint of Rum and Coke
Everything Spinning
Sick
Sick
Walking Home
More Sick
Lots More Sick
Awakening with nothing on but a very badly placed peice of tin foil to save my blushes
I think that was one of the messiest nights of my life.
I think that was one of the messiest nights of my life.
Sunday, July 23, 2006
A Proper Festival
Joe said that this day was the first he had felt he was at a festival. It was the best day. Again we didn't get to the site till pretty late. And the first act we saw were Coldcut who were very very good, they played loads of different styles of music and finished on "Paid in Full", Joe said that he liked dance music again.
We then caught the end of Depeche Mode, they played a terrible terrible ballad and sang happy birthday to one of the band members, that was truly awful. I thought it funny that they had funny camera work on the video screens so not to reveal their faces, they had probably seen New Order the previous weekend.
Placebo played after Depeche Mode, I thought they were quite good, they sang a fair few songs about doomed relationships, just my cup of tea. Dan said they were boring, depressing and all the songs sound the same and he took himself off to watch some ethnic xylophone player or something. Joe slept.
Deus came on and were very good, I had forgotten how many good songs they had. They even sounded good when they sang like Bruce Springstein. Dan liked them too. Joe slept some more.
Joe went back to the tent tired. I lost Dan. I bumped into Liam who we had met at Summercase (I bumped into him everynight) and we chatted about music till the sun had been up a long while.
I got in my tent about nine in the morning. Dan came back a bit later looking like the cat who had got the cream, I don't know what he had been up to, I didn't ask. He went off to find his spot on the beach.
We then caught the end of Depeche Mode, they played a terrible terrible ballad and sang happy birthday to one of the band members, that was truly awful. I thought it funny that they had funny camera work on the video screens so not to reveal their faces, they had probably seen New Order the previous weekend.
Placebo played after Depeche Mode, I thought they were quite good, they sang a fair few songs about doomed relationships, just my cup of tea. Dan said they were boring, depressing and all the songs sound the same and he took himself off to watch some ethnic xylophone player or something. Joe slept.
Deus came on and were very good, I had forgotten how many good songs they had. They even sounded good when they sang like Bruce Springstein. Dan liked them too. Joe slept some more.
Joe went back to the tent tired. I lost Dan. I bumped into Liam who we had met at Summercase (I bumped into him everynight) and we chatted about music till the sun had been up a long while.
I got in my tent about nine in the morning. Dan came back a bit later looking like the cat who had got the cream, I don't know what he had been up to, I didn't ask. He went off to find his spot on the beach.
Saturday, July 22, 2006
Loved Up
A great day, waking up feeling refreshed after actually having some sleep, I headed to the beach where Dan had decided he would sleep for the rest of the holiday. I caught up with Sophie and her friends and we went for some lovely lovely tapas. I ate snails, a bit earthy and lots and lot and lots of seafood.
We drank lots and lots and lots and lots of cava instead of going to see Morrisey.
Got to the festival site really late in time to catch the end of Mojave 3 I was disappointed that Rachel Goswell wasn't there.
Then off to watch 2ManyDj's/Soulwax, Joe didn't want to watch them and went off to smile at people on the grassy area.
Alex Smoke was really cool, he played the sort of floaty pretty music that I like and built up and built up and built up and the next thing the sun had risen and it was time to go home.
We drank lots and lots and lots and lots of cava instead of going to see Morrisey.
Got to the festival site really late in time to catch the end of Mojave 3 I was disappointed that Rachel Goswell wasn't there.
Then off to watch 2ManyDj's/Soulwax, Joe didn't want to watch them and went off to smile at people on the grassy area.
Alex Smoke was really cool, he played the sort of floaty pretty music that I like and built up and built up and built up and the next thing the sun had risen and it was time to go home.
Friday, July 21, 2006
No Sauce
This year FIB was much much busier than previous years. I think that they probably sold a few too many tickets. Joe and Dan had been really looking forward to seeing the Pixies but the area in front of the main stage was overcrowded which meant that the band had to go off for half an hour while the security asked people to move back. The rest of the set was a bit subdued, Joe was captivated and was bopping along but I really was non-plussed about any of it.
I wasn't in the mood for guitar bands after the lacklustre performance of the Pixies so left Dan and Joe to watch the Strokes and waited for Tiga to come on in the dance tent. I guess that boys like the Strokes and girls like Tiga because the dance tent was full of pretty ladies. After the Strokes had finished it filled up with sweaty blokes with their shirts off, all the girls left and so did I.
I couldn't find anyone and got a little bored wandering around and decided with three more days of partying to go I would have an early(ish) night and was in bed by three.
I wasn't in the mood for guitar bands after the lacklustre performance of the Pixies so left Dan and Joe to watch the Strokes and waited for Tiga to come on in the dance tent. I guess that boys like the Strokes and girls like Tiga because the dance tent was full of pretty ladies. After the Strokes had finished it filled up with sweaty blokes with their shirts off, all the girls left and so did I.
I couldn't find anyone and got a little bored wandering around and decided with three more days of partying to go I would have an early(ish) night and was in bed by three.
Thursday, July 20, 2006
Erol Alkan
I woke up with the worst hangover, the only way I could stop myself from fainting was to talk to the bloke next to me in the shower queue. After showering and eating the hangover subsided. We spent the day on the beach...well...Dan did, Joe and I spent the day in various different cafes near the beach.
After freshening up and drinking more cava we headed towards the festival site for the first time. There wasn't a great deal going on when we first got there and Dan hadn't eaten so we grabbed a falafel from one of the food stands. Whilst in the queue a girl called Lisa came up to me and said that I don't much look like vegetarian, I was deeply offended. ;)
We met up with Sophie and her friends and after introductions and a few beers and a dance in one of the tents we trundled towards the main stage to see the Scissor Sisters.
Sophie wanted to sit on Joe's shoulders but he said she was being ridiculous. She ended up on mine. Sophie isn't heavy and I probably could have kept her up there for the entire set, she is however quite hyperactive and was jumping up and down rather too much for my balance and I nearly dropped her at least twice.
Compared to Sonar the Scissor Sisters were a bit naff.
Erol Alkan came on about five in the morning, I popped to the loo and when I returned everybody had moved (it's quite possible that they stayed in the same place I was was too inebriated to find them but I don't think that is the case). I wandered down towards the front and chatted away to about a thousand different people, strangely none of them Spanish. There was a lot of arm waving going on but when he played "Bullet in the Head" by Rage Against the Machine nobody really knew whether they should start moshing or not, eventually people did, he ended the set on his mix of "Boy From School" by Hot Chip to a massive round of applause. He asked if he could play one more tune but the powers that be said no, this got a massive boo.
We got home just in time for the sun to be rising and for it to be too hot to sleep.
After freshening up and drinking more cava we headed towards the festival site for the first time. There wasn't a great deal going on when we first got there and Dan hadn't eaten so we grabbed a falafel from one of the food stands. Whilst in the queue a girl called Lisa came up to me and said that I don't much look like vegetarian, I was deeply offended. ;)
We met up with Sophie and her friends and after introductions and a few beers and a dance in one of the tents we trundled towards the main stage to see the Scissor Sisters.
Sophie wanted to sit on Joe's shoulders but he said she was being ridiculous. She ended up on mine. Sophie isn't heavy and I probably could have kept her up there for the entire set, she is however quite hyperactive and was jumping up and down rather too much for my balance and I nearly dropped her at least twice.
Compared to Sonar the Scissor Sisters were a bit naff.
Erol Alkan came on about five in the morning, I popped to the loo and when I returned everybody had moved (it's quite possible that they stayed in the same place I was was too inebriated to find them but I don't think that is the case). I wandered down towards the front and chatted away to about a thousand different people, strangely none of them Spanish. There was a lot of arm waving going on but when he played "Bullet in the Head" by Rage Against the Machine nobody really knew whether they should start moshing or not, eventually people did, he ended the set on his mix of "Boy From School" by Hot Chip to a massive round of applause. He asked if he could play one more tune but the powers that be said no, this got a massive boo.
We got home just in time for the sun to be rising and for it to be too hot to sleep.
Wednesday, July 19, 2006
Ballet
I really liked the ballet at Benicassim, I was captivated by it.
Joe and Dan thought I was just pissed, they didn't like it at all. Joe's favourite bit was when some drunk started shouting at the stage only to be rugby tackled.
I did get really pissed later on, something of a tradition for me on the pre-Benicassim Wednesday, I thought that I was going to be sick. I seemed to sober up quite quickly after a quick dip in a rather rough sea.
The three of us headed back to the campsite and wandered around talking to randoms.
I got accused by some nutty woman of stealing her lamp?? I still haven't got a clue what she was going on about??
Joe and Dan thought I was just pissed, they didn't like it at all. Joe's favourite bit was when some drunk started shouting at the stage only to be rugby tackled.
I did get really pissed later on, something of a tradition for me on the pre-Benicassim Wednesday, I thought that I was going to be sick. I seemed to sober up quite quickly after a quick dip in a rather rough sea.
The three of us headed back to the campsite and wandered around talking to randoms.
I got accused by some nutty woman of stealing her lamp?? I still haven't got a clue what she was going on about??
Tuesday, July 18, 2006
Grumpy Tuesdays
I hate tuesdays even when I am on holiday. Dan and Joe went to the beach but I couldn't be bothered, I had pains in my chest and thought I was going to have a heart attack so took myself of to bed before midnight.
Saturday, July 15, 2006
Summercase Saturday
I think this was a first truly lazy day we got up about two, Joe and I decided to sit in a cafe next the Santa Maria del Mar and watch people go by. Dan stayed in the hotel room for some extra sleep.
Later we ate and drank more cava, Dan was on a mission to see the Dandy Warhols but as everybody knows eight in the evening is far too early to watch a band so he failed. Joe said he needed more sleep and wouldn't be joining us till New Order were on.
On the tube to the festival we bumped into two lads that I had been speaking to on the previous night, Liam and Sam. They told us that they had been living on McDonalds great offer of three cheeseburgers for three euros, nice.
Having missed the Dandy's Dan and I wandered around watching random stuff some of it OK most of it not so. Joe turned up just in time to see the Happy Monday's start, I must admit I was pleasantly suprised at how good they were. Half way through their set New Order started and almost everybody left to go to the other stage. New Order were terrible, the looked so old it was embarrasing, like watching your dad at karaoke, they absolutely murdered "Love Will Tear Us Apart", Dan and I went back to see the end of the Mondays. Joe thinks that New Order were the best thing since sliced bread, he is wrong.
Primal Scream always disappoint me, I have never enjoyed watching them.
The Chemical Brothers did a DJ set which had most of the audience swinging there horrible sweaty t-shirts around there heads including Dan and I. Joe decided that he doesn't like dance music.
Dan and Joe left and I carried on dancing for at least another two hours before the music stopped. I lay on the floor watching people leave, I was hoping that the sun would rise over the festival site like it had at Sonar but it didn't quite make it. A crusty girl came up to ask if I was OK, I told her that I was just tired and she replied "Me tambien" and walked off with a smile.
I have never seen so many loved up people in a confined space as I did on the tube ride home, a million people all with pupils the size of ten pence peices.
Got back to the flat and slept and slept and slept.
Later we ate and drank more cava, Dan was on a mission to see the Dandy Warhols but as everybody knows eight in the evening is far too early to watch a band so he failed. Joe said he needed more sleep and wouldn't be joining us till New Order were on.
On the tube to the festival we bumped into two lads that I had been speaking to on the previous night, Liam and Sam. They told us that they had been living on McDonalds great offer of three cheeseburgers for three euros, nice.
Having missed the Dandy's Dan and I wandered around watching random stuff some of it OK most of it not so. Joe turned up just in time to see the Happy Monday's start, I must admit I was pleasantly suprised at how good they were. Half way through their set New Order started and almost everybody left to go to the other stage. New Order were terrible, the looked so old it was embarrasing, like watching your dad at karaoke, they absolutely murdered "Love Will Tear Us Apart", Dan and I went back to see the end of the Mondays. Joe thinks that New Order were the best thing since sliced bread, he is wrong.
Primal Scream always disappoint me, I have never enjoyed watching them.
The Chemical Brothers did a DJ set which had most of the audience swinging there horrible sweaty t-shirts around there heads including Dan and I. Joe decided that he doesn't like dance music.
Dan and Joe left and I carried on dancing for at least another two hours before the music stopped. I lay on the floor watching people leave, I was hoping that the sun would rise over the festival site like it had at Sonar but it didn't quite make it. A crusty girl came up to ask if I was OK, I told her that I was just tired and she replied "Me tambien" and walked off with a smile.
I have never seen so many loved up people in a confined space as I did on the tube ride home, a million people all with pupils the size of ten pence peices.
Got back to the flat and slept and slept and slept.
Friday, July 14, 2006
Summercase Friday (Updated)
A fairly lazy day, we moved from the pension to a very nice air-conditioned flat in the Born. We spent three or four hours sat in the same cafe in the Placa de George Orwell. The staff obviously didn't want to serve Joe as he was starting to waste away with hunger by the time his pasta arrived.
After settling in the flat, Dan and I went to the forum site to collect our tickets and left Joe to have a sleep. Dan decided to walk back along the beach, I intended to go shopping but opted for a little snooze instead and I am fully glad that I did because I felt so much better. Later on in the evening I think Dan was regretting not doing the same.
Using our new kitchen we cooked and sat around the table and drank cava until we had missed at least three or four bands that we wanted to see getting to the festival site just in time to miss the end of the Cardigans.
The have a strange system at spanish festivals for getting beer, first you queue up to buy tickets and then you have to queue up again to get your alcohol. Which is fine at Benicassim because the big beers you get last for ages but at summercase you only get small beers (pints) and you have to buy more of them more regularly. The other silly thing about this system is that you could only buy tickets valid for the one day...I cant remember exactly how many we bought but the girl at the till gave us the strangest look as if to say "you are really going to drink nine hundred pints??"
The first band we saw proper were the Super Furry Animals, the were a bit Pink Floyd at times, Dan and Joe said that they were better at the Summer Sundae a few years back. I managed to convince a real welshman that I was welsh by shouting some daft comments in my best valley's accent.
Next up were Sigur Ros, I thought they were a bit too shoegazery for my liking but pleasant enough. After another trip to the bar Dan and Joe went back to watch more of The Ros but I decided to wait and see Daft Punk
Daft Punk were amazing they had a fifty foot high pyramid and sat in a little booth in the top dressed in their robot gear, lazers shot out of the pyramid and there was an enormous light wall behind them.
During the show a tall blonde Catalan girl nudged me in the side and handed me a cigarette, (amazingly) for once my spanish actually worked and we chatted for about half an hour, she asked me where I was from to which I replied "Inglaterra" and she looked at me and said "Eres ingles, ¡Huh!" and walked off. Oh well. I did get an ego boost from the fact that such an attractive lady decided to come and talk to me even if she was a racist.
Meeting back up with Handsome Dan and Romeyjoe we decided to catch James Murphy of the LCD Soundsystem but he was a bit dull so Fatboy Slim was our next choice and he was quite fun although he did play the "check it out now" sample a bazillion times.
We ended the night dancing in an indie disco which was great fun, a short spanish girl liked my Primal Scream T-Shirt so much that she was wanted to swap clothes with me, I think I might have looked a little silly in a skimpy yellow vest so I declined the offer
We walked home along the beach as the sun was rising which was very nice we sat next to a couple who looked very very content, I was jealous and happy for them at the same time. I started to overheat and had to make regular stops, in hindsight I should have gone in the sea to cool down. The walk home was very very lovely it's a shame that there's no beach between my house and whatever nightclub I am in, I want to move by the sea.
After settling in the flat, Dan and I went to the forum site to collect our tickets and left Joe to have a sleep. Dan decided to walk back along the beach, I intended to go shopping but opted for a little snooze instead and I am fully glad that I did because I felt so much better. Later on in the evening I think Dan was regretting not doing the same.
Using our new kitchen we cooked and sat around the table and drank cava until we had missed at least three or four bands that we wanted to see getting to the festival site just in time to miss the end of the Cardigans.
The have a strange system at spanish festivals for getting beer, first you queue up to buy tickets and then you have to queue up again to get your alcohol. Which is fine at Benicassim because the big beers you get last for ages but at summercase you only get small beers (pints) and you have to buy more of them more regularly. The other silly thing about this system is that you could only buy tickets valid for the one day...I cant remember exactly how many we bought but the girl at the till gave us the strangest look as if to say "you are really going to drink nine hundred pints??"
The first band we saw proper were the Super Furry Animals, the were a bit Pink Floyd at times, Dan and Joe said that they were better at the Summer Sundae a few years back. I managed to convince a real welshman that I was welsh by shouting some daft comments in my best valley's accent.
Next up were Sigur Ros, I thought they were a bit too shoegazery for my liking but pleasant enough. After another trip to the bar Dan and Joe went back to watch more of The Ros but I decided to wait and see Daft Punk
Daft Punk were amazing they had a fifty foot high pyramid and sat in a little booth in the top dressed in their robot gear, lazers shot out of the pyramid and there was an enormous light wall behind them.
During the show a tall blonde Catalan girl nudged me in the side and handed me a cigarette, (amazingly) for once my spanish actually worked and we chatted for about half an hour, she asked me where I was from to which I replied "Inglaterra" and she looked at me and said "Eres ingles, ¡Huh!" and walked off. Oh well. I did get an ego boost from the fact that such an attractive lady decided to come and talk to me even if she was a racist.
Meeting back up with Handsome Dan and Romeyjoe we decided to catch James Murphy of the LCD Soundsystem but he was a bit dull so Fatboy Slim was our next choice and he was quite fun although he did play the "check it out now" sample a bazillion times.
We ended the night dancing in an indie disco which was great fun, a short spanish girl liked my Primal Scream T-Shirt so much that she was wanted to swap clothes with me, I think I might have looked a little silly in a skimpy yellow vest so I declined the offer
We walked home along the beach as the sun was rising which was very nice we sat next to a couple who looked very very content, I was jealous and happy for them at the same time. I started to overheat and had to make regular stops, in hindsight I should have gone in the sea to cool down. The walk home was very very lovely it's a shame that there's no beach between my house and whatever nightclub I am in, I want to move by the sea.
Thursday, July 13, 2006
Port Olympic
Thursday night was Port Olympic night...I don't know what to say really, we spent the evening sitting on the beach drinking beer and watching people go by and this was very enjoyable.
I think we must have run out of beer.
Because we ended up in hell.
Don't believe what the guidebooks say about the Port Olympic, it is much much much worse.
We saw a whole team of David Brent's dancing to Walking on Sunshine in one bar and then another in the next bar. I think the DJ's must have only had two records which they were swapping between different bars. I must have heard Gasolina at least twenty times.
The most unfathonable thing is why we stayed there for as long as we did???
I think we must have run out of beer.
Because we ended up in hell.
Don't believe what the guidebooks say about the Port Olympic, it is much much much worse.
We saw a whole team of David Brent's dancing to Walking on Sunshine in one bar and then another in the next bar. I think the DJ's must have only had two records which they were swapping between different bars. I must have heard Gasolina at least twenty times.
The most unfathonable thing is why we stayed there for as long as we did???
Pre-Summercase
Man this was a long long long time ago...Our first night in Barcelona was a fairly subdued affair, we found our hostel (on checking in I was a bit like a bull in a china shop, literally, bashing everything about with my huge rucksack), we grabbed a bite to eat, had a beer in the Placa Reial and returned to our hostel where Dan talked at length about how he wanted to have a sandwich or something.
We woke up bright and early and went to our accomodation that I had found on gomio.com, unfortunately it wasn't booked apparently either because the flat people dont use that website any longer or maybe simply because they had double booked. It was no real drama as they phoned around different hostels and guest houses to find something for us. We got a huge room in a traditional Pension in the centre of the Barri Gotic with three single beds, a pull out bed and a double bed which was more than adequate for three people. And saved a hundred euros too.
After settling into the room Dan got his culture fix by visiting the Picasso museum and looking at pictures of people with three breasts and nine legs.
We had arranged to meet Joe in the Cafe Zurich on the Placa de Catalunya, naturally he was late however we drank lots of beer and the night was livened up firstly by somebody trying to steal my bag (who got attacked by waiters with batons) and then by a killer cockroach running up my trouser leg.
Joe arrived and somebody tried to steal his rucksack only to be chased off by Nigerian drug dealers.
Wednesday night was breakbeat night at the Sidecar bar which was quite enjoyable and we all got a little bit inebriated.
Next day, I got up bright and early to find some breakfast, Dan and Joe are alergic to light. We found ourselves a nice air-conditioned flat to stay in for the remainder of the time in Barcelona and then headed towards the Familia Sagrada for another of Dan's culture fixes. The only thing being that I ended up sitting in a cafe outside drinking beer and eating octopus instead.
We woke up bright and early and went to our accomodation that I had found on gomio.com, unfortunately it wasn't booked apparently either because the flat people dont use that website any longer or maybe simply because they had double booked. It was no real drama as they phoned around different hostels and guest houses to find something for us. We got a huge room in a traditional Pension in the centre of the Barri Gotic with three single beds, a pull out bed and a double bed which was more than adequate for three people. And saved a hundred euros too.
After settling into the room Dan got his culture fix by visiting the Picasso museum and looking at pictures of people with three breasts and nine legs.
We had arranged to meet Joe in the Cafe Zurich on the Placa de Catalunya, naturally he was late however we drank lots of beer and the night was livened up firstly by somebody trying to steal my bag (who got attacked by waiters with batons) and then by a killer cockroach running up my trouser leg.
Joe arrived and somebody tried to steal his rucksack only to be chased off by Nigerian drug dealers.
Wednesday night was breakbeat night at the Sidecar bar which was quite enjoyable and we all got a little bit inebriated.
Next day, I got up bright and early to find some breakfast, Dan and Joe are alergic to light. We found ourselves a nice air-conditioned flat to stay in for the remainder of the time in Barcelona and then headed towards the Familia Sagrada for another of Dan's culture fixes. The only thing being that I ended up sitting in a cafe outside drinking beer and eating octopus instead.
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