TRAVELABROOD

BARCELONA SPAIN October 2012 What an awesome city!  It was the first time any of the family had been to Barcelona and we can't wait to go back. We stayed at the Majestic Hotel in one of the four bedroom apartments. They are located looking over the Passeig de Gracia to the main hotel with the Sagrada Familia in the background. On the balcony you can see the tourists visiting Gaudi's Casa Mila.  The buzz of the street below, the smell of delicious food and the vibe the city projects is electric.   Hotel Majestic & Casa Mila from our balcony Whenever we travel I make sure that I have all bases covered. We hate it when time is wasted planning the day or just wandering around and not really achieving anything. Therefore, I spend a lot of time looking up websites, speaking to people who have been and booking as much on line as possible.  I had heard that if you want to see Barcelona properly then get on one of the open-air buses that tour th...

LE CANAL DU MIDI FRANCE 29 September - 9 October 2012 Finally I've found the time to sit down and write about our trip down the Canal du Midi. This was our second canal trip. Our first trip was on the Canal du Nivernais, which was just amazing, however as picturesque as it was there really weren't a lot of villages "open for business" and we found that the markets which had been written up in the Waterways Guide were no longer operating. We did however, cruise through Chablis and imbibed on all the wonderful produce the area had to offer. This trip we had the same crew comprising of my husband, two children and my in-laws. We travel really well together and have found that boating is a great way of seeing a lot whilst only unpacking once! The Canal du Midi has various boat operators, however both times we rented boats through Le Boat and found them to be extremely comfortable and clean with knowledgable and helpful staff both at the ports and along the...