One Night in Barca!


Roger Waters of Pink Floyd fame was touring around the world and stopping off in Barcelona as part of his “Us and Them” tour. Katie's brother James and his girlfriend Emily were coming to Valencia for a little weekend away and these two events coincided, resulting in something magical.

We planned to go to Barcelona for the night and watch the gig before heading back the next day. It would be a flying visit to this city, which Katie and I have yet to explore together, but we were determined to make the most of it.

The journey up the coast is a long one, especially if you don’t want to pay for the toll roads (roughly €40), and it took around five hours in total. This included a stop off at the recently blogged about Peñíscola to show James and Emily one of our new favourite places.

After spending sometime enjoying this beautiful town, we carried on up the coast to the Catalonian capital. We didn’t have long in the city and the lads were spending the evening at the gig, while the girls were drinking wine and eating tapas.

Em and I went with the boys to an area near the gig venue, called Poble Sec. I’d read that this was a good part of the city to spend an evening, with lots of small bars offering up cheap wine and even cheaper little bites to eat called pintxos (pronounced pin-chos). I’ll talk more about pintxos when I write about our recent trip up north to Bilbao and Asturias, but in short, pintxos are small bites of food served on a slice of baguette, secured with a toothpick. They can cost anywhere from €1.50 to €2.50 each and make a great accompaniment to a nice glass of wine or vermut.

Anyway, Em and I got dressed up and had a great night, slowly working our way through the various bars in the area, before the boys came to join us for a bottle of prosecco and a rather posh cocktail after their gig. I had a wonderful evening with Emily and I hope we can replicate it in Valencia when they come back in November.

After a pretty decent burger for dinner, James and I made our way to the gig. It was at the Palau Sant Jordi, built for the 1992 Olympics, in what is now quite a serene and pretty area. It was the perfect venue for the gig and we had great seats; back row on the highest tier, close to the stage. This isn't sarcasm, they really were great seats. But I imagine every seat was that night, as the gig was a spectacle like no other.


Roger Waters knows how to put on a show with lights, balloons, and mechanical contraptions, making it an incredible visual display. And then there's the music. The classic Pink Floyd tunes were unbelievable live. It was the second time I have seen him and it was no less enchanting this time. It's very difficult to put into words the sensations I felt during and after the gig. I was truly buzzing with excitement and glee, as was James. We both knew we had seen something extraordinary. Writing this now brings back a shadow of the sensation and even that is enough to put a wide smile on my face. I have to rate his show as one of the best events I have ever been to. The guy is a legend and his gigs are legendary for a reason.

James and I left the arena and we were like two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl…words fail me. Go see him if you can. I really wish other artists could put on a show like that…I really wish I could see him perform every week.

The next 12 hours were like a dream and involved driving back down the coast to Valencia. We stopped in a town called Cambrils for lunch, which was decent. It was a whirlwind visit to Barcelona and my mind felt like a delightful tornado had passed through it.

Until next time, adios!







Cambrils is quite a busy seaside town and was a good place to rest a bit before driving the final leg home.