will i am's delayed diary

Just a couple of nights in Barcelona and we left for France in the morning. Switched buses and bus drivers which was for the worse. The previous Frota Azul bus had WiFi, while the replacement didn't. The previous driver was friendlier and more fluent in English while the new guy just gave a few grunts. Worse of all was that he had a jerky style of driving. Oh my. During our comfort stop, bought some cold cuts and sausages from the supermarket connected to the petrol station. Seemed like 60% of their products were alcohol! Perpignan is a quaint, little city at the South of France some 190 KM away. A beautiful river lined with flowers flows through the city and there's a section behind old city walls. We were a little too early so there was time to explore. Admired the beautiful Cathedral of St. John the Baptist before heading to lunch at Grand Cafe de La Bourse . Europeans were enjoying al fresco dining but our group asked for the shade. The waiters were at a l...

Breakfast at Tryp Apolo was not disappointing with a wide range of cold cuts, breads and cheeses. Met our local guide Gonzalos at the lobby. He was a funny and chatty fellow who had a decent Malay vocabulary. He took us on a walking tour of the old city walls, Columbus Monument, Maritime Museum and Ramblas de Mar, retracing our steps the night before. From the confines of the bus, we also spied Las Arenas, an old bullfighting ring turned shopping mall. Bullfights were banned in 2011, effectively ending 600 years of history. The Black Madonna of Montserrat ( patron saint of Catalonia ) was our first appointment of the day. Traveled 60 KM out to the mountains where we took the Aeri cable car up to the Benedictine monastery in the mountains. According to Gonzalos, the cable car was built by the Germans. He joked that the Spanish let the Germans work hard while the Spaniards had la siesta ( afternoon nap ). For some reason, the mountains of Montserrat has a peculiar shap...

Sunday was another long day of traveling. Left Madrid early to travel to Zaragoza, the capital of Aragon. As with the last long distance trip, our driver made the compulsory comfort stop and all of the aunties did group taichi in front of the cafe. All the ang mohs there were astonished. Continued our journey and passed by a lot of rapeseed fields and at one mountainous region, the whole area was covered with wind turbines. Before long, we arrived at Zaragoza. The bus stopped at Iglesia Parroquial de Santiago el Mayor, a beautiful church with a wooden sculpture of Jesus at the column and Our Lady of Sorrows. However, there was some mix up. Turns out that they had no chapel that we could use and the parish priest couldn't speak a word of English. He went around asking for a translator among the parishioners and luckily we found a lady who was willing to help. We were directed to a nearby church that is attached to a hospital, called Iglesia Del Hospital De Nost...