Sun, sea and music

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Our holiday started off with a bit of a bang, as we organised a braai (bbq) on the Friday night my leave started. Remember that we had to leave at 3am on Sunday morning, and I had a mountain of tasks to get through on the Saturday, so when we finally got to bed at 4am on Saturday morning, I was rather worried. The house needed to be cleaned and I had to get a rowing session in, both of which took up most of the day, leaving me the evening to pack and get all the other things done. I must admit that it was a VERY good Barbie and everybody had a great time. I did start to regret things though when I got to bed on Saturday at 12, seeing as I was again going to get a seriously limited night’s sleep. The actual trip to Spain was rather uneventful and the only thing worth mentioning was this, when we got off the plane at 8am, it was around 30C. It was gonna be a hot one.

Driving on the wrong side of the road was way easier than I ever thought, and I picked it up immediately. Our first stop was to visit our house mate Emily, as her and a bunch of mates from uni (Oxford) hired a villa in Lloret le Mar, about an hour north of Barcelona. We headed straight for their town but couldn’t get hold of them immediately, so we spent the day cruzing the coast, swimming in a flat, warm sea along with thousand’s of holiday makers. Towards the end of the day we finally hooked up with Emily and (to our dismay) crashed their 80’s party. Things got a little out of hand when drinking games induced the downing of Rose and at around 3am I sneaked off to fall asleep in the couch, only to wake up with a killer hangover and the knowledge that I had to drive another 6 hours that day.

We however started off very soon after waking up, heading for our ultimate destination, Benicassim. Not much to say about the drive, except that it felt long. We set up camp quickly realising that 90% of the camp was British (turned out to be a blessing in disguise). Took it easy the first night and just chilled by the camp site.

Headed into the mountains the next day to have a look at some old ruins and also get away from what was fast becoming the madness of the campsite and the town (to try and understand how crazy it was, imagine 30 000 campers heading to somewhere similar to Gordon’s bay). Also spent some time on the beach getting the feel for life by the Spanish Coast (multitudes of Siestas! In my humble opinion this is the way forward).

Managed to get to Valencia for a day, which was a city I really enjoyed. Brilliant transport, nice beaches, awesome architecture. I’d recommend it if you’re in the area. Also headed out to some smaller villages away from the coast another day, which really gave us an insight into the Spanish way of life. Attempted some photography but there’s no way the pictures translates the air of calmness we encountered within the villages.

After one of our outings we returned to find we had new neighbours, Jacob and Jess from Nottingham. Lovely couple and we spent a lot of time with them, both at the festival and the campsite, and we also manage to get away for a day to a restaurant in the mountains which apparently specialises in Paella. We never had the privilege of trying some as you had phone and book your meal in advance. (The irony is we managed to have some paella at a service station on our way to Bennicasim. Is it really that special and time consuming to prepare? ) We only managed to figure this out after tucking into our ‘complimentary’ rolls which we were charged for. So we decided to have a meal anyway, which was definitely not value for money. Still, great view.

The festival started off on Thursday, but there wasn’t much to see. Only the Scissor Sisters. Alison’s a big fan and they were fun, but nothing special at all. They were on at about 3am.

Friday night was the Pixies (they rocked. Much better than the gig I saw at V 2 years ago), the Strokes (never have and never will like them), and Echo and the Bunnymen (pretty old school with some classic tunes that I never new they were responsible for). Towards the end of the night we ended up in a weird tent that plays music only on headphones. Pretty odd to see people bouncing up and down when there really is NO music whatsoever. You could also choose between 2 dj’s, so there were 2 different beats going out. Very funny (see pics).

Saturday night I managed to catch Franz Ferdinand (very cool show – love their singles but still not sure about the actual albums), missed Morrisey (to my dismay), saw the Kooks (definitely ‘cooler’ than what they’re good – rather boring show), a little bit of 2 many dj’s (overrated but fun) and a couple of other dance/dj acts.

Sunday it was time for some classics (and I mean classics). The Editors did a great show, even though they were schedules to play in the late afternoon heat. Madness got a massive crowd very amped. Very cool. Depeche Mode put on one of the coolest visual/audio shows I’ve seen in a long time (but I maintain I’m not a fan – they just don’t have the spark I need in music). Herbert did a very interesting piece with some African band. Placebo was a bit bland I thought, but then again, perhaps I was a bit spoilt by this stage. Ended up going rather large that night with our neighbours (Jacob & Jess). Left the festival at about 7am Monday morning and headed straight for the beach.

Now that I look at the line up again there are so many other bands I would’ve liked to have seen! O well, perhaps next summer.

The festival closed off with a beach party that was way too crowded. Didn’t stay long, got up early the next day to head back to Reus (the Airport we landed at). Had some time to kill so we made a turn in Tarrogonna, which we found out is the city famous for human pyramids. Saw some more awesome architecture and ancient roman ruins here. I was very pleasantly surprised and would recommend it as a weekend city break. Managed to catch the flight at 11pm (after a delay – obviously, it’s Ryanair) and after having to put up with some drunk students on the plain and missing our bus stop on the way back from the airport in London, it was a blessing (albeit a bit strange after 10 days) to sleep surrounded by 4 solid walls and in absolute silence. Got back at 2:30 am and had to be up for a meeting in Oxford at 6am – starting and ending the holiday with a lack of sleep.

Some notes about the Spanish:

- Beautiful women

- I’ve never seen a nation of arrogant men treat the opposite sex so badly. Then again, I’ve never been to Italy.

- I haven’t seen such bad haircuts since 1983. Perhaps I’ve missed the mullet revolution and it’s on its way back (if so, beware, cause it’s coming back in a big way).

- I was under the impression that they spoke more English. I was wrong and subsequently we met very few Spanish people, which was disappointing.

- There were times when I was walking around thinking, how did these guys get first world status. If they can host the Olympics we can host the World Cup, no problem.

- If you’ve ever seen the fast show (late 90’s British skit comedy show), know that the way they portray the Spanish is 100% accurate. I’m not kidding.