There are plenty of reasons to holiday in the Catalan capital. Sangria. Tapas. Gaudi. Xocolate.

Our summer holiday was a re-do of last years washed out trip to Barcelona. Surely it couldn’t rain the entire time in August? Thankfully this time we only got an hour or so over the duration of the holiday.

X Marks the (Holiday) Spot

The traditionally neglected consonant is doing some heavy lifting in Catalan with xurros and xocolate on many a street corner. Barcelona is a cultural Mecca when it comes to food, art, and architecture. There is a lot to see and do in the confines of the city, making it an ideal place for a short break. While stag/hen parties and cruiseships may have damaged the reputation of tourists, it is not a relationship that can be easily disentangled. Much of the fabric of the city is built around tourism, the apparent proliferation of “supermercat” corner shops being one symptom (the word “super” appears to be used ironically in this context as they are mostly depressing in appearance and exist to charge well-heeled tourists exorbitant prices. Or should that be xorbitant?).

Barcelona remains a must-see destination in Europe with the stunning Basilica de la Sagrada Familia and Casa Batlló on display alongside many other Gaudi-designed masterpieces showcasing the pinnacle of Catalan Modernisme. There is something of a surreal quality to the work of Gaudi that often reminds me of Salvador Dalí.

While we hold tapas up as something of a specific meal experience, the reality is almost every bar will serve you small plates including patatas bravas (roast potatoes with a spicy sauce), padron peppers (mostly mild peppers served with a sprinkling of salt), and jamon (ham). These pair nicely with sangria, the Spanish wine-based cocktail/punch made with wine, juice, brandy, fruit, and sugar. The red wine and cava versions are ubiquitous in Barcelona. And when it’s 35 degrees outside and you don’t feel like eating much, having a few small plates and a glass of sangria is perfect. There is also tinto de verano for those looking for a quick and refreshing drink, made of equal parts red wine and lemonade (the Sprite/7-up/R. White’s variety).

Unhinged

The name says it all. We stumbled across this Netflix game recently and it’s an easy one to recommend for horror fans. You play an apartment dweller trying to escape during a hurricane which leads to a blackout. Everything is not quite as it seems though as you try to check on your neighbours and make your way to safety. It’s a simple setup and a short game overall with about 30 minutes of run time, and if I say any more it will spoil the scant story.

The design is quite innovative as your phone acts as the controller in a mouse-like fashion while you point-and-click around the apartment building. It can take a little bit of getting used to when precision targeting, and it’s essential to recentre the pointer if you pass to a different person. There are a number of time sensitive prompts so if your pointer is not set up well you will suffer.

You also use your phone to receive calls and texts which does up the immersive aspect. It reminds me of the use of the PS5 controller to play audio in some games.

If you’re a horror fan I’d recommend checking it out. It was genuinely creepy at times although there was scope for it to be a longer game with some more player choice; Unhinged is fairly on the rails and there’s usually just the one “right” choice.

Total Eclipse of the…Sun?

I didn’t have the heart to finish the song lyric. On Wednesday 12th August 2026, Plymouth experienced a 95% partial solar eclipse. I didn’t manage to see the total eclipse of 1999 or the partial eclipse of 2015 (blame clouds in Northern Ireland I guess), but this time we weren’t going to miss it. We went with Celestron eclipse glasses in hand and staked out a table at Royal William Yard.

It is one of those events that, although technically can be described, experiencing it is a different kettle of fish. We have so few shared national events so having a chance to sit out and observe this celestial phenomenon with a group of people was quite exciting. It also dovetailed with the British Firework Championships (also held in Plymouth) as if the organisers had been on the line to God in advance.

While we had the glasses and a cheap camera filter, I didn’t go all out and plan for proper photography of the event. I had my Panasonic compact camera and despite being handheld I managed to get a few passable shots. I haven’t done much processing on them as we have been busy travelling and with life in general, but I stuck them into a GIF generator which you can see below.

As we hit 7.15 pm there was an eerie twilight and only a thin sliver of sun was visible. I didn’t expect it to get as dark as I did as we were not experiencing true totality, but given the months of bright sunny days it felt quite incongruous.