{ unique shopping experiences }

What have been your most memorable shopping experiences? I bet it’s not the rabbit run of Ikea on a Saturday lunchtime. Thinking back, my most memorable have been either coming away with an incredible bargain or when what I was browsing has been unique, well made and well presented.

I had two real shopping highlights in Barcelona recently. First, I was wandering down an alley in the old part of town. There really weren’t many shops around at all in fact, I was really just enjoying the wandering.

Up ahead I noticed a small pot plant out the front of a door and a warm and inviting light emanating from within. Stepping inside I was blown away to find the most amazing softies store! It was just wonderful. What I loved was the creator had her desk in the corner of the store, so the shop was also her studio. I’m kicking myself for not taking down the name of the store or checking if she has an online presence as well.



On the same day I also stumbled across a fantastic jewellery store. You could tell that they were displaying the work of many designers but what made the store unique was that this shop keeper was also creating! At the back of the store I could see different types of equipment so this too was a studio as well as a shopfront. Some sort of jewellery makers collective I imagine – fantastic!

Had to make a purchase – this fabulous ring:


The bands of colour are a type of elastic which you mix and match to suit, I’m enjoying it immensely.

{ down to work }

After my couple of days wandering Barcelona, the reason for my being there came to pass. Saturday morning was our conference but really it's a morning of entertainment, there's little to no work to be done.

I've mentioned previously that in the lead up to Global there's lots of debate about who would be the guest speaker at the conference. We've had Lance Armstrong and Bob Geldoff in recent years but it is really all guess work beforehand as it's all kept top secret. During the festivities some flamenco dancers came out on stage and I was thinking, nice a bit of the local culture but from behind them appeared someone in a cape and jeans - weird! Well, it was actually the entrance for the Virgin Group head honcho Sir Richard Branson.


Small selection of the 1500 or so of us

He had a pretty responsive crowd with travel agents filling the room, but even so I was a little surprised to hear some notes of nervousness in his voice. It was an interesting chat but in that setting he's not the most charismatic orator (not that I would even get in front of a group of 100 let along 1500, I do keep it in perspective!).

The highlight for me was the emcee. In the past it's been staff that have done it but this year we got a professional, and what a professional - Lenny Henry. He was awesome! So funny and brilliant at keeping things moving and interesting.


Sorry about the poor photo, my little camera doesn't do indoors at a distance!

We finished up at the convention centre at about midday (told you it wasn't an exactly taxing conference!) and I headed into town with a group to hit Zara. There are so many outlets it's just insane. I came out of one store, walked past 3 shops and there was another Zara outlet! The specials in all shops were brilliant, none of this 30% or 40% we get here in Australia, most was at least 50% off with many shops 75% off. How can you say no to a $6, good quality, t-shirt?

We had a lunch of tapas, paella and sangria for lunch - yum!

Back for a nap and quick change before the formalities of the evening Ball. Lenny Henry hosted again which was a godsend because we needed something to lighten the 4 hours (yes 4 hours) of awards! It got pretty tedious, I have to admit.

Entertainment was another pre-Ball conversation point. Previously we've had Jet, Shaggy, Ronan Keating - very eclectic and some hits and some misses. A number of people had been scouring online for what bands were in or around Spain that week and there was some serious odds on the Kaiser Chiefs and Snow Patrol, either of which I would have been very happy with, so there was a general huh? when the stage was revealed. It took some working out before we discovered it was DJ's Groove Armada. Kind of went over my head, I'd heard of them but had to do some internet searching on my return to find out who they were - whoops. Sorry for the Groove Armada fans out there that are just embarrassed for me not knowing them!


Yes, we were sat behind South Africa!

{ walking the streets }

I spent my days in Barcelona wandering, it's a really great city to do this particularly in the old town. Often I did this on my own but I did do two walking tours which were wonderful. They went for 2 - 2 1/2 hours each which is the perfect time for a tour I think. Enough time to learn lots but not too long to get bored.

I just booked the tours through the Tourist Information Centre in town my first day. The company I went with are called 'Barcelona Walks' and they have 5 different walking tours. The two I did were:

"Gotic - Stroll through Barcelona's Gothic Quarter where past and present meet and discover the charm of its streets, squares, hidden corners and hundred-year-old buildings.

Gourmet - Enjoy a flavour-filled journey through the old town and discover Barcelona's gastronomic culture. During this walk you will find out about the history of Barcelona's cuisine as well as some of its flagship shops and food outlets, and sample some of their produce."


There's nothing quite like having days of unstructured time in a different city - no working, washing, cooking, cleaning to think about (let alone do), just days full of time to do whatever the mood strikes. One day I sat in a park in the sun watching the world go by for about 3 hours - wonderful!

{ barcelona bound }

Every year the company I work for holds it's 'Global Gathering'. It's a celebration and recognition of high achievers for the previous 12 months. They really go all out with a brilliant party somewhere in the world and this year it's Barcelona. I'm lucky enough to be attending as the representative of my team as we were the most improved shop in our area. I head off on Monday afternoon, spend Tuesday in London and then the rest of the week in Barcelona.


Each year there's lots of pre-talk and guesses as to who our guest speaker will be at the conference that's held during the day on the Saturday. Last year in Honolulu we had Lance Armstrong and in Dublin the year before it was Bob Geldof! The main money is on a European as there seems to be a pattern of having a local, possibly a Spaniard but who could it be? All will be revealed in a little over a week.

A couple of years ago my husband and I spent a wonderful couple of weeks travelling through Spain however we didn't make it to Barcelona so it will be all new to me.


I've been super busy at work and only found out a week ago that we made the cut, so I haven't had any time to research and plan my days in Barcelona. Once I give it a couple of minutes thought, I'm know filling the day on London will be NO problem, but do you have suggestions for either city? I'd love to hear them.