Travel Stories

Czecheap Challenge – This Time Last Year!

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So, we’re off to Prague on the Czecheap Challenge, in our trusty, crusty, totally rusty VW Polo, but this time last year we were heading off to Barcelona with the Rally Events guys. We managed to raise over £1700 for East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices while we were at it, too.

Barcelona Bangers was amazing fun, so I thought I’d share some of the gazillion photos I took on the journey… see you on the other side!

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We took Lisa the Tigra up to Grimsby Signs to get stickered, so on the way home we stopped off at Louth for a photo with this amazing building. We also stopped at the Admiral Rodney for a Rodney Burger. That’s right, a Rodney Burger!

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We dressed up in our best ‘Glitter Mitten’ gear and hung around in Calais, watching exceptional French television in our hotel room.

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Our first destination was Tours, on the way we went to Le Mans and visited the amazing museum. There were things that I wanted to bring home, many things.

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In Tours we met up with some of the other drivers, and went for dinner in an Italian Restaurant. It wasn’t very Italian. The food was vaguely edible. Adam had his steak knife thrown at him by the waiter, and then a strange little French man asked a group of Scottish guys to serenade his wife/girlfriend/female… and they did! It was truly bizarre and wonderful.

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In France they have the best net curtains.

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And the best names for pubs.

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The following day we headed off to Toulouse. We took more of a scenic route and stopped off at many random supermarches on the way.

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Simon found a race track out in the countryside, so we headed there and watched the fast cars go round. Then we drove electric go-karts. I’ve never been in a go-kart before, and I can’t say I was very good at it. Apparently it’s not the done thing to stop when another driver has gone off and ask them if they’re okay and need any help getting started again. I’m learning!

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After a night in Toulouse, where there was a very cool break-dancing event going on in the city square (I didn’t take part!), we headed off through Andorra, on our last leg of the journey, to Barcelona.

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I know it’s wrong, but this was my favourite car – his little arm waved when the wiper was on! There was also a missile on the roof.

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Andorra was beautiful. I got stuck in a toilet in Andorra, and I didn’t mind. That’s how nice it was.

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I forgot about that tax disc holder. I miss that tax disc holder.

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The weather was magnificent, and so were the roads. We stopped for lunch, chatted with other drivers, and watch some of them sledge down the icey mountainside.

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Finally we arrived in Barcelona and parked up in the beach-front car park. We watched the rally organisers cars get shrink-wrapped and then headed off to our hotels.

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We had an amazing night out with everyone, one of the best nights. I danced like a right pillock and had a lovely time. And then I got to eat cake and fruit for breakfast.

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We stayed in Hotel Attica 21, in Barcelona. Apparently this is the swimming pool they used on the Trivago advert. I don’t know. I don’t believe anything they told me. They told me the water was 15 degrees celsius, but when I got in and thought I was going to have a heart-attack I realised they might have meant 5!

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We spent the Monday wandering around Barcelona in the sun. I was so disappointed to find that the Museu Blau was closed, but we did visit the Museum of Contemporary Art, which was another spectacular building.

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And of course, a visit to Barcelona would not be complete without a walk along Las Ramblas to La Boqueria Market. 

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On Tuesday we packed our bags, got back in our banger and made the epic journey from Barcelona to Calais, via the Millau Viaduct.  The weather got more and more stormy the closer we got to home.

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We made a few ‘Yop Stops’ on the way, and stayed the night at Calais, before catching the ferry back to Dover and coming back to reality! I still can’t explain what a wonderful time we had, and although these photos serve as a reminder to me, they don’t express half of the fun, glee and freedom we felt.

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If you want to follow our Czecheap Challenge journey I’ll be adding pictures to instagram (harveyhotdog) and facebook (glittermitten)