Curious Incidents of a Flailing Mermaid

My Barcelona Roller Coaster Ride

After trekking around Barcelona this morning, I didn't feel like leaving the gorgeous little restaurant I'd found. I also wasn't sure I was keen on heading off to a theme park by myself. I love rides - I have no fear - but they are better when you have other people with you! But, I guess, that's what you get when you set off on a tour of Europe six days after everyone else!

I deliberated on whether or not I should go rollercoaster hunting for about twenty minutes or so. But after reading up on some of the rides at Port Aventura, I decided the adrenaline rush would do me good and set me up for the rest of the month ahead. So, off I went.

Apparently, Port Aventura is one of Europe's most iconic theme parks and is divided into 6 "worlds". It took about an hour to get to, which meant I had time for a nap along the way. Mind you; it also meant I wouldn't have all that long to explore, given that it was after 2 pm by the time I got there. I had a plan, though: I knew exactly what rides I wanted to go on. There wasn't many. Just the crazy ones!

Queuing up for my first ride, I realised that going to a theme park by yourself wasn't necessarily a bad thing: the "single rider" line is always 100x shorter than the standard queue. This made me very happy, indeed. Check out the rides I braved:

Furius Baco - horizontal catapult that flings you at 135 km/h in just 3 seconds. I was told by a steward that this is the fastest rollercoaster in Europe. I can believe it, too. I stupidly forgot to remove my glasses before getting on the ride. Somehow, I managed to catch them just as they were about to fly off. So lucky!

Dragon Khan - 8 loops and more than 110 km/h of speed. I loved this. But, even for me, this was verging on ridiculous! I felt like I'd have been thrown around less if I'd sat in a washing machine on a fast spin cycle.

Hurakan Condor - a 100-metre long free fall. This ride, apparently, is only suitable for the most courageous of riders. Or, indeed, the most stupid! That'd be me then. Oh, my stomach!

I did go on a few other rides. But they were nothing to write home about. Plus, I can't remember their details - I won't bore you by trying.

I'm writing this on the bus back to Barcelona. Before I left the park, I grabbed myself a big, fat, juicy burger. I feel like I won't need to eat for a week now. This can only be a good thing as all I want to do now is collapse into my nice hotel bed. It has been a very long day!
Tomorrow, I'm up at 4 am to catch my next flight: by my reckoning, I should be in France by 7 am. I may die of exhaustion. But let's see what the day brings.


*please note: The photos and ride descriptions are real, but they don't go together in 'real life'*