Very Early on Friday morning and having checked in on-line we breezed through security at Stansted without my customary argument or an inspection by the shoe police. Typically the ground handlers (Swissport) managed to put the final call sign on for our flight while they were boarding the Amsterdam one which led to much confusion and disgruntlement.
Easyjet call a number of boarding groups for flights, but because Swissport don't choose to operate any queuing system, everybody mills around getting in each others way, they'd be better off just having a free for all.
I managed to drop off on the flight which helped pass the time, but once we got off the plane we discovered Barcelona Airport was a maelstrom of complete chaos as people with impracticable amounts of baggage huddled around the exit to customs getting in each others way and ramming people with trolleys.
Out of the arrivals hall we hopped on the Aerobus (4.50 Euro one way from the driver or 7 for a return, but only from the machine which was naturally broken)and enjoyed a pleasant drive into the city for our drop off at Placa Catalunya. From there it was a short wander down La Rambla, past the flower and cage bird stalls, to eventually find our hotel in the Placa Reial, Octopus Travel's map having placed the hotel on the opposite side of the square it took a bit of working out.
While the Roma Reial was a bit of a fleapit with tiny rooms with no air conditioning, you could not fault its position on the Placa Reial with its bars, restaurants, palm trees and Gaudi designed lamposts. Aside from the usual feral pigeons the palms were home to squawking ring necked parakeets just like London's Eltham Palace.
So having dumped the bags and with some time to spare before we could check in we were off to see the town. As the weather cheered up first stop we decided was the Sagrada Familia. So how do you get there? answer Barcelona's Metro. Spying the Liceu station on La Rambla we popped down to work out how to buy a ticket. There are various permutations available and I opted for the T-10 ticket which for seven Euro gives you ten rides.
Just as well really as the ticket gets clipped when you go through the entry gate and at some metro stations like Liceu there are no cross platform connections. So up and out of the station and back down on the other side of the road for our second journey. The Barcelona metro is spacious and air conditioned so much more comfy than the tube.
The Sagrada as you can see from Mab's and Old Nick's site is pretty amazing and still not finished despite work having commenced back in the late 19th century. The death of Gaudi the architect, the Spanish Civil War and years of fascism under Franco kind of got in the way I guess. Still work is ongoing and this strange almost organic looking structure should be complete by 2030. (Admission 10 Euro)
As we had been up since about 3AM we were by now starving so we dropped into the Cafe Nova for some Boccadillos (kind of like subs made with really crusty bread) and beer. I had chorizo, Old Nick pork and Mab Spanish omelette, very good it was too for 18 Euro.
Back on the Metro to Parc Guell we meant to change trains at Diagonal where we discovered the interchange involved going back up on the street and following a line painted on the pavement to another station. As we were there we had a look at Gaudi's La Pedrera apartment building, yet another magnificent example of almost organic melting forms cast in concrete ornamented with wrought iron and ceramic mosaic.
As there was a huge queue to get in we hopped back on the Metro to Vallcarca then up the street escalators to Parc Guell to enjoy a beer on Gaudi's inlaid terraces and admire fairytale gatehouses.
Knackered we metroed back to the hotel where we attempted to get some kip before venturing out for food. On a sidestreet (Bonsucces) from La Rambla we discovered Bioasis a quite trendy and very busy organic tapas bar where for 11.50 euro each you got a choice of three tapas dishes and a drink. Being happy to share we feasted on deep fried cod balls, Manchego cheese in oil with olives and gherkin, smoked sausage, Catalan sausage, potatas bravas, paella, meatballs, Spanish omelette and crab croquettes.
This was finsihed off with some delicious almond tart with Moscotel and coffee. Aside from the traditional Spanish cuisine the range of tapas at Biosis includes plenty of Indian and south east Asian influenced dishes, so there should be something for everyone.
From we went in search of more beer, first off it was the Club Roma Reial under our hotel, a place that suffers from exclusive club syndrome with a surly manager who has a bad attitude problem and expensive beer (5 Euro a pint!)although some of the waiters are quite sweet, from there we headed off to Port Vell where we enjoyed a drink at Chiperia watching the bridge swing out to let a boat into the harbour and then getting cut off on the wrong side when it didn't swing back.
On the long walk back to the Hotel around the harbour we were distracted by splashing noises and discovered the sea was full of thousands of tiny fish. These were being eaten by bigger fish, hence the leaping out of the water. from there it was back up La Rambla stopping only at the Cafe Taxidermist for a nightcap before hitting the sheets at 2.30pm ish.
To be continued
