Day One

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Geo: 41.3879, 2.16992

Simultaneous alarms going off at 5am (neither of us trusted the other to set it properly) is not my idea of fun. Doubly annoying as was wide awake at 3am and just managed to get back to sleep. Still, getting up so early for work is a drag but for a holiday...not so bad.

We shower and drag our cases down to the car park of the Premier Inn for the very short drive to Terminal 2. Check in is quick and so is security. Peters holiday hat gets crushed for the 2nd time in 2 days (suitcase fell on it yesterday) as it comes loose whilst going through the scanner. I am stifling a laugh as I'm iPad gets swabbed at security for drugs (yep seriously) I last took drugs back in the 80's (just a bit of weed..., did nothing for me) so am fairly confident it will pass which of course it did.

We purchase our customary bottles of Veuve Clicquot at duty free for sailaway on Sunday before getting some breakfast. Flight is a nifty 2 hours and before we know it we are on the airport bus heading into Barcelona. We check into the lovely Crowne Plaza Fira Centre at just after12 and our room is ready. Lovely big spacious room with the largest flat screen TV I have ever seen in a hotel room. It's bigger than the one at home.

We head out to explore the surrounding area. We are close to the Montjuic area of Barcelona. Montjuïc is translated as "Jew Mountain" in medieval Catalan. To the northern side and leading up to the impressive Palau Nacional are a series of beautiful fountains. Escalators means you don't have to traverse the many steps to the top and the views of Barcelona once at the summit are impressive. Not as sprawling as Athens but the vista is still vast.

After taking a few snaps we head down to Placa Espanya and the Las Arenas which was a former Bull Fighting ring. Thankfully now it is a very nice shopping arena. We have lunch there before heading back to the hotel for an afternoon snooze #oldfarts.

We awake around 530pm, shower and head to the Metro. We alight at Liceu which is a stop midway up the Ramblas. The Ramblas as always is heaving with people. We try to find an outside cafe to buy a few beers and watch the world go by. Sadly there no longer seems to be any here. Perhaps they are just seasonal. We walk up to Placa Catalunya where we find what we are looking for and purchase 2x beers...Grande.

Traditionally when sailing out of Barcelona we eat at one of our favourite Hard Rock Cafés and today is not an exception. The Nachos we share and my Pulled Pork Sandwich (the original and best imho) are excellent. The wine and cocktails are pricey but we are on our jollies after all.

We catch the metro back to Placa Espanya (the heat down there is sweltering even in October). It's fairly crowded but I spot a lady with the most amazing and cool tattoos. She looks stunning in her retro 50's gear. I would have took a pic but feel would have been rude without her permission. Once we alight we walk up to watch the Magic Fountains. There are hundreds of people there taking pics and enjoying the spectacle. It's one part of Barcelona we have never seen despite our many visits.

We enjoy large brandy sand cafe solos in the hotel bar before restring to our room.

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