Blogs from Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, Europe - page 9

Our flight to Barcelona was at 7:30 AM. On the boarding passes I downloaded, it looked like we were leaving from Terminal E. After 20 minutes in line, we got up to the desk to find we were in the wrong terminal. A hasty walk and we were now in the correct but even longer line and short on time. I had chatted with the woman behind us so when they started calling people for our flight, she made sure we were pulled to check our bags. Next came Passport Control with shorter, but slower moving lines. I pleaded our case with an airline employee who took us up to the front of the line. We were at the gate before they started boarding, but it was a little more exciting than is enjoyable before 7 ... read more

Ich war so nass, als ich im Hostel in B ankam, dass mir der Mann gleich zwei Badetücher gab... Die Gegend wirkt, als ob die Häuser schon verlassen seien und demnächst abgerissen würden. Mein Zimmer hat kein Fenster. Bad und Klo sind jenseits des Ganges. 70 Euro. Kein Frühstück. ABER zentral. ... read more

After wasting the better part of a day getting out to Gatwick on tubes and trains, then sitting around in the airport for a couple of hours instead of ambling through the English, French and Spanish countryside in high speed trains, all thanks to the French rail strike, it was great to finally touch down in sunny Barcelona. We had a hotel booked in the Gracia district of Barcelona, which is less touristy and getting there was a breeze. We bought a T10 1 zona card at the automat at the airport for a fraction under 10eur and with only one change on the subway and a 5 minute walk we were at the hotel La Casa Del Sol overlooking the Placa del Sol. The hotel was great but we were only in it 5 minutes ... read more

Not another beautiful day in Barcelona today - raining, raining, raining!! Forgot to mention that when we went to dinner last night, we discovered the lift in the building was not working, so this meant traipsing down & then back up 5 flights of stairs! Yep, you can imagine how happy I was about that!! So no lift, and raining - time for a quiet day. We did venture out to La Boqueria market, which is just across the road from where we are staying, and mostly undercover. Was very crowded, Lots of amazing food stalls, couldn't understand why one part was particularly crowded, till we got closer and realised they were filming Spanish Masterchef!! Managed to find something for lunch (pretty hard to choose) and then spent the rest of the afternoon watching the rain ... read more

Made it to Barcelona after 24 hours of flying (including a 2 hour layover at the very nice, and very large Hamad International Airport in Doha, Qatar). Landed in Barcelona in blue sky and sunshine, which was very nice considering it was raining when we left Sydney. Slight difference in temperature though!! Checked into our apartment at 102 La Rambla, and after a short rest, walked to Plaza Catalunya, the "main square" in Barcelona, which has been taken over by tents and protesters wanting independence for Catalonia. Did our usual wander around a foreign supermarket for breakfast supplies, (I always enjoy seeing the different things on sale) - it's very stressful shopping when you can't read the labels. Our plan was to drop the shopping and then do some further exploring - didn't happen, jet lag ... read more