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Published: October 7th 2012
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Barcelona It was the first time that we met Barcelona How can I forget The moment that you stepped into the room You took my breath away" Freddie Mercury
Coming back into Barcelona for a one and a bit day stopover before flying home we decided to take the train into the city rather than the aero bus. Mistake that.
The subways are an excellent form of transport once you are settled in the city but they are not set up for lugging 20kg plus cases and assorted bags up and down sets of stairs and along crowded platforms. By the time we arrived at Liceu station I was pretty over it. Having ridden up hills, hiked up mountains and walked kilometres of cobblestoned ‘calles’ across a 5 week period I cannot get over how tired my legs were after 2 days of trawling the Madrid art galleries!
Thankfully, we found a ‘very nice’ policeman who directed us to the Catalonia Port l’ Angel Hotel. Lastminute.com delivered an excellent deal on a refurbished 19
th Century building that proved to be an excellent bolthole for our last 36 hours in Spain. This hotel featured the original marble staircase from 1876. Not as grandiose as the Avenida Palace but oozing with history and substance nevertheless.
We were a bit unsure how to approach our last day. Having seen
parts of the city a month before we knew there was so much more to do and see and not enough time to do it all. That and the fact we were buggered! We cruised around the local food market in the morning but without a kitchen and time to cook food all that lush seafood, veggies and fruit remained a feast for the eyes only!
We bit the ‘tourista bullet’ and jumped on one of the double decker buses and spent the day cruising around interesting places such as Mountjuic (which we had accessed via the Funicular to see the Fundacio Joan Miro in our first trip) and drivebys of large and impressive buildings such as the 1992 Olympic venue (complete with Freddy Mercury Barcelona soundtrack !)
We jumped off at a stop that boasted a market (according to the commentary) only to find that the place was closed and that the top deck of the next bus was full. We temporarily awarded ourselves the ‘Australia’s Biggest Tourist Losers’ but eventually made it back to the top deck after a bit of natural tourista attrition. Plugged back in and whooshing around the streets in warm sunshine –
sheer bliss!
In search of the perfect Paella, Dave had researched a portside restaurant on the net and so we jumped off the bus mid afternoon and got stuck into a fitting final seafood feast topped off with cold cava and gluten-free beer. Apart from the man smoking a cigar the size of a baguette at a nearby table, it was damn satisfying!
In the early evening we jumped back on the bus and went on the second route that took us through the L’Eixample precinct featuring Modernista architectural delights (such as some of Gaudi’s residential apartment blocks) and of course La Sagrada Familia (one more time with feeling!). It delivered us back to Placa Catalunya at sunset.
And then all good things do come to an end.
A slightly nervy sleep and then the trip to the airport, the endless queuing and scanning and keeping track of your passport and then you are off Spanish soil and in the plane. The crap airline food; the dregs of movies to watch; the restless toddler in the seat next to you; the extended boring stopover in Doha; the painful endless 13.5 hour final stint; the welcome home
bug spray by customs and…well…we are finally home.
The Wignall’s Vuelta a Espana is at an end.
Thanks for being a part of it.
Adios Amigos!
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Anita Roberts
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Welcome home travellers!
I'm kind of disappointed that the blog has come to an end, have really enjoyed reading all about your adventures.