Blogs from La Rambla, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, Europe - page 8

Not much time today before heading to the airport, our usual breakfast at the riad and then we pop around the corner to buy some spices and other goodies. We say our farewell to Mohammed & our taxi arrives. Maroc airport is quite small, we buy some final souvinears and have a coffee (average) but at least the cafe had wireless internet! Our flight to Barcelona by Royal Air Maroc is via Tanger and is quite empty at the start. 45 mins to Tanger and then over an hour sitting on the tarmac, is now packed. Arrive 5PM, our bags take longer than Perth to come out and we find a taxi to the hotel. Driver no English so I hand him the address and he says nothing until stopping at La Ramba the drop off ... read more

Margaret and I got a late start today but made up for it. On the subway, she was told she was "un Mal Novia" since she didn't want to sit with me. Most of today was spent in the Ramblas, Bari Gotic, La Ribera, and Port Vell region.... read more

So the time has come to leave Italy. It’s sad but true. I have been planning on embarking to Barcelona, Spain from Italy since my first month here. I have had such a brilliant time here with all of the amazing friends I have met. But I have to face the facts, I came out here to train to get a job teaching English so I can travel and be independent. And I am finding a large part of that is learning how to say goodbye gracefully. I am not ready to settle down so Barcelona, Here I Come! I found that I can cheaply travel across the Mediterranean from Livorno, Italy to Barcelona, Spain, a 20 hour ride for the low fare of 30 euros (deck space). At the time I bought the tickets I ... read more

We left Toulouse via a 7 hour bus journey headed for Barcelona. The driver was a slick looking guy, pair of Ray Bans, a no bullshit attitude. I knew he had an attitude when he yelled "what do you want, English, French Spanish?" to a frantic crowd trying to board the bus. I also got the impression he had had a rough day of driving when an American guy, goofy and loud asked him if he needed a second driver, to which the driver replied "I don't have time for you" Awkward. The crowd were frantic mainly because of the train strikes and the poor signage at the bus terminal, followed by the even poorer signage on the bus. Was this bus for Barcelona? We boarded and hoped for the best. The first few hours were ... read more

************ SPAIN ************* BARCELONA Ola! The taxi dropped us off at the first station over the border, Figueras. It was a tiny train station and we were famished so we sampled some Spanish food for the first time. Netty had a long pastry thing with custard in the middle and nuts on top. I had a toasted ham and cheese sandwich but with the cheese on the outside of the bread??? It took 2 hours for the shabby train to get to Barcelona. I read and Netty slept. Our carriage was filled with a group of down syndrome folk who had just returned from the special olympics. They proudly wore their medals around their necks and kept their champion minders busy with their antics. Our hotel was 2 train stops, a transfer and then another ... read more