Barcelona

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Well my first two weeks back in Spain were spent back in Marbella (I was still working at that point). Here we were thinking on arrival when it was gorgeous and sunny that the next two weeks were gonna be a lot different from cold dreary London!! Well we were wrong!!! The first two days were alright, then it got cloudy and then rainy, and then windy and rainy, and stayed that way the whole time! And what happened to the weather in London? I’ll give you one guess. The last two days I had in Marbella by myself turned out alright, so I just lazed around and worked on my tan, ahhhh what a way to start the life of the unemployed!

So After my Me time in Marbella I headed off on the first part of my solo European trip, to the beautiful city of Barcelona, it all went rather well, hopped straight onto a bus into the city from the airport, managed the metro without difficulty (Hey if you can manage the London underground, you can manage the rest I reckon) and then spent about ½ an hour walking up and down a certain part of La Rambla looking for the street I needed for my hostel, before I realised I was looking in the wrong area!! It was a nice hostel, but in the El Raval district which is a bit seedy (actually a lot seedy), and I didn’t go out at night by myself, and all the people at the hostel were in little groups or couples, so I felt a bit lonesome! But I did end up staying for a bit longer and moved hostels (I recommend Centric Point on the Passeig de Gracia, if anyone’s interested) where I met up with some nice roommates (Hey Gretchen).

Didn’t get as much done in Barcelona as I wanted, cause I spent at least a good hour and a half at Sants train station three days in a row trying to sort out my train pass (not going to get into that! Let’s just say I didn’t end up with what I wanted, so had to totally change my trip!). But I did get to the Antoni Gaudi’s Sagrada Familia, which is a totally amazing building. I knew it was still being built, but I didn’t realise just how much there was to go and to think that it has already been over 100 years since breaking ground on the project! Also saw Casa Batllo (Bat-yo) and La Pedrera other magnificent Gaudi buildings. I took a long walk up to Castell de Montjuic, an old fortress that over looks Barcelona and offers some great views. I went up and down La Rambla a gazillion times, ate fresh fruit from the stalls at the Mercat de la Boqueria, walked through Barri Gotic (gothic area)! All of this walking was done on an extremely sore leg! Just some important info for those of you used to London underground, in Barcelona the ticket goes in on the opposite side, when I worked this out I had to move quickly before wasting my ticket and forced the gate straight into my leg! I now have a bruise on my thigh the size of a cricket ball that is actually quite a gorgeous blue colour!

Next Stop Paris!

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Photos

Mistral Beach
It was windy, cold and rainy, that didn't stop us having at least one lunch at the beach!

Sagrada Familia
Construction started over 100 years ago! and there's still a whole lot more to go.

Casa Amattler and Casa Batllo
Quite a contrast - Both designed by leading modernist architects

Gothic area
Got myself very lost in the narrow streets!