Arrival in Barcelona

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We arrived a bit early in London and made our way through the Terminal 5 transfer and security maze. We had a short layover but long enough to enjoy the BA Lounge briefly before boarding our flight for Barcelona. Upon arrival we quickly remembered that it is summer in the northern hemisphere – Barcelona is hot! As in Cape Town, we arrived early in the day to find our hotel room not yet available. We checked our bags and stumbled out into the late morning heat to find some lunch. The hotel “Barcelona Cathedral” is, in fact, right around the corner from the Barcelona’s 14^th century gothic cathedral. Tired and hot, the kids were unimpressed. Lunch was pleasant enough at a shaded outdoor table. After lunch we took a walk to Las Ramblas – the lively thoroughfare in the center of the old city. We explored la Boquería market and marveled at its size and the vast array of seafood – all different kinds of shrimp, octopus and other fresh catch. It was very colorful, with lots of fresh fruits and fruit drinks, and lots and lots of candy. John purchased a bottle of Spanish wine (choosing quite at random) and we headed back to the hotel. Happily, the rooms were ready (about 2PM) and we all enjoyed showers and some downtime. After a few hours in the room, John and Sonia were ready to get back out and explore some more, but the kids were skeptical. So the adults headed off on their own for a bit, first touring the cathedral and then taking a short walking tour of the Old Town – at least, the parts near the Cathedral, and then up the Ramblas on into the New Town. We headed out of Plaça de Catalunya, looking for some of the remarkable Gaudi buildings that Barcelona is known for. After a walk that was longer than expected, we did find Casa Batllò and stopped to admire. It was getting late and Andrew had begun texting us to ask when we would be home. We sorted out how to buy tickets for the metro with more difficulty than we usually have (Barcelona embraces English less enthusiastically than South Africa) and ultimately employed the help of a friendly young pan-handler for instructions. Having worked out the Metro, we took it back to the hotel and were much better prepared to tackle the city. Getting the kids out of the hotel for dinner was challenging (everyone seriously jet-lagged and sluggish), but we eventually found our way to an acceptable restaurant where we ordered a lot of paella while soccer fans at the next table periodically burst out with enthusiastic (extremely loud) cheering for their team. It was not yet dark and the streets were still quite lively as we walked back to the hotel.

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Photos

Lunch
We were all tired, cranky and hot, but we did our best to enjoy lunch at a beautiful outdoor table by the cathedral.

La Boqueria
This market is visually stunning with displays of candy, fruit and a remarkable variety of seafood.

Telefonica
Another photo for the "phone booths of the world" collection.

Shoe shopping
Andrew is visible behind this cool storefront display of shoes.

Cathedral
The square in front of the cathedral is barely big enough to get back sufficiently to get the cathedral in a photo

Casa Batllo
This is one of the famous Gaudi buildings. Check out the bone-like structure of the house with its organic egg-shaped windows.