19-06-29 Saturday I - Friends of Brian

This week I have mostly been in Barcelona. It is a lovely city, and we had a great time. It was another part of my Christmas present from TW; she had calculated that since our older two girls were away on school trips, we could take the youngest one out of school for a few days and have her with us.

We flew easyJet, which was fair enough, although we did pack our passports in our luggage before boarding, and our baggage was stowed in the hold. As a result we got to passport check in Barcelona without any documentation. The police there didn’t seem too bothered and once the queue had been dealt with one of them accompanied us to the baggage reclaim and spot-checked our passports there. It probably won’t be as relaxed after Brexit...

We stayed in an Airbnb within walking distance of La Rambla. It was easy to get to the flat from the airport; we jumped on a bus and disembarked at Place Espanya and then walked up towards Montjuic. The flat was basic, and could have benefitted from a makeover, but it was a good base of operations. We found Carrer Blai on the first evening, and came back each night we were there. We discovered pinchos, which were delicious. TY was a bit fussy and wouldn’t try any dishes, so she ended up with a slice of pizza - which suited her fine.

On the Tuesday we hit La Rambla and took a couple of bus tours to see as much of Barca as possible. Our only fixed appointment was a seven o’clock visit to the Sagrada Familia, which was very much worth the entrance fee. Lots of folk go to see the outside and don’t bother going in, but the interior is just as if not more interesting than the outside. We were tired but got dinner at Carrer Blai again, and then went to bed.

Wednesday morning we slept in and then hit the beach, and then mooched purposelessly around the town centre. It was a nice afternoon, we ate at La Boqueria Market - TY actually had some calamari, which was brave. I had a meat empanada, which was very much like a Cornish pasty - delicious! Late afternoon, we bought some beers and went back to the flat and had booze on the balcony in the sun, which was a great way to spend a late afternoon / early evening. Then we hit Blai again, and then retired to the flat. 

Thursday morning we packed and walked back to Place Espanya, where we had our first Spanish coffee (TY had a donut), before catching the bus back to the airport. And then it was time to come home, with some amazing memories and pictures of the lovely city of Barcelona. 

The flat we stayed in was incredibly hot at night, and I didn’t sleep particularly well, but that was a minor inconvenience. It was brilliantly situated and well-stocked with margarine and milk etc., which had been left by other guests. There were some other Airbnbers there when we arrived, and then they left and were replaced by others on the Wednesday. So there was quite the footfall through the flat.

I’d certainly go to Barcelona again, although the ease of booking rooms and flights has opened our eyes to the possibility of visiting other European destinations; currently there is a sale on Eurostar tickets, for instance, so we could visit Paris or Brussels next. Who knows? We probably need to make the most of our European Union membership before it is taken away from us at the end of October.

TTFN.