Eventful journey!
Trip Start
Jul 14, 2009
1
60
94
Trip End
Feb 18, 2010
Where I stayed
Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain and Canary Islands
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Mat kindly drove us to the airport in torrential rain (I wasnīt too keen about getting on a plane in the hurricane-esque weather) but we made it there safely - just!
Took some time getting through security, but finally made it onto the plane which was already delayed some time. We were the last ones to get on the plane, and when we almost reached our seats there was a commotion happening in the row in front of us. Unfortunately, a passenger in the seat in front of me dislocated her knee cap getting into her seat. She was in massive amounts of pain! The poor thing. They ended up calling the paramedics and removing her from the plane. To make matters worse, whilst we were waiting for the paramedics to arrive I started feeling a wee bit queasy. It just got worse and worse, and eventually, I chundered big time. The first time I have ever been sick on a plane, and we hadnīt even moved to takeoff yet! I felt heaps better after blowing chunks and approximately 3 hours late, we took off for Spain!
On arrival, we approached the "Information" desk at the airport, for details on transport into the city. One of the ladies behind the counter informed me that "Information" desk was now closed. Seemed a bit odd as there were two of them sitting behind the desk there. Anyway, after some pleading and bargaining, she wrote down some instructions for me. That wasnīt too hard, was it!?
We caught a bus into the city and once we got off the bus in the main square, Placa de Espanya, we were promptly either spewed or shat on by a bird (we think). Still not sure which one, as there was literally nobody else around, but the ewwwie substance all over the back of our bags and Markīs legs was like creamy, off beer. Weird and VERY EWWIE. Must have been a massive bird. Not a good start!
After trying to clean ourselves up a bit with Maccaīs napkins, we caught a cab to our hotel, which was really nice. Promptly hit the hay after a long day!
We slept in for ages the next day, before taking a stroll into town. Barcelona is a wicked city, it is very cool. It is so much cleaner than I expected. it has a great metro system which makes it so easy to get around. Big, wide pedestrian boulevardes as well.
We caught the train to Placa de Catalunya, the heart of the city, and wandered down Las Ramblas, which is covered with shops, cafes, street performers (mainly human statues) and pet stores! A quick stroll around Mercat de la Boqueria (fresh market) was good fun with all the handmade chocolate stores, fresh seafood being cooked in front of you, butchers, fruit and veg stalls etc A feast for the senses! We made our way around to the Gothic Quarter, which was a maze of little alleyways, filled with cafes and restaurants, then onto the waterfront. We were pretty knackered after this so decided to head back for an early night.
The next day we decided to head up to La Sagra Familia, a building designed by Antoni Gaudi, who was a devout Catholic whose buildings are full of Christianity references. This particular building was started in 1882 and isnīt expected to be finished until 2020! It will have 18 towers greater than 100m high, each representing the 12 Apostles, 4 evangelists, Mary and Jesus Christ.
The weather was great for us, with clear blue skies and plenty of sunshine, without being too warm. Although Barcelona is not very "Spanish" (no sign of Flamenco Dancers or bullfighters) it is a great city to visit!
Comments
Hi another comment as checking up on me. Do you recommend Barcelona like the idea of there. Whats the church like. Pictures please. Cheapo airline can be a pain huh.
Keep up the blogs they are fab.
mum