Its been
a long time coming but finally I've sat down to write about
the great city of Barcelona.
Four nights away and days of sun was what I was really looking
forward too. We arrived with little drama although it was quiet
late so it was straight to bed in our very central hotel. Rain
greeted me as I opened our curtains the next morning so I wasn't
overly impressed. We decided to go out anyway and found a great
pancake shop for breakfast. Then we walked around getting our
bearings. La Rambla a famous shopping/relaxing with coffee street
was very near our hotel but not really a happening place on
a rainy day so we walked back the other way and came across
the gothic cathedral, known as Barri Gotic. It looked fantastic
in the rain and was a welcome haven once you made it passed
the beggars. They always look so much more pitiful in other
countries. The cathedral was pretty much the same as others
we have been in but most important was that it was dry and warm.
Once we were feeling a bit better we braved the rain again and
watched a street entertainer get ready for their act. This involved
getting into a tight piece of gold material and standing with
a mask of tutankamin on. As the material was wet it was proving
very difficult. I think this was more entertaining than his
end result. Note to street entertainers - you are unlikely to
make much money on a rainy day.
We strolled back through the gothic area which really was the
most gothic area I've walked around with narrow cobbled streets
and high dark buildings. The rain finally won and we headed
back to our hotel room for a rest and dry off. The thing I ended
up loving the most about Spain was the hours they kept. Late
lunches and dinners were fashionable so you could really relax
and not worry about time. We decided to head out again for Tapas
the traditional snack for Spaniards. Thankfully it had stopped
raining. Our decision took us to the harbour and waterfront
area. They have a styley bridge to walk over the harbour to
get to a large shopping mall. The bridge retracts when yachts
come in and out. We found a place for drinks and Gavin had fun
trying to describe my difficult drink order of gin lime and
lemonade. We sort of got what I wanted but the guy brought the
gin bottle out and started to pour it into my glass, I assumed
he would stop but he was waiting for me to say that was enough
so I ended up with a rather strong drink. On our travels during
the day we had found what we thought looked like a nice traditional
Spanish restaurant so we went there for dinner. I ordered monk
fish Catalonian style. I found out that that meant small bit
of fish and loads of shellfish which I really don't like. Even
the smell was getting to me. Luckily desert was great. Another
Catalonia dish which was like crème brulee.
We awoke to a much nicer day and as it was Saturday over Easter
it was the best day for shopping. I did well over the day ending
up with a new pair of trouser, skirt and shirt. After a rest
and sun down we took Bruce's advice and went to see the fountains
around the Olympic park. They moved in time to music and were
lit in different ways, it was really nice. The Olympic stadium
wasn't far away so we walked over to it through a very deserted
park. I was setting the pace (and it was a quick one). The stadium
as you imagine is huge. We also saw the Olympic pool where you
can go swimming if you want. For dinner we were going to the
Spanish village. The guide book suggested that it would be packed
and really humming. I guess they weren't there at Easter. It
was very quiet but really nice. The area is like a walled village
and each building is in a different architectural style representing
different Spanish regions and eras. It was very well done. Many
of the buildings were craft shops and the rest were restaurants.
As we walked around we could hear a few good parties but the
doors were closed and there was no way in. We decide that they
must have been booked by tour groups. We ended up having a nice
quiet dinner and heading home. it definitely had potential but
maybe more popular in summer.
Sunday was set to be our touristy day. Also the sun was great
so it was skirts and shorts day to scare the locals. We began
at La Sagrada Familia. If you have been there you will understand
how this is the most bizarre tourist attraction ever. It is
Gaudi's (think Spanish version of Christopher Wrenn) principal
work. A very ambitious project, construction began on the cathedral
in 1882 and it still not complete. There are 8 towers out of
the 18 towers have been built and we were able to take a lift
up and walk through the north-east towers. These towers are
over 100m high. The other towers are to be built for the 12
apostles, 4 evangelists and the mother of God, with the tallest
tower 170m standing for her son. One set of towers have sculpted
fronts depicting the birth of Christ including a Christmas tree.
The opposite set have the death. The most interesting thing
is that there are still people trying to complete the church
in Gaudi's design. It probably still has 20 years to go.
After spending a good 3 hours looking around the church we headed
up to Gaudi's Park, known as Parc Guell. When I say up I mean
a set of out door escalators and up up up. It was so steep.
We entered the park and continued to walk up to a war memorial
and from there we could see across to the Sagrada Familia and
the sea - a great view. There are 2 gingerbread house at the
main gate and then many mosaic sculptures including a large
platform with mosaic ceiling patterns. On top of the platform
there is usually a street market, but today it was filled with
tourists enjoying the sun. There was a bench right around the
outside and this was all tiled with mosaic. It was a really
different place but quite neat.
As our flight wasn't until 10pm we had another full day in Barcelona.
Not content with the views we had already had we took a tram
and then vernacular right up to Tibidabo (542m). At the top
is a church which allows you to go up higher and the views are
really amazing. You can see across the whole of Barcelona. There
was also a cute little amusement park but we already had our
trip to Disney world booked and decided to wait for the real
thing. After returning to the bottom of the mountain we were
keen to see the Olympic village area. This involved a few wrong
turns and then a taxi ride but it was worth it. It is a bit
like Auckland waterfront but three times the side. There were
many tent like structures that were restaurants but as I had
mentioned earlier dinner is late and we were there between dinner
and lunch. It looked like we would have to go to pizza hut but
then did find somewhere. It was time to get our bags and go
to the airport.
We arrived the obligatory 2 hours before and got our boarding
passes. We had been warned of a baggage handlers strike but
didn't think a lot of it. Well 2 hours after our flight was
suppose to leave we were definitely aware of the strike. The
problem was that the people who drove the buses were part of
the strike so we couldn't get to our plane. One flight had boarded
130 passengers when the bus just never came back so there were
a remaining 30 people left in the terminal. Luckily the company
they were travelling with had someone on the ground helping
them. Our company had relied on ground staff and once there
shift was over they left so we had noone to look after us. There
were a few bright sparks who found the pa system button and
a few good jokes came over the system. One lady wanted us to
walk to the plane. When we finally got on the plane the pilot
and crew had been there since 8pm and couldn't get to the terminal
as the people who drove them were also part of the strike. We
took off at quarter to 4, 6 hours after we were suppose to.
Gavin ended up having a couple of hours sleep then getting up
and going to work. It was such a shame that such a great holiday
ended in such an awful way. Oh well you know we always have
travel gremlins. Lets hope our bad luck has run out now and
we will have no trouble for our next trip.
