Barcelona

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Barcelona 2009

Day three saw us back on the tube on the way to the Arc de Triomf.  Barcelona has everything - the twin towers, the gherkin and the Arc de Triomf.  It is near a very nice, well kept park, with the city zoo at the other end.  We walked in the park and listened to the parakeets.

There is another side to Barcelona, as there is to any big city, I guess, but some are worse than others.

These are stones outside the geological museum, behind them you can see 'hidden' various items, such as blankets and card board boxes. There  is also quite a lot of begging, varying from the passive (sitting with a cup) to the over active (pleading that "I've had everything stolen and just need one euro to make a phone call" - it doesn't work when there are police everywhere).

Still it didn't spoil the trip.

I must now mention the Hard Rock Cafe.  In 2006 we ate in the Hard Rock Cafe in Cardiff. So it seemed appropriate to eat in the Hard Rock Cafe again - as Barcelona is Spain's equivalent of Cardiff - semi-autonomous and with its own language.  It was remarkable.  The 5 minutes wait for a table was 5 minutes.  The service through out was friendly, chatty and helpful.  The food was excellent.  There was real American coffee. The bill was charged in €uro's but a statement of the Ster£ing value was provided.  Just the best restaurant we had been in for our entire stay, and for a long time before that.  I left a tip, something that is rare for me, as I believe good service has already been paid for.

The journey home also had its interesting moments.  At the airport going through security checks they confiscated two of our three bottles of water, I found the other one when I arrived home.  The airport staff are so disinterested in their jobs it would be really easy to get things past them.  The airport shops are staffed with similarly disinterested people.  They see you arrive and get on with whatever they are doing - like talking to the other shop assistant.  I'd go somewhere else, but they are all the same.

The easy jet plane, when we finally got on it spent an age taxiing to the runway, then as it took off the engine noise was so loud I had to shout for Jo (in the next seat) to hear me.  It was still making strange noises when we got off at Stanstead - I was very pleased to leave that plane!

Liz had been waiting a while to pick us up so the parking cost was £10. Then we were diverted the wrong way up the M25 (our junction was partially closed for road works), so the trip home took a long time too.

Barcelona was lovely, and our few days very enjoyable.  There is lots to go back to when the exchange rate is better - until then it is just too expensive.