Sunday in Barcelona

I'm starting this while 2 is taking a tour of a Gaudi building here in central Barclona. It's an economic thing...21.50e a pop...I'm ok saving my fee for the wine later. This is a shot looking straight up from the front sidewalk. Whatever. I like my art, just not quite as much as my travel partner. 😀




Some details from the trip this far:

1. The flight over was relatively painless. Two hours too long for me. A Delta agent at JFK took care of us by getting us re-assigned seats across an aisle Tom each other.
2. There was a little stress at baggage claim as my bag came out first and we had to wait several minutes for 2's to appear. Baggage making it is always a good result.
3. We cabbed-it to our hotel, which was the good choice. Less than 30e with tip, and left off at the door to the hotel.
4. Our room is VERY basic, but it works. I'm not saying that it rivals the Vanderbilt YMCA, but you get the idea. Our own bathroom with nice shower does breakdown the comparison. The hotel is on a not-too-busy street within walking distance of many sights.
5. The bike shop was also within walking distance, and was in reality what was shown on the webpage...and true to the TripAdvisor comments. The sales guy spoke passable English. The purchase of the Trek was done inside of 30 minutes. A very good outcome.
6. The hotel has free wifi...that works fine.
7. Our first evening, we walked down the Rambla, a street made into a pedestrian walkway, to check out the prime gathering spot in town, and grabbed dinner at a sidewalk cafe.
8. We took the subway to the near-beach downtown last night. No probs.
9. The double-decker bus tour was the order of the day for today. Saw lots of the town. You could get on and off at your choice...which we did.
10. The town is hoppin' with people. Their celebration, Merce something, is a big deal.
11. No problem with language. As with prior trips, the people behind the counters at the hotels and restaurants can manage the Americans pretty well.
12. The costs of things hasn't been bad.

Now back at the hotel. Sitting in this open air salon.


The cycling in town has been so-so. They have a lot of bike lanes, but you have to deal with the red-lights. I had in mind to get out of the city this AM, but I lost the direction. We still deal with the absence of street signs in Europe. The primary location for signs is the second story of buildings...at intersections. Not only do I struggle with making out the signs, but here, the intersections are actually octagons as the buildings at the end of blocks are chopped-off to create a wider area. So the street sign isn't at the end of the street, but maybe 20 paces from the end. Very annoying.



Also, the ground floor of buildings is not the 1st floor. Think of it as the "0" floor. Walk up to the next floor to get to the 1st floor. Whatever.

The pro soccer team which is heavily promoted in town is sponsored by Qatar Airlines. All the pics on buildings would give the uninformed (me and 2) the impression that the local team was the Qatar Airlines team, not Barcelona. Just sayin'.

So that's about all from Espana. We're doin' ok.

BCOT




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