Barcelona

Thursday 23 September       
Today was an early start as people on the tour were departing to either return home or extend their travel on their own. Some were completing the tour back to London but we all had a long day ahead of us due to the French Industrial Strike.  It was a sad day as the tour group were splitting up and we had had a fantastic introduction to Europe.

                        

            

We joined the rest of the group heading out to the Charles de Gaulle airport but I was still determined I was going to get to Spain. The bus ride to the airport took ages due to very heavy traffic. Chris was insistent we went back to London and spend the next 10 days at Sarah's place . He kept going on about having to sleep at the airport for days! But I didn't listen and ended up blocking my ears to his pleads.
We got to the Charles de Gaulle airport before 9.00a.m and I grabbed my luggage off the bus, much to the cheering, hugs and farewells of our tour companions.

It was very flat saying goodbye as we had made lots of new friends and had a fantastic time tour exploring parts of Europe with Simon. Chris did follow me but he was not happy. Once in the airport I went straight to the German airline counter and got tickets to Barcelona via Frankfurt. (Very expensive but we were reimbursed through insurance). We were to fly in 2 hours time but when we checked in we were put on a flight leaving in 20 minutes time. All go to get through customs etc. I was fine but Chris's back pack got thoroughly searched, holding us up and being the last people to board.

It was a nice flight to Frankfurt on the Lufthansa no-frills plane and then we had a couple of hours wait before our next flight. Frankfurt airport was under-going major reconstruction so when Chris goes back in February he is likely to see a new airport.                

                                                                 
Our flight was very delayed but we were lucky to have even got out of Paris as 60% of all flights leaving Charles de Gaulle were canceled soon after we flew. The flight to Barcelona was long as we had to drop the flight height to 12,000 feet while flying over the French air space.

We were very tired after the tour and a long day so after checking in we went for a walk around the area and grabbed a delicious pizza with beers and wine for dinner. It was chill out time for the rest of the evening.

Friday 24 September
We woke to a beautiful day in Barcelona, clear blue skies and very warm, even at 6.00a.m. We set off fairly early to spend the day exploring this beautiful city.

                                                                               We had pre-paid tickets for the hop-on-off bus so started our day on this tour.

The architecture changed considerably as we drove around the different areas of Barcelona. It is a very clean, beautiful city with so much character.
                                                   

                                  
 We saw some amazing statues and as it was a Spanish National
celebration weekend there was a lot happening but all the main shops were closed.       

                                                                           

                                                                                                                                                                                                     
We drove by the famous Barcelona Stadium, the home of many soccer games and of course Spain being the winners of the 2010 Soccer world cup makes this a very special place for the  Spanish.  The Oylmpic games were held in Barcelona in 1992 which proved to be a very prosperous and renovating time for the city. The sea was recovered, the sports installations were renewed and communication services were bought up-to-date. We visited the Olympic Stadium and it's beautiful grounds surrounding it.

                                                           

After touring central Barcelona we joined another route which took us to the port, where a number a cruise liners were docked.  We passed by the Forum and the newer part of Barcelona.

 

         

It was very quiet in Barcelona as we had an early start but it was getting very hot and people were starting to come out for brunch.. Chris and I changed our 'hop-on-off ' bus tour again and joined the green route, which only runs in the Spanish summer.  This  tour took us around the beautiful beaches which are on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea.  The beaches had white sand and very well manicured.  We dipped our feet into the warm sea then enjoyed some relaxation time at a beach-front cafe.

It was great chilling out at the beach for awhile but then it was time to continue our tour of Barcelona as there was so much to see and very little time to experience it all.  We boarded the tour bus again and headed back into central Barcelona.  The crowds were starting to gather for the days festivities and a fantastic, happy atmosphere was breezing the air for the celebration weekend.

We got off the tour bus at the top of Barcelona's beautiful Les Rambles Area.  This street is a mile long and is lined with stalls, cafes, entertainment and Art, many painters doing portraits on the sidewalk.  There were a number of beautiful florist stalls, birds being sold in cages and cooling fountains.  It was getting very busy and lots of families were out with children enjoying the carnival atmosphere.

                            

                                           

                                                                   

Our final stop on the hop-on-off tour of Barcelona was very close to our hotel.  Chris queued up and after a short wait we explored Gaudi's unfinished Sagrada Familia Cathedral.  This is an amazing building which has had on-going reconstruction over the past 700 years.  It is a Gothic style cathedral and one of the many beautiful buildings Gaudi designed in Barcelona.

                                                                     

                                                                           
                                   

                                    

 After a bit of a rest and catch-up, after our full-on day, we went out and explored the Eixample area of Barcelona.  There is a very pretty main street with lots of cafes and restaurants, trees, gardens and entertainment.  We found a nice outdoor restaurant to enjoy a Spanish dinner while being serenaded to by Spanish guitarists. 

 

It was a beautiful autumn night in Barcelona, like our mid summer or warmer, so we walked back to the hotel, grabbed some drinks and went up to the roof-top area of the Ayre Hotel.  We had great views all over Barcelona and Sagrada Famila.  Part of the Spanish celebration weekend was a massive fireworks display which we could hear, and see in the distance, from the roof top.   

                                                                                                                                      

Barcelona is such an awesome city and I hope to revisit it oneday!