We dragged our asses out of bed at the ungodly hour of 7am to make sure we gave ourselves plenty of time to make the train from Barcelona to Tarragona this morning. Good thing we did.

We had a bit of a screw up with getting to the station. It seems I no longer know how Uber works because for the second time I managed to input our destination incorrectly in the app. Luckily, the taxi driver picked up on my screw-up and asked us where we were REALLY going.

Like Malaga,  the Barcelona -Sants station is massive. We’d been there before, because we came in at this station, but of course, we were still a bit confused by the layout. At least this time we knew that we had to use a machine to take a number to see a ticket agent. We had tickets, but in Spain, for many (most) trains, you ALSO need to make a reservation. Catch-22: If you are travelling with a eurail pass, you must make the reservation in person at a station. WTAF.

Anyway, we had already planned out all our rail trips for the remainder of our Spain experience, so we decided to book ALL of our reservations at once before getting on our train this morning. That way, we wouldn’t have to arrive an hour or more in advance of the departure time for any subsequent trips.

With the purchase of the eurail pass, I downloaded a handy-dandy rail planner app which allowed us to make all of these plans, knowing the departure and arrival times for all trains, when we had to switch trains etc etc. So we got our number, and I pulled out my phone to prepare for our turn at the wicket… only 8 people ahead of us and almost an hour before our train was to depart. No sweat.

I launched the rail planner app and…… all of our planned trips were GONE. Naturally this made me say some words that even the Spanish-speaking-only folks surrounding us would understand. How in the F$%#K could this happen? I’ve launched this app dozens of times and everything was always right there where it should be.  Unable to think of anything else to do, I resorted to my extensive IT training and experience and restarted my phone. Success! Everything was back.  Holy crap. What a relief. It took about 30 minutes for the agent to make all of our reservations and print them once we reached the wicket, leaving us just enough time to make itto platform 11 for our train.

Unlike our previous train travel day, this was no high-speed high class train. More like a city bus on rails. This was the one train where no reservation was required and seating was a free-for all. I could tell by the body language of the people on the platform as the arrival time of our train drew near that this was going to be a free for all. I was 100% right. When the train rolled in I told Carla that I would run interference and to just get behind me. We didn’t get seats together, but we got seats and were on the way to Tarragona.

The train probably maxed out at 100km/h, but it was only an hour and a quarter to Tarragona. We followed the coast and passed through a few one-horse towns along the way, with a few people getting off and on. As we rolled into Tarragona, we saw the beautiful combination of beaches, seaside Roman ruins, buildings rising up into the hills, and sunshine.

Once off the train, we punched in the coordinates for our airbnb flat. A 20 minute walk. We decided to go for it, even though we knew it would be all uphill. As we walked, we realized what a relief it was to be out of the insane rush of Barcelona. This place had a very chill vibe. THIS was the Spain that I imagined when we booked the trip.

We arrived at our place and our host was waiting outside for us. Although we were almost 2 hours early for check-in, he told us it would just be 10 minutes for our place to be ready, helped us up the 3 flights of stairs (19th century building with no elevator) and let us put our stuff inside. Key in hand, we set out to explore and find a cold beer to quench the thirst we built ascending the hill. We are right next to the Cathedral and can hear the bells chime every quarter hour. The flat itself is small, but very well equipped, comfortable, cool, quiet. Everything Barcelona wasn’t.

After a quick look around, we went back to unpack and relax which turned into an hour long siesta. After that we headed back out and found Roman ruins everywhere within walking distance, a very cool modern “Rambla” with many shops. We had dinner at a seaside restaurant , walked down the Rambla to the end, then started back stopping along the way at a grocery store for surprisingly inexpensive necessities (like beer for about 65 cents a bottle).

We’re back at the flat, showered and relaxing now. Feeling happy.

 

We are starting to be able to find our way around in Barcelona, so it is time to move on.  Now that we’ve been here for six days or so, we have a pretty good feel for the city.

Unlike Malaga, Barcelona is not “polished”. There’s a lot more graffiti, more visibly homeless people, fewer “obvious” tourists like us, greater cultural diversity. There is also much more in the way of amazing art and architecture than we saw in Malaga.

It’s interesting to note that this area (Catalonia), of which Barcelona is the capital, brings in the majority of the tax revenue to the country. At one time, it was an autonomous region with its own language, customs, traditions and government. There is a political movement to separate from Spain and return to that autonomous state. It make me think, of course, of the Quebec separatism movement and, to a lesser extent, the “Wexit” movement in western Canada.

It is very expensive to live in Barcelona. Only the extremely wealthy own anything we Canadians would call a ‘house’. This is probably the most pricey place we will stay airbnb-wise on this trip, with six nights coming in at a relatively bargain-basement cost of about $1450.00 CDN.

It’s a much different way of life. Few people own a car. Parking is practically impossible, and where it is possible, outrageously expensive. Make a wrong turn, and you will face a 200 euro fine for driving on a  street that requires a special permit.  You can find a market within walking distance of where you live. The public transportation system is highly efficient and modern. Bikes, scooters, skateboards and feet are how people get around here. Also, you see far fewer overweight people here.

Something else I noticed about this city; there are many dogs here and they are, for the most part very street-wise. It’s pretty common to see dogs off-leash but walking right alongside their owners, paying attention to the traffic around them and very comfortable with it all. So cool to see that. I had to include some photos.

Today was Sunday, and many shops were closed. The frantic pace of Friday and Saturday was replaced by a much more leisurely tempo on the streets. Of course, you still had to take care not to get mowed down by a speeding scooter or cyclist.

We purchased tickets for a noon concert at Palau de la Música Catalana. The concert featured choral works by Brahms and Mendelssohn for the first half, then some contemporary works by Catalan composers were being premiered. All works were fantastic and hearing them in such a stunningly beautiful venue was an experience we’ll never forget.

After the concert we wandered aimlessly for a while, at least as much as it can feel aimless in Barcelona, then headed back to our place to relax, have a beer and figure out some next steps. We are tentatively going to reconnect with Dan and Fran, who have been on their own cycling journey for the past 5 days. Follow them here: https://danandfran.yukonfilms.com.

Tomorrow, if all goes to plan we will be in Tarragona, Spain shortly after noon. The adventure continues!

A much slower pace today.

We needed to get some clothing washed, so the morning was spent doing just that. Luckily there was a long enough break in the drizzly weather we’ve been having to dry some stuff, because there’s no clothes drier in our airbnb, which seems typical everywhere in Spain. There are numerous balconies, however and some drying racks.  We managed to figure out the cryptic washing machine, but only by using Google Lens to determine what model it was (no identifiable brand markings anywhere) and then downloading a pdf manual from the web.

It’s become apparent how critical it is to be connected to the web while travelling. We would be lost, literally, within minutes of home without gps navigation. Even with it, the narrow streets interfere with the signal a lot and you can’t always trust your mapping software. Not only that, but we need it to book accomodations, trains, tickets, even to read menus in a lot of restaurants.

Once we got the clothes hung and mostly dry we headed out to explore. We wound up back in the center of old Barcelona where we spent some time just sitting on the steps of a church people watching and enjoying the street musicians. We got a bit thirsty and made our way up to the rooftop bar of the Hotel Colom across the square, where the view did not disappoint. Of course, the beer was marked up about 300%, but it was worth it, I figure.

We continued wandering for a while and popping in and out of shops. Ice cream was eaten, Art was enjoyed.

It’s weird being here in weather cool enough that a jacket is required while watching news of the heat and wildfires back in Alberta. We thought we would be baking in the heat, but it has really not been that hot here in northern Spain

Eventually, our weary feet led us back to our temporary home away from home. We are resting up a bit before heading out for a late bite. Tomorrow we have  afternoon tickets for the Symphony at the Palau de la Música Catalana.

We got an early start this morning because our day tour of Barcelona departed at 8:30 am and we had a bit of a walk to get there. After a quick breakfast and (only) one coffee, we headed out. I really could’ve used more caffeine because we really saw a lot today.

Our tour started off with us walking through the oldest part of Barcelona. Now, when I say old, I mean OLD. We’re talking stuff from the 1st century. We saw Roman Aqueducts and what used to be the gates to the city, where there was an actual drawbridge controlling the entrance. The ebb and flow of power in the region shaped the architecture tremendously. The Visigoths invaded and built on top of the original walls, making them higher. Then the French took power and built in their style. Finally, Catalonia, the region we are in, gained independence again and actually dominated much of Europe for a while, but then the black plague wiped out 60% of the population. That’s mind blowing. I think I have most of that right. Honestly, I’m too tired to fact check it all right now.

We boarded a bus and made our way up to Montjuïc Hill, the scene of the 1992 Olympics. Great views from up there. Plus, more coffee and a washroom break.

From there, back on the bus and it was time to head for Sagrada Familia, the iconic, unfinished Catholic church that cannot be missed. Designed by architect Antoni Gaudí, it remains unfinished almost 100 years after his death, but they are still working on it. It is astounding. I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves.

Next, we were off to Park Guell, which was, as our tour guide said, an astounding failure as a housing project but an amazing architectural and landscaping feat. Gaudi’s flowing designs embedded with both elements of nature and religious symbolism are incredible.

Finally, we visited La Pedrera, a residential building designed by Gaudi that was basically chiseled out of limestone riight on the spot where it sits, much to the chagrin of the neighbors. Again, incredible.

We walked home from there stopping to grab a bite to eat. We’re beat, but happy to have learned so much about this amazing city today.

 

The day started with a leisurely breakfast at the airbnb with our new Mexican friends. They are moving on today, so it was a goodbye breakfast. Fernando gifted us with his hop on hop off bus ticket which was valid for a few more hours. We gratefully accepted and headed off to catch the bus.

There was some kind of labour dispute affecting the running off the buses, so it was quite a wait to get on. Luckily we wound up at the front of the line for an arriving bus and managed to secure seats in the upper open-air deck. The two hour tour took us through many of the same places we saw the previous day by bicycle. It was such a different experience to the bike. I much preferred the bike tour. Much more up close and personal. The weather started to deteriorate about half way through the ride and got quite windy and cool. We were glad we brought an extra layer.

After the bus tour, we headed “home” to have lunch and plan our remaining days in Spain. It was tough to decide where we would go, and for how long. There’s so much to see here. Eventually we arrived at a reasonable plan and got the train times figured out. After that, we had a traditional Spanish siesta. We awoke to discover that it had rained while we were zonked out.

We freshened up and hit the streets in a direction we hadn’t been before and had a late dinner (paella and pizza). There was a great deal of activity on the streets and many people were visibly well into their drink. We behaved ourselves tonight because we have an early morning tomorrow. We’re on a full day tour. I think we will have done more than enough touring after tomorrow and will look for some music to take in.