Barcelona, ES (part 2)

Day 3:  Barcelona comes equipped with a number of beaches, and we had earmarked our third day for a visit. We took the bus, though the walk would later prove to be only about a half hour, and took a stroll along the boardwalk to see what sort of beach we were at. Almost before we could get our bearings we were already confronted with nudity on several levels, and we weren’t even looking for the nude beach! I didn’t want to expose my wife to any swinging undercarriage, so we turned our heels in the other direction to a more well-clad spot. Once we found a nice spot we rented a couple of chairs and an umbrella, then made ourselves comfortable for the next few hours. Christina had a chance to sport her new bikini, and I showed off the speedo-shorts which those present during Brazil 2009 might recall – we were joining the Europeans as far as our Canadian modesty would allow. We had a very enjoyable time, alternating between the sun and shade, reading and listening to music and watching the wildlife. We left the beach only minutes ahead of sudden rain, and were fortunately in the post office, from where we could watch people dashing through the streets and getting soaked as they scurried for cover. In the evening we returned for a second time to Centfroc for dinner, and had another very nice (and again, surprisingly affordable) meal there.

Day 4:  Our intention was to purchase 1-day transit passes, and use the bus and metro networks to explore the far reaches of urban Barcelona. This plan was somewhat derailed when, at the train station from which we had arrived, our first stop, we encountered a queue of people purchasing train tickets. As Dad E had warned us, the near-end of high season has caused an exodus of returning holiday makers. We pulled ticket 308, and saw that they were currently servicing number 210… During our wait we had lunch at the adjacent McDonalds, and explored the few shops, and generally lamented the day getting away on us. At the counter, once our number had finally been reached, the attendant informed us that a ticket to Avignon could not be purchased there, but he gave us some other French options, including Montpellier, which had nearly made our list, so we took him up on that one. This change of plans has given us one fewer days in either Avignon or Lyon, but lets us see one more town.

Once these arrangements had been made we got back on the metro and headed over to Parque de Montjuic, where Castell de Montjuic overlooks the city, and many newer developments were added for the 1992 Olympics.

We took a bus going back down the hill, intending instead to go to the top, and found ourselves at the foot of Placa Espanya, looking back at Palau Nacional, which hosts the national art gallery. We stopped in for just a quick break, to briefly escape the heat, then took some pictures from the panoramic overlook.

Further up the hill we stopped at the Estadi Olimpic, which we did not enter, but checked out the plaza and nearby Torre de Calatrava. We headed home for a break, and had a nice Skype call with Joe and Erica, who gave us a virtual tour of their new home.

Later we went to Parc Guell, that showcased some designs from Gaudi. I would have to say that his architectural style is not my favorite, but there were a number of pretty cool features, plus a monument at the peak of the hill which provided another great view of the city.

Christina had requested sushi for dinner, so we made our way back down and out of the park and tracked down a place which I had looked up. After dinner (which was nice, but made us crave Globefish, our favorite joint in Calgary) we returned home, by way of Sagrada Familia, to get a nice night shot of it.

Day 5:  We didn’t have much planned for our final full day, so slept in and had a nice slow start. We took a leisurely walk to the beach, stopping halfway for lunch on a pation where Christina ordred her last spanish paella con pollo. I had enjoyed this paella a bit more than the more traditional marisco paella. We then walked the last half to the beach, immediately found a spot in the ‘safe and mostly clothed’ area and spent a few more hours working on our tans, then made our way back for siesta. We had another skype call, this time with my folks, then Liz rang in and we had a nice three-way-chat with everyone. In the evening we had a dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe, which was not very creative, but a nice taste of home, besides, christina was craving nachos and not much was to be had for Mexican restaurants in our travels around Europe. We walked one last time down Las Ramblas, purchased some ice cream for dessert, avoided a police escorted rally that Christina didn’t want any part of, and headed back to the hotel by midnight, just enough time to pack and tuck ourselves in for a 7 hour sleep – or so we thought. Our night was unfortunately unrestful, as we were joined in our hotel by about three hundred screeching teenagers who returned home around 2AM and took a full two hours to get into their rooms and settle down, which is another reminder of how old we’re getting.