Arriving in Barcelona

After months of preparation and waiting in excited anticipation to leave for Barcelona, we left our homes in Tampa at 8 a.m. for a 12:30 p.m. flight to Philadelphia where we would take the 5:30 p.m. flight to Barcelona. We were ready. And the plane was ready for us! We were on our way.

We arrived in Barcelona at 7:30 a.m. the following day, October 28th. Supposedly, we had a driver who would take us to the hotel. Once meeting him, we found out that he would not drop us at the hotel door, but rather drop us some 3 blocks away. There was no way this could happen. We each had 2 suitcases and a carry-on. Plus, my travel companion had a walker. Get serious! We had met a couple who was going to the same hotel and we hired a cab for the four of us, whose driver did drop us at the door of our hotel. It was something to see the driver pushing all that luggage into the small taxi! Once at the hotel it was too early to get into the room, so we stored our luggage after using the lobby's restroom to freshen (?) up, if you could call it that.

We had tickets to La Sagrada Familia that afternoon, which I showed yesterday in this blog, so we walked the streets of Barcelona and found a ho-ho (hop on-hop off) bus. We took the ride to Gaudi's cathedral, and we were too early for that tour, also. We decided to stay close to the tour's office. We were getting very tired by now, but we were in Barcelona! and we were hungry, so first thing, we found someplace to eat.

We found this quaint bar on one of the streets, and asked if they served food. We, not knowing Catalan, and she, not knowing English, were able to converse using my broken Spanish words and gestures. We found out that the only food they served at that time was pizza. So, pizza it was, with a warm coke. And it was a delightful experience. I felt welcomed in spite of the language barrier.




We had more time to kill before the cathedral tour, so we walked and gawked. I couldn't help but simply stop and absorb the scenery, the architecture, the balconies every where. I fell in love with the balconies and the tree lined streets!

These two photos are of the same building, just a different shot. The photo to the left shows the tree lined streets and you can see a balcony with every window.

This photo is straight on at the building. I am enamored with the beauty, the cleanliness, the people's friendliness of making me feel welcomed in their city.








After time, the tour was ready to take us to La Sagrada Familia. We had arrived, tired, but we were in Barcelona.

Until tomorrow...have a great day!