Ross & Kara's Catalan Adventure - Day 1: Mucho Gusto Barcelona!
Pausing For Breath
So anyone who's read the last blog or has spoken to me in the last few months probably knows that the latter half of 2016 has been a real kick in the butt for me. I have been able to get a toe-hold on life by grabbing a job that I am still learning the ropes at, but beginning to enjoy. The downside being that I am only seeing Kara for around a day or so per week. This really sucks, but it meant so much to me (and hopefully Kara too) that we got time to escape things for a while. All the money that we had been putting aside for our trip the USA suddenly became our honeymoon/1st wedding anniversary fund, so we decided to book Barcelona and the small city of Girona in Catalonia as our destination.
Anyone who read my travel blog for Rome will be familiar with the format. I kept a journal of our time in Barcelona (and most of Girona) so I could put together a travel blog that was an accurate and timely representation of our time over there. I will post what I wrote at the time, then add some notes or thoughts that I had while I reflected on our time abroad.
Wednesday 26th October, 2016 22:00 - Barcelona's Old Town
"So we're on the road again! We've planned this trip months ago, and given the amount of stuff going on at home, I'm so pleased that I've had the chance to escape with Kara. Between feeling like the world is slipping away fro me as I hunt for a job and not being able to live with Kara, I've felt so out of my comfort zone that being away from home seems like the last thing I want to do. Fortunately, it seems that it's more important to be with Kara than in our own home, so I am looking forward to leaving my concerns behind as we explore Catalonia.
It was a super-early start this morning, but everything ran very smoothly, and after a taxi, train and tram; we were at Wetherspoons, eating a big breakfast in preparation for a day of travel. We flew out with Norwegian Airlines, who had a plane at about 35% capacity. This left Kara and I with a row to ourselves, and we were also given the "emergency exit" row, meaning that I had the space to stretch out, lean my chair back and play Ocarina of Time on my 3DS. I doubt I'll ever have such a comfortable and relaxing plane ride ever again, unless I become a millionaire or we get bumped up into first class. I was playing my game all the way up until the wheels touched tarmac!
Barcelona was pretty grey when we touched down, and I got the feeling that we'd be dealing with moderate heat and high humidity. It actually feels like a cloudy summer's day in Edinburgh. I feel clammy (what else is new?) and I'm not even getting the benefit of some sunshine. But it's us! We don't travel for the weather anyway, we like spending our time in nice restaurants, museums, galleries and cool pieces of architecture. Today has been a little bit slow in terms of excitement and exploration, but unlike our first day in Rome, we have eaten and we have food in the flat. I'll take a slow first day with food over a tumultuous welcome to a city on an empty stomach. Of course, the holiday tradition of carrying the suitcase everywhere is being honoured, but at least we have a "home-base" that's a bit closer to the city centre than we did in Rome!
We got the train from the airport to the middle of the city; a stop called "Passeig de Gracia". As soon as we stepped out of the station, we spotted one of the many Gaudi buildings; "Casa Batllo". We didn't get a great look at it, as we wanted to meet our host, Rosa. We had a short walk along the busy streets of Barcelona and were happy to see that despite the suitcases, we weren't the most obvious tourists! The number of overweight Americans with "sport team" t-shirts was surprising, but it was great to feel just a little bit less like the big fat "gringo" that I am.
Palau de la Musica Catalana
Palau de la Musica Catalana
We met Rosa by another architectural hot-spot; the "Palau de la Musica Catalana". I hope to get a better look at it later, when I'm not heaving luggage around. Rosa seems to be super-friendly, talking about the local area's attractions, complimenting my (piss-poor) Spanish and apologising for her English. This is a theme we found in Italy too, with us being apologised to for not speaking the local language. It mostly just makes me feel guilty for not being a font of Spanish-speaking knowledge. Kara has delegated all social interaction to me, which is actually something I thought she might start trying to do while we were just hanging out in the UK!
With our "home-base" established, we took stock of our surroundings. I had to recover from hauling our 18kg suitcase up 6 flights of stairs in the narrowest old stairwell imaginable. With a quick refresh, we headed out to find a market and a place to eat. Of course, the market closed twenty minutes before we arrived, so we went on a mission to feed ourselves. We ended up at a burger place called "La Central", where the staff and the menus are bilingual. Holy cow, the burgers are good! Kara got a bit of chicken so big that it was bigger than the bun! I get the feeling we'll be visiting there again. It's nice to have a bit of a budget for this trip, as it means we can have nice meals. Unfortunately, the € is now almost at parity with the £, making everything seem hella' 'spensive. Still, it's our "anni-moon", so we've got license to spoil ourselves.
La Central's burgers were the business.
Tonight, we are just chilling out. I am writing while Kara draws and Netflix is on. There's a surprising amount of English content in Spanish Netflix. With any luck, we'll be catching the "Bus Turistic" in the morning, giving us a good view of Barcelona and inspiring our travels over the next couple of days."
Reading it back, it's comforting to know how comfortable Kara and I are with just a peaceful night in, having seen a little bit of the neighbourhood and getting excited for what the next few days will bring. I only briefly allude to it in my journal, but the building we were staying in was renovated/rebuilt in the late 1700s, so our flat was at the very top floor of the skinniest stairwell. It was like an old castle's stairwell, winding round and round with barely any room to swing...well...I didn't need to swing a blade on this trip, but I did have to lug a giant suitcase up the steps. The stairs were so narrow that I actually felt a bit dizzy after coming down them at speed, as it felt like I'd been spinning around so fast. Having our location be so central was great of course, and despite the group of "youths" that hung around at the junction beside our "close" door, I was convinced that nobody was making that climb to rob someone.
I know I've been dwelling on it a lot recently, but my head was still a little bit all over the place for most of the trip, but I found the experience of being with my lovely wife in a pair of beautiful cities suitably distracting and comforting, enough to let me enjoy myself. Don't worry, this isn't a downer of a holiday.
Also, given how heavy the focus on gluten-free dining was in my Rome journals, the eagle-eyed among you will notice that Kara is back on gluten. Our eating habits become more of an issue later on, but at least we knew that in a pinch, we'd be able to get Kara burgers and pizzas if needed.