Hola!

Leading of from my last teasing post I am sitting here on the bus back to Girona (alternatively spelt Gerona) airport after my Barcelona sojourn. It's been an amazing 4 nights here filled to start with with fear & trepidation & a certain amount of left over angst from the last time I just couldn't seen to come at getting on the plain to Spain. But it has been worth it.
Day 1: Plain to Spain
It was late in the day by the time the plane touched down for the bumpiest landing ever in Girona. All was dark outside & it was with hesitation that I left the airport into a swarth of moustachioed, cigar smoking men and a humidity that I hadn't felt for a while. Climate wise it felt much like Sydney after flying in from the arctic. I was pleased to see my famed Barcelona Bus waiting for me to take me & the many gay girls it looked like I was sharing the trip with into Barcelona. It was so nice to see some of Our People cause it had been a bit barren in Oxford. Girona itself is a city with a lot of history but no time on this trip and an hour away was Barcelona.
Getting into the bus station now required me to navigate the Metro train system. It seemed much like other European undergrounds but always a bit daunting! I was warned by a guard who helped me buy a ticket about pickpockets and with great caution I managed to get there! Station Pg de Gracia. Something that struck me was how much Barcelona smelt like Paris, Rome & to a lesser extent, Marrakech; that pungent wave of sewage smell in different parts of the city, unpleasant but familiar too. I got off at the right station but the wrong exits. The stations are so big that taking the wrong exit can mean you end up 400 metres or more from where you wanted to be! Eventually I found the hostel after going to a couple of shops and being suprised to realise that very little english is spoken here.
The hostel was big- 7 stories with big dorms, a common room/ kitchen/ rooftop bar/ chill out space/ laundry & all the regular facilities. I stayed that first night in a 12 bed mixed dorm and made up my bed- initially paying for 1 blanket and then freezing & going down for another. That first might I had a wander outside and then ended up hanging out at the bar with some guys from the room San Gria is a lovely drink of choice & it was nice to have some chats about nothing. I was moved by one boys story though who had lost his male partner of 16 years just last month in a motorbike accident and he was coming to party in Barcelona & try and get over it. So sad. It want a late night by Barcelona standards- actually none of my nights were... But I had fun & given I was woken at 5am by drunken boys being silly, I was happy for the sleep.
Day 2: Hop on & Stay mainly on bus.
I got up & enjoyed a standard but great breakfast. The atmosphere in the hostel in the mornings was groggy with lots of people skipping breaky for sleeps- if they were home at all yet! Time on free internet & planning the day ahead ;) I had organised to go in a single sex room but they had mixed me around & so I had to hang around til 11. I ended up having a couple of short walks - the bank & supermarket. Brushing my teeth was a milestone since I had my toothpaste confiscated @ the airport. Once I was in & settled with the girls room I headed out & got on the hop on hop off bus which stopped just outside my door! Again! I opted for a 2 day ticket & went fo a circuit on the Red route!
Up I popped on the top of the open bus, taking in the most of the warmer weather with a tshirt & jacket. I had not anticipated the wind when our bid careered down the Barcelona motorway!!! Brrrr. This was a great idea though because it allowed me to see a huge amount and get an overview of the city iN a not too scary way We went past La Pedrera an apartment block by Gaudi (pronounced Gow-Dee) which is all stone waves and ripples. Amazing to see. And we went past a palace and monastery and old villages and government quarter and La Sagrada Familia- which Ill talk more about later. I ended up getting off the bus in the city centre and strolling down La Rambla which is the main tourist drag- a very wide boulevarde with street performers- lots of those statue performers with elaborate costumes & souveneir stands and eateries and a huge number of people! It was a couple of hours wandering around her where I found 2 things of particular interest- a big fresh food market- though nothing in size to the queen Vic- called La Boqueria and an old friend from Amsterdam, Maoz- the best falafel salad place ever!! So I had a great stcky beak & enjoyed the colour of the market and fruits I hadn't seen before. I had Maoz for lunch and managed to find my way to the hostel before my feet dropped off. I was pleased to find that I was staying only 10 minutes stroll from the city centre in the heart of uptown shopping & fancy restaurants. It was also a pleasant surprise to chat with some girls @ the hostel- two sisters froma turkey with only a little English between them & an american student who was living in Italy. I ended up having sinner @ a place on La Rambla with her & it was good to have some company and solidarity in the no seafood stakes in a largely seafood diet of Barcelona. It was easy and though not a late night I enjoyed being out at night.
The impressions of that first real day in barcelona were really varied. First- an aundance of tourists. I have never seen so many tourists in one city- it's not even high season! Also- just how European the city is. It didn't really fit my picture of Spain, and as I learned from the tout guide the city considers itself Catalan rather than Spanish and it has more of an affinity with Italy- it was one of the few Spanish cities founded by Romans, Mexico & Cuba because it is a potty city and the influence to/from sth America is huge here. It's also the closest Spanish city to France and so you can see French style buildings and window boxes and louvres in most of the buildings. Except the Modernista ones- of which Gaudis are the most famous. My impression of the tourists was an unbalanced collection of college students- the majority couldn't speak English?! I really enjoyed that first day. The sun shined & I proved I could enjoy myself despite feeling a bit scared. Oh and I nearly forgot... I had my first official Spanish hot chocolate! I sat in a choclateire much like Koko Black and I expected to get a hot chocolate that was goodbut oh my, it exceeded my wildest dreams! I had a chance to savour the spices and watch as my spoon stood vertical in the chocolate sludge. It was wondeous and probably the most relaxed I gelt the whole time in Spain.
Day 3: Oh I do like to be beside the seaside.
This was the day of taking the hop off hop on bus on the blue route which took in the sights of the 92 Olympics and the port. I followed the previous days example and stayed on to listen to the commentary butwas more well dressed for the wind! At Montjuic (Mount of the Jews) which was the Jewish burial site in olden days (code for not sure of the date, year or century) but is now a fabulous lookout and the site of the Interrnatiomal Exhibition of 1900 ( or thereabouts) which has a huge building-cum-gallery, I alighted the bus. Buttercup & I took some great pics and then she pointed out to me that I could have a hot chocolate overlooking Barcelona. Afterall, that would be very Spanish. So I did. And... I noticed he poured the choclate from a uht carton and heated it up... And it, like the previous days was fantastic!
Back on the bus, and I got to see the Olympic stadium and two sets of cableways leading to the mountain peak- one looking over the mountain & the other going from a tower in the middle of the docks over the water up the mountain. While acknowledging that the views would be spectacular I felt I could give it a miss ;) the one going over the sea looked like it was older than a world war 2 veteran, best I spare it the angst of lugging me up the mountainside. The harbour area was much like Darling Harbour but very pretty and there's a giant statue of Christopher Columbus pointing out to sea. It was lovely to give me a sense of seaside Barcelona but I got off for a better sticky beak at the Barri Gothic- gothic quarter oh the city. Here the architecture was entirely different, all dark stone, gargoyles & spires. I went inti the Barcelona Cathedral- and it was just amazing. All arches and ornamental spires and in the cloister a full forest & geese and aquaduct. Stunning architecture but also a very peaceful place. I loved my time there. I didn't potter too long in that area but I did come back a day later. I found some vintage shops, had a traditional hot choc with free churro to dunk, went to another fresh food market & also enjoyed wandering back to Maoz for another falafel & salad explosion of taste. I had grand going out plans but was so exhausted by the end that an early night won out. ... To be continued.
-- Post From My iPhone