Arrival
Barcelona airport is large and we have a long walk to baggage claim where we wait a bit for our luggage. We find our way to the taxi stand outside, get in a taxi with a non-English speaking driver, and show him the printed hotel address (Hotel Banys Orientals). He has to check his printed guidebook (no GPS) for a few min before we actually leave the airport. 30 min and 30 Euro and he stops on a main street and points down a pedestrian walkway and says something. We get our luggage from the trunk and walk down 50 yards to cross street but can’t see hotel. I leave Margi with luggage and walk down just a short distance and we find the hotel. We check-in and room is ready as we had requested.
Hotel
Hotel Banys Orientals was another recommendation from Rick Steves and we were happy with it. We picked this hotel because it is only about 50 yards from a metro station. Hotel is modern, staff is friendly, and room is good sized. Bathroom does NOT have a tub (boo!!) but has separate door for toilet. There is a walk in shower, but oddly, there is not shower curtain or door so the bathroom floor gets a bit wet when the shower is running. There is WiFi and the standard English new channels on the TV. Our room is in the back, overlooking a pedestrian alley. We request an iron (for our newly washed laundry) and it arrives in about 5 min. There is no fridge but there is free bottled water in a cooler by the elevator. This is the only place where breakfast was included in the price of a hotel and this is good because while the hotel is on a pedestrian only walk-way, it is not a “plaza” and there are no cafes really close by.
Day 8 – Friday Afternoon
Our stay in Barcelona is different as we are meeting long time friends, Hennie and Jeff. They are ex-pats (Canada and US) who have lived in Europe for many years. They have taken a four hour train from their home in the south of France (Vercors) and will arrive late in the afternoon. We have exchanged emails and Jeff has agreed to be our guide in Barcelona for Sat and Sun, but we have also agreed that they have seen some of the tourist sites already, so we will use Friday afternoon and Monday to see the places that they have already seen.
So, after some brief unpacking and short rest, we head out to get our Madrid Museum card validated. We walk up a few blocks to near the Cathedral to a Tourist Office to be told that we can have it validated at any of the participating museums.
Before going on, we decide to have lunch near the Cathedral. Margi spots a place in the sun, so we sit down and order a drink. It turns out to be Vietnamese so Margi gets her go to potatas frita and I risk a sampler plate. We have Coke Lite and beer. Might have been the best Vietnamese food ever, but as it is the only Vietnamese food I have ever had, we would not go back – LOL
So, we head back toward the hotel to find the Picasso Museum that is nearby. There are signs but we miss one and so walk back and forth a bit. Again, the hotel supplied map helps but does not have all the streets and alleys, so we struggle to find it. There is a long line waiting for tickets so Margi goes up to a “group” door with our Barcelona Museum card and we are directed to #23 where there is a ticket window and no line. Museum is upstairs after we store my backpack and camera (no pics). We both like Picasso and this exhibit traced his work as a painter from early years (13 years old) where he was doing realistic paintings as a student, through the evolution to the modern icon. Fascinating to see this transition.
After the Picasso Museum, we use our map to try to find our way back to the hotel via small alley ways. We stumble upon a wonderful hand made leather store and end up buying a graduation gift for a niece. I get a belt and we negotiate the price down for a cash deal. The purchase took most of our available cash, so we find an ATM and make a withdrawal.
We go back to the hotel and come back down to the lobby at 6:55 to meet Hennie and Jeff. We see Jeff examining the menu for the hotel restaurant. He is so engrossed that Margi walks up behind him and bumps into him. Hennie is across the street in a shop. After kisses and hugs, we walk down the street to a tapas place where we have tapas and drinks. Jeff has made reservations at Can Sole, a restaurant he has found and wants to try. After tapas, we walk down by the waterfront to the restaurant, with a few wrong turns along the way. It is a small place with no real signage that I can see, but Jeff and Hennie find it anyway. We get a table in the back near the kitchen which is separated by a glass wall. I like seeing the kitchen activity, so the location is great. Jeff is the wine expert of the group and orders a bottle of white (after we have all ordered seafood). Margi and Hennie have sole meuniere, Jeff has cuddlefish, and I have tuna steak (which is a HUGE portion). For dessert, Margi and Hennie have creme brulee, Jeff has lemon sorbet with sage, and I have nada. Food is very good and our half of the bill is $90, our most expensive meal so far. We walk back to the hotel via a more direct route and agree to meet on Sat at 9:30 am.
Day 9 – Saturday
We meet at the appointed 9:30 after our included breakfast. The breakfast is good, with fresh squeezed OJ, pastries, and the standard European meats, cheese, fruit, and yogurt. Automated coffee machine produces cafe con leche or cappuccino. Jeff led us on our tour for the day. We walked thru a modern market near hotel, through small church, and then to Barcelona Cathedral. We then went to the Catalonia Concert Hall and went on a tour of this Gaudi designed structure, which was impressive. Had lunch a place outside Boqueria Market. Walked through Boqueria Market and got fresh strawberries, some fruit drinks, and special ham. We walked to Playa Catalonia where Hennie and Jeff wanted to shop in the El Cortes Ingles department store. We agree to meet at 7:30 at their hotel, so we part and we take the metro one stop back to our hotel (using our 10 ticket metro card).
We meet Hennie and Jeff in their hotel lobby at 7:30 pm. Jeff told us we had to buy tickets with entry time for Park Guell, so Margi buys online for Monday as we sit in the lobby. For dinner, we go to the modern market we visited earlier and eat at the tapas chain restaurant adjoining it. We have clam necks, shrimp, baba ganouse, cheese, tomato & mozzarella, and a bottle of red wine. Dessert is lemon pie, carrot cake, and “maki” (Spanish cannoli). We walk back to hotel via back alleys.
Day 10 – Sunday
We meet Hennie and Jeff at metro stop. We take taxi (at my request) to Gaudi apartment, La Pedrera. We buy tickets but the elevator is temporarily out of order so we have to walk up five flights to the attic where the tour starts. The first part of the tour is the roof which shows some of Gaudi’s architectural details and has great views of the city. Then back down to the attic where there are exhibits and videos about the construction of the building. We have audio guides with our tickets, so we wonder about independently to see things. The last part of the tour is an apartment with all furnishings as it would have been at the turn of the century. Overall, I loved this place.
Next we take taxi (at my request) to CCCB Museum to see an exhibit of coffee table books. There is a children’s fair and book fair in the courtyard which we go through. Hennie is an author of books for bi-lingual children and she uses this opportunity to make some contacts. Jeff agrees to go back to the hotel to get some of her books for her to show. Hennie, Margi, and I go to the coffee table book exhibit in the Museum. In about an hour, we meet Jeff in the museum lobby. As Hennie and Jeff go to do some business at the book fair, Margi and I get two beers and fries from the food stand. We then go as a group to find lunch, ending up at a Turkish sidewalk cafe.
We then take Metro to Sagrada Familia. This place is fabulous. After our visit, Margi and I visit the gift shop and purchase a small souvenir. We all take metro back to hotel and agree to meet at 8:30 for dinner.
We meet at Hennie and Jeff’s hotel lobby and take a taxi to an upscale restaurant (Restaurante Tragaluz) that Jeff has been to before (near La Pedrera we visited earlier). Jeff has cuddlefish with black rice, Margi has suckling pig, Hennie has turbot, and I have salmon. All are delicious. Jeff selects a bottle of wine and we have a dessert wine with dessert. Our half of the bill is $122. We take a taxi back to the hotel and say goodbye to Hennie and Jeff as they are heading back to France on the train in the late morning.
Day 11 – Monday
This is our last full day in Spain and we are on our own. After breakfast, we take a taxi to the Joan Miro Museum on Montjuic. We exit the taxi and walk up to see that the museum is closed on Monday. At this point, we are both bummed out and basically ready to go home. After searching for an alternate way back to central Barcelona, we catch a taxi to the Ramblas, a pedestrian walkway. We had been there with Hennie and Jeff but as our plans were now thrown off course, we decided on that destination. After walking the Ramblas for a time, we take a cab to Park Guell. We are early for our appointed time, so we kill about 30 min sitting in open public area. We get in line and are allowed to enter the Park only at the exact appointed time. We stroll through another of Gaudi’s masterpieces.
We head to Sagrada Famila area again and have lunch at a pizza place (outside). Some silly older Germans arrive and request that the umbrella be put up, so we have to schooch a bit to stay in the sun. We take Metro back to hotel and get the front desk people to print our boarding passes. We also arrange for a taxi at 10:45 tomorrow to take us to the airport. We go upstairs and pack for our return.
For dinner, we ask for a tapas recommendation at the front desk. They suggest Bormuth which is about a 10 min walk but in an area we have not explored before. So, with the windy streets and limited hotel map, we get lost a bit but finally find it. The hotel said that it gets crowded, so we arrive BEFORE 8 PM (how gauche) and sit outside and have some drinks. Where we are sitting is in front of a store that sells fresh spices, nuts, flours, etc in bulk. There is a take a number system and people are waiting to be served. Margi decides to try to get some tea for a friend so she takes an number and waits as I wait for our dinner. She gets the tea, but the store is closing as she does, with them putting down the sliding metal door over the front and people exiting via a door into the apartment lobby next door. Our last dinner in Spain is toast with tomato, tomato and tuna salad, cheese with almonds, beer and Coke Lite for 25 Euros.
Day 12 – Tuesday – heading home
We get up around 9 am, stuff our final things in our bags, have breakfast and go to the lobby. As we are settling the bill, the taxi is already there so we leave immediately for the airport. We check in at Iberia, this time using the correct Iberia line (not the group line). We are returning in business class because when we booked our tickets using airline miles (British Airways), there were no coach tickets available as it is Easter week. We go from Barcelona to Madrid and then Madrid to JFK. As we have business class tickets, we can go to the business class lounge. But the trick is FINDING it. The gate agent tells us it is the Miro lounge which turns out to be WRONG. We can see an upper level that seems to be business class lounge but cannot find a way to get into it. We ask several staff and still cannot get to it. Eventually, we find the lounge just a few minutes before the departure down at the end of the terminal right across from our gate!!
On the flight to Madrid, business class is 3 on each side, but they only fill two of the three seats. We get some wine and relax. In Madrid, we are luckier finding the business class lounge which is right in the middle of the duty free shopping area. We do some duty free shopping and then enjoy the food and drinks in the lounge. Business class on the flight to JFK is only about 1/3 full, so we have good service. Lots of movie choices and ok food.
Back in JFK we have a problem with my passport that holds us up in the line. The airline has mistyped my passport number. We eventually get through passport control and still have to wait for our luggage. We get our bags and call the offsite parking place who comes fairly quickly. As one last JFK ripoff, I buy a 16 oz Coke Lite for $3.75!! Ride home is uneventful and we are happy to be back with dogs and family.
Wonderful trip of a lifetime.
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