Hop On - Hop Off Barcelona - page 2 - part 1

     As you know, I went to bed at 7:30 PM, our first day in Spain, so I woke up around 4 in the morning, ready to see the town! I thought it was day break because light streamed through the front door of the art studio/AirBNB. Yet, it was just the street lights. Time was off for me the entire span of our trip. I couldn't sleep so I got up and wrote in my journal.  

 

                Here's a little entry from my journal - October 4, 2016:
"We left out of our Spanish nest around 8AM. Philip wanted to get to the Hop On - Hop Off tour buses early so that we could beat the crowd and get good seats - up top. I felt better this morning. The sights and sounds that bombarded me yesterday, and oozed down my brain - suddenly woke up for me. I noticed the breeze against my face. I felt amazed at the colors of everyday things. Sounds and smells soaked in. I was no longer a sleep walking zombie  (though at one point I pondered how wonderful a super power it would be to both sleep and walk through certain portions of life). Today Barcelona and I met for the first time.

Giving the maps another check

 

 

The buses didn't start until 9AM so we had to mill about for a while. I bought a chocolate muffin at a place called Zurich - good muffin - so that Philip didn't feel embarrassed to ask to use the toilet." (Yes, America, Europeans charge for folks to use the bathroom (we saw prices from .50 to 1.75 Euro - unless you are buying something from their store.)

   At 9 we got on the Hop On - Hop Off bus (orange ticket) going west. Barcelona has a lot to see. This bus took us down to the shore of the Mediterranean Sea.

 

 

We passed the Monument to Christopher Columbus. It was established in honour of the discoverer of America. In 1493, Columbus was received by King Ferdinand II in Barcelona on his return to Spain from his voyage to America.

 

Nearby the Columbus Monument was the Aduana building - an old customs house that was built in 1902. 

 

 

We saw the docks where our cruise ship

would be waiting for us the following day.

 

 

 

     We passed by the converted Los Arenas. Bull fighting use to be popular in Spain but no longer.

 

 

 

Los Arenas was one of three bull rings in Barcelona.

It opened in 1900 with the last bullfight being held in 1977.

 

 

 

The arena was gutted. The structure and facade were raised and underpinned.(The area with the red brick is the original bull fighting ring.)Now the three lower floors house shops and a cinema.

 

 

 

The tour bus drove around the west section of town while we listened to a pre-recorded tour via ear plugs.  Barcelona is full of beautiful buildings. Soon we were driving up into the mountains to the site of the 1972 Olympics - the Olympic Village.

 

 

They're very proud of their Olympics past. The taped voice mentioned how beautiful all the nation's flags looked flying in Olympics Square. Philip and I both looked at each other with the same thought, "Why aren't those flags still flying if they looked so good?"

 

     After the west side tour ended, we decided to take a break from our bus riding and get some lunch. We found a restaurant close to the bus starting point. They had thin bread loaves with a choice of filling on the inside. Philip chose cheese and I chose thin sliced ham. It was good! We also had coffee - Americano. It was delicious too. Sitting there, drinking coffee with Philip, while the world swirled around us, felt like a scene from a movie.

 

 

 

 

 

After lunch, Philip decided to check the map and I decided to go to the restroom. I went down a flight of stairs which ended at a big black door. One door. I followed the signs but was not sure that this was the toilet. I slowly opened the door and stepped inside the room. There was a mirror and sinks on one wall and 4 black doors on the opposite wall. There was no way to tell if anyone was behind the doors because they filled their openings. On the doors were 4 separate symbols. A lady wearing a fancy hat, a mother cradling a baby, flowers - or maybe a large group of people and what looked to be a man wearing a military outfit - all in silhouette. I was having a game show moment. Do I choose a door and win 6 million dollars - all in small bills or will I get the donkey wearing a half chewed sombrero? Finally, I went with the lady in the fancy hat, opened the door and won a regular toilet. After wards, I came out to wash my hands and was still soaping up when a man burst into the wash room, took one look at me then chose the nearest door to him... without even a thought of six million dollars or a donkey. It was a strange happening.

 

After lunch we got back on the Hop On-Hop Off bus (green ticket) going east. That portion of the tour is for another entry.

 

Note: We noticed that a lot of the ear plugs get tossed onto the bus shelters.

It seemed to be a thing.

 

Note: Remember that I said that Barcelona has a lot of narrow streets because it was a city built before automobiles. At some point in time, someone took out a whole slew of old houses and put in a modern day thoroughfare. So the traffic is tight and fast in Barcelona!

 

 

To Spain and Beyond - page 1

     I am sitting here in our big, ugly, lift chair, trying to figure out the best way to tell you that Philip and I just got back from a big trip overseas. It was all his idea. Philip has dreamed of this trip for a long time so he planned it all out and we went!
     When I told my sisters that I was going to Barcelona, Spain to get on a cruise ship and travel the length of Italy on a cruise, they were thrilled for me. My sister, Grace, told me to take a lot of pictures and write some stories about our journey. So - here we go!

 

It was all last minute details for us. Packing went pretty smoothly until Phil got a phone call from a client who wanted him to place an offer on a property.  Then it was research and phone calls to get the offer in place. Finally we were ready to head to the airport.

 

Down through a huge cloud bank and into the Philadelphia airport.

 

The airport featured several exhibits of art. This one is a beautiful collection of political buttons.

 

 

Another exhibit featured a creative use of wooden pallets. This was one of Philip's favorite presentations.

 

 

It was at about this point, where we were looking at creative uses of pallets, that a dramatic scene played out in the walkway to my left. A woman was travelling down the isle, leading a child of about 2 or 3 with a leash. Yeah, a leash. Well, the child was crying and suddenly threw herself down on the floor in spread eagle formation. This is when the blood curdling screams started blasting from this young child. The mom stood there holding the leash, waiting for the child to finish all the drama and get up. She waited. The wailing continued. Finally, the mother dropped the leash and walked away. This did not stop the child. As I looked at this scene, I uttered a small prayer - "Please don't let those two be on my plane." And the voice in my head, on hearing my prayer, said "You know they're going to be on your plane." 

 

A long night for Sarah.

 

We left Philadelphia around 7pm. The plane was full! Packed full! Mine and Philip's seats were in the center of 4 seats in the center of the plane. After the plane got high in the air and the crew fed everyone, the lights were turned down so that folks could rest. There was no rest! Little TVs played throughout the plane. I couldn't stand the constant glare of the flickering bright screens and so decided to write in a journal that I had bought just for this trip. At the bottom of each page is a little quote of scripture. So as I was stressing out over that packed in feeling, I turned on my little book light and started to write in my journal. The first line of scripture that I came across - "The Lord says, "I will guide you along the best pathway for your life. I will advise you and watch over you." Psalm 32:8. This went a long way to help me relax and let go of care.

 

 

As the night wore on, a familiar voice started up at about the 1AM hour. It was the little leashed child from the airport. She started crying and yelling into the crammed darkness. I ( and probably everyone else on the plane) began to cringe. Her screaming was really gnawing at my nerves and I wondered why the flight attendants couldn't go back there with some kind of entertainment for that child. Do a song and dance for heavens sake! Yet, none of the attendants made a move. I felt bad for the child. Who knows how an airplane flight might affect a little kid. At one point, I thought about going back there and talking to her myself, but felt that might make matters worse. So as I sat there in 28E, I uttered a prayer "God, let's let that little kid get some sleep." Well, in less than two minutes, the plane was quiet. Coincidence? I don't know but the pain eased and I napped for about 30 minutes.

 

 

We arrived around 8AM Barcelona time, which would make it 2AM in Indiana. We got off the plane onto the tarmac and were put onto tram buses to ride to the Customs section of the airport.

 

At Customs we got in one of the longest lines I have ever seen. Hundreds of people were waiting to proceed through customs and on to their vacations that waited in the world beyond. There were approximately 4 attendants processing this huge line. None of them were in any hurry.

 

After the Customs ordeal, we boarded a city bus that took us to the center of the city of Barcelona. A woman who was wrestling her huge suit case into a bus before ours, dropped a coin. As I yelled at her that a coin had fallen from her bag, the door to her bus closed and she and her big bag were whisked out of site. I picked up the coin, which was 2 Euro - a little more than 2 American dollars. Lucky me!

 

Sleepy eyed in Barcelona.

 

 

After getting off the bus, we got onto the subway which took us to the Joanic community, where Philip had made arrangements for us to stay in an AirBNB.  At least three different people warned us to beware of pick pockets on the subway. "They are very talented."

 

AND NOW FOR OUR AIRBNB ART STUDIO / BEDROOM / HOME AWAY FROM HOME IN BARCELONA!

 

THE KITCHEN 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ENTRY FOYER

 

     THE STUDIO

  OUR BEDROOM

The ceiling in half of this room was only about 5 foot tall. I let Philip have that side of the bed so that he could get the full AirBNB effect. He only bumped his head once. He got a leg cramp and jumped up without thinking. At least the leg cramp felt better.

 

 

 

 THE ROOF TOP PATIO

 

After we dropped our bags at the AirBNB, we set out for a little walk around Barcelona. Since it is a town that was in existence before the automobile, it seems that most of the streets are only narrow enough for a single automobile to pass. I didn't notice any cars in driveways  or for that matter any driveways but there were tons upon tons of mopeds, bicycles and motorcycles.

 

 

 

We saw many lovely buildings.

 

 

 

 

 And we're lost!

 

This is building is modeled on the Arc de Triomphe in Paris.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Checking the map again.

 

 

And we saw many interesting sights.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Checking the map again.

 

 

Our AirBNB  host recommended this restaurant for us. Just a note: we were told that most restaurants open for dinner around 8 or 9pm, so we saw lots of people out walking around in darkened streets.

 

 

This is my appetizer which is cod with cauliflower.

It tasted as boring as it looks - the flavor of beige.

Phil had some kind of lasagna.

 

 

This jar is basically designed so that a whole group can drink the wine without getting their germs on the jar. I think it's like a modern day goat bladder. One holds the container above their mouth and takes good aim.

 

Notice that the waitress gave Philip a towel to protect his shirt.

 It was a good move on her part. His aim was not as good as one of the locals.

 

 

Two sleepy people waiting for their dinner.

 

Phil had beans and franks and I had steak and fries.

 

And a wonderful cup of coffee - Americano!

 

Now it's time for bed. We got to bed around 7:30 pm Barcelona time which is 1:30 pm in Indiana.  We'd been awake almost 30 hours - except for the 30 minute nap I took on the plane.