We have arrived! - Barcelona, Spain
Barcelona, Spain
Saturday 31 August - 8.15am
How lucky are we! We have arrived unscathed, in good condition and still happy. The journey was uneventful, interesting and very long. Well that is the end of my blog!
THE GOOD
We worked out the mystery of duty free shopping (in Adelaide). Wow fantastic prices - although the penalties are stiff if you go over the limit! The man had to tell us gently to put some some of it back on the shelves or we would pay dearly!! Must remember to collect on way back!!
The fantastic service from Singapore Airlines - no complaints.
The hot (boiling) towels we received before each meal to freshen up.
The inflight movies - nothing much to see - but no plane disaster movies - grateful.
Our descent into Singapore - midnight - it could have been in the middle of the day. The city was bathed in golden light as far as you could see - we descended through golden clouds which cloaked the city in an eerie golden haze. Brightly lit junks littered the harbour contrasting the old with the new as thousands of cars sped along the super highways nearby. It was a magical sight.
The food on the flight - good and plentiful - sigh! Bye, bye careful eating - this was moot the moment I stepped on the plane.
We were on an airbus - so Phil and I had two seats to ourselves - not that comfortable - but easy when getting in and out for toilet and stretch.
Flying at 100,000 feet outside temp -57 degrees - wheeee! On top of the world! It was beautiful up there - stars were clearer and you could see the curve of the earth.
THE BAD
Obnoxious Aussie drunk and noisy, drowned out the crying baby.
Keeping hydrated meant the beginning of my hate relationship with the toilet. That whooshing noise when you flush meant terror of disembowelment every time you sat.
Fluid retention - mainly ankles - yikes!
Phil slept like a baby (man thing). Didn't snore thank god! And he hardly used the toilet (definitely man thing!).
Those neck cushion things we bought - hated them and they didn't help at all - felt like you were being suffocated! Fail!
AND THE PLAIN UGLY
Half of first class empty - upgrade? No!!
Landed at Singapore.
Next flight already boarding - started walking - discovered it was a 20min walk to departure gate, walked faster, then kind of running then full sprint. Travelaters helped (learned how to leap off them instead of being thrown!). Should have caught the sky bus which kept whizzing by us! Curses!! Anyway we found out plane would have waited for us! Now they tell us!
Best part we were not alone and so it wasn't the Helen and Phil factor!!
And now for 13 hours straight - where the hell do they stash the fuel!
THE GOOD
Hmm thinking, thinking. I know - the end of the flight!
THE BAD
All movies wanted to see have been seen.
Phil sleeps like a baby!
Can't eat any more food!
THE PLAIN PLAIN UGLY
My neighbour (I was sandwiched between Phil and a young Spanish man) had the worse case of halitosis I have experienced! It made 13 hours seem like two weeks. My salvation was eating time, those hot towels (they smelled sweet and the girls had to rip the away from me noooo), and the trips to the hated toilets. I would linger in them - now that is desperation! When he slept it was worse and I just wanted to lean across and close his mouth! I paid him back by going to the toilet lots!!
Our descent into Barcelona was messy and the nervous laughter once we landed was hilarious!
Barcelona was beautiful and the airport was very lovely (if hot) air conditioner guys!
It took one hour to collect bags and go through customs (speed is not their motto!) nor is friendliness!!
We landed at 8.15am Saturday. Weather balmy and 32 degrees.
THE GOOD
The city of Barcelona is lovely. Their architecture is a mixture of the old and traditional (left standing and restored).
There is high density living with skyscrapers dwarfing quaint traditional apartments which still bear cheerful balconies sporting colourful pots of red geraniums.
Most buildings proudly display their country's flag.
The terracotta buildings slashed into hilltops look just as the postcards do.
They have a perchance for plazas rather than green belts but the effect is still lovely and still captures the feeling of spaciousness. Very clever
There is artwork, sculptures and mosaics everywhere.
The Spanish people are a good looking race of people and the children are to die for with their shy smiles and long long eye lashes framing huge brown eyes! Mwwaa!!
We found an amazing shopping mall across from the hotel and the supermarket was just that -SUPER!! We were like wide eyed children - and the alcohol! Say no more!! That was in the supermarket. Don't tell a anyone but we bought another suitcase (from the supermarket) and filled it (with some alcohol - which we have to drink before we board ship - sigh!).
The Hilton hotel is lovely just a skip from the beach.
First night tapas on the beach - lovely and warm.
Heaps of fun trying to communicate - lots of sign language and a little Italian from Phil helped.
The food is honestly amazing - good and honest and the taste is a gastronomical delight (like that?). They are famous for their tortillas and tapas and they don't disappoint! Sigh!!
THE BAD
16 euros for a gin and tonic at the Hilton hotel bar - cheaper places to drink thank you!
Generally friendly people - but some of them hate their jobs (doesn't matter which country you live in).
Doesn't matter where you live ladies still have to line up for toilets!!
They bring their dogs into the shopping mall and inside the shops and you actually do have to dodge doggy poo! Fail!
There are massive bins scattered around the streets everywhere - we think they are council bins - but boy do they smell unpleasant. Barcelona on the whole doesn't smell sweet. The dogs poo anywhere - even in the plazas. You could be standing at traffic lights and the dog will drop one in front of you! I don't know what they feed their dogs but it is scary!
THE HILARIOUS
Trying to fit travel SIM card into Phil's phone and it wouldn't fit. Panic (Phil over reacts to most things - had to calm him). Find a little phone shop, beautiful girl twigs to our dilemma and tells us we need to cut the card! We had no idea! She produces special cutter and voila! 5 euros! First thing we spend! We knew our friend Jerren would not sell us something that wouldn't fit, but you were on shaky ground for a minute Jerren!! Good achievement! Possibly should have done this before we left!!
Buying the extra luggage in the supermarket and finding another level downstairs. Panicking realising we hadn't paid for the luggage before going downstairs. Watching Phil trying to run back up the travelater clutching the suitcase to the amusement of onlookers! Being told we could actually pay for it downstairs! Gold!
Trying to communicate - fantastic fun!
Being asked to produce passport every time we used the credit card. That Aussie accent! One transaction I decided to play the game. Ole she says, ole I say back. Speaks fast Spanish to me. Si I say back. She nods, I nod, si I say again. Produce credit card. She doesn't ask for passport! No Aussie accent, actually not much speaking at all, just nod head alot!! Priceless!
Sunday 1 September
Happy Father's Day to all dads and thinking of our loved ones no longer with us.
First day of spring in Australia and first day of autumn here in Barcelona. The weather is glorious - over 30 degrees. The Hilton is lovely and cool but elsewhere they don't believe in air conditioning. Rolling with it though!
Today we are going to explore the city by bus. Barcelona has the most amazing bus system. Called Turistic it is split into colour zones - green, blue and red. These zones do certain parts of the city and they join at certain stops where you hop off to catch the next colour zone. They call it the hop on hop off bus trip (funny about that!). It costs 26 euros per person and it money well spent as that is a whole day travel. They have conductors on the bus who help you and sort of the ticket stuff. We got terribly lost at one stage and they couldn't help you enough (especially when they realised we were working from an old map someone had given us and it had all changed). They were amused but we were exhausted!
THE FANTASTIC
The weather.
The bus - hop on hop off.
The atmosphere of Barcelona.
How quickly we have adapted to the life here.
The tourist attractions.
We wandered La Rambala - and into a side alley we found a quaint little bistro where no English was spoken - we managed to work out the menu and had this amazing lunch for 6 euro! (Including a pint of beer!)
I had never heard of Gaudi a world famous architect whose work adorns the city of Barcelona. On our bus trip we learned about this man and his famous works which are tourist attractions. We visited the church Sagrada Familiia and it was our turn to tilt our heads in awe and homage to this fantastic structure soaring haphazardly into the sky. I honestly can't say that it is beautiful - it is quite ugly - with spires poked wherever, bits running here and there and giant religious figures hanging precariously from walls and nooks. New sections have been added and they look uninviting and out of keeping with the original. The church is quite drab in colour with no mosaics in sight which would make it sparkle. However it is an awe inspiring work of art and testament to someone's imagination and determination.. All monies collected from the public fund the continuation of his work and it is expected to be completed in 40 years! We did not go inside as the wait for tickets was three hours in the hot sun. You could queue skip with online tickets but we were happy with what we saw.
On the bus system they provided you with headphones which relayed all the information about the city and what attraction could be found at the next stop
One of the stops we did make was at Park Guell which is where Gaudi lived. If you wanted to see mosaics then your thirst would have been quenched. Where he found hours or money to do these fantastic designs, who knows, but it was wonderful to run your hands over the smooth colourful tiles and marvel at them. To see this house and all the mosaics was free (bonus) but the price was a long steep walk over slippery cobblestones in the hot sun. Then around 4000 steps where yo fond yourself in wonderful exotic gardens once again show casing myriads of mosaics and a captivating view of the terracotta houses of Barcelona and the sea beyond. I was cool and enchanting up there and it was hard to come away. When we emerged back at the bottom we were seriously disorientated and hopelessly lost but knew we had to go downwards where we eventually joined the throng!
After we got sick of the bus tour we grabbed a cab (of which there are thousands!) and he took us back to the hotel at 140ks per hour - we thought that was the best part of the day!!
The night life is fabulous, full on and colourful.
Tomorrow we board the ship!!!