Sunday May 4
We are now in expensive Barcelona, stuck here for three days. The train to Bobadilla is booked out (both the day and night train) until Tuesday and that one only had smoking carriage seats left. Twelve hours of second-hand smoke would be a bit much to take so weˇ¦ve booked for Wednesday morning. We are in a ˇ§cheapˇ¨ one-star pension, but itˇ¦s the most expensive accommodation of the whole trip, over a hundred dollars a night, fortunately payable by Master Card. Weˇ¦ve been living on bread and cheese and ham so far in Spain, mainly because of all the train-travelling, but tonight we had a meal at the station cafeteria ˇV pretty good roast chicken with a paella entr?e and our first taste of Spanish wine. The menu of the day here always seems to come with ˇ§pan, bebida and postreˇ¨ ˇV bread, drink (a choice of wine, beer or water) and dessert ˇV and generally cheaper than in France. This morning we saw the sights of Portbou ˇV the main one being a monument to philosopher Walter Benjamin, consisting of an enclosed staircase, one end having a view of rocks in the sea, the other of the sky. Our genial host at the Hostal told us people come from all over the world to see it. Well, itˇ¦s worth a look if you happen to be in Portbou.
This afternoon we walked around a big touristy park area of Barcelona with a number of museums, all closed for Sunday afternoon. A big section was closed off for a big motor-show which required tickets to get in. We saw some from the outside, eg. Toyota cars going up and down a very steep incline to demonstrate how safe they are. Tomorrow we plan to walk to (and around) the old town.
Monday May 5
It was a very long walk and very enjoyable. There was a lot to see. We followed a walking trail (map) to see examples of ˇ§modernismeˇ¨, the Spanish term for Art Nouveau, a very significant movement in Barcelona. It included some very weird architecture by Gaudi. We found an excellent buffet lunch restaurant with a lot of very healthy salads and some roast chicken, pizza and pasta dishes and fresh fruits. It included a generous glass of wine and as much tea and coffee as you want, usually extra in France and Spain. The cost was ?6.90. amazing value for the quality and quantity of food. We were going to go again tomorrow but found another one on the way home with a similar arrangement, so we will try that. We went just after 12.30, which is early in Spain. By 2:30 it was packed. It was nice to find such a place without any kind of rip-off mentality. We had a simple supermarket meal in the evening ˇV trying the Spanish cheese and wine. Tomorrow we will go back and explore the old town further. There are also a lot of small galleries that are worth a look.
Tuesday May 6
Didnˇ¦t get to any of the galleries. We continued the Modernisme walk, the highlight being Gaudiˇ¦s Atonement Temple of the Sacred Family, still under construction. It is an amazing piece of architecture. We tried the other buffet place for lunch ˇV not quite as good as the first but still excellent value. This one had unlimited drinks too ˇV as much wine as you want. Long queues to get in had formed by 2 pm. It was raining on and off and was very windy. If this is Spring we donˇ¦t want to be here in Winter. Wrote to the family today, making use of the 1? per hour e-mail. Stormy weather tonight. I hope it clears up for our walk to the station in the morning. We borrowed an alarm clock, set for 6:30 a.m. in case ours doesnˇ¦t work. The battery is getting old.
Friday May 9
We spent all of Wednesday on the train, then stayed in the little town of Bobadilla. There were no hotels but the ticket-seller at the train station, who was learning English, with a dictionary and text-book in front of him, directed us to a little bar. The lady there had no rooms but took us across the road to the house of another lady who led us to yet another house where we were given a room. It seemed to be a kind of boarding house. There was only one bathroom so we had a long wait for a shower at night. At least there was hot water.