Barcelona Travel Blog part one -- let's start at the very beginning

I enjoy traveling. Especially internationally. I suppose these adventures began in July when I renewed my passport -- the one set to expire in November. We had just returned from Niagara Falls, Canada, which hardly counts as an international trip since I could still see my home country during most of our trip. Other than not being able to use our data plan and having to use a different dollar, it wasn't different enough from the United States.

I promptly mailed my passport and waited an eternity (in reality five weeks) for it to be returned in a shiny new package. It arrived the week of my birthday, along with it the itch to take it someplace I have never before seen.

I asked friends for suggestions. Magical places such as Istanbul, Morocco, Costa Rica, Egypt, Peru, Poland, and Buenos Aires -- a list I am typing here to remind me of ideas the next time the itch arrives.

Don was set to ride his bike across Pennsylvania. His trip was cancelled. He wanted to go with with. His caveat: with the dollar so strong against the euro let's take advantage of that.

Somehow a combined Barcelona/Madrid trip seemed perfect.

Then I wrote to a friend with family in Barcelona and she recommended staying in Barcelona and saving Madrid for another trip. If I wanted a day trip, go to Tarragona. In many ways this made sense -- it was our first international trip in years; I was overwhelmed figuring out how many days in each city, what to do, etc. Sticking to just one city expanded the options.

My friend Jean sent me a sample itinerary her son, Peter a.k.a. Better-than-Rick-Steves, made for a friend of his. 

On Thursday, October 13 we left with a vague plan:

Friday: land at 9 AM, find place, eat, walk around, 4:30 walking tour of the Gothic Quarter.

Saturday: Tarragona. Medieval Festival. Tour Roman ruins.

Sunday: Church (International Church Barcelona) ???

Monday: museums are closed. Walking tour Gaudi.

Tuesday: Gaudi cathedral tour (Sagrada Familia) with guide in English and towers

Each night we reassessed the trip and added to the schedule.

Let's start at Newark Airport on Thursday afternoon.

A silent protest against United Airlines charging extra to choose seats led us to not pay the surplus. It also led to stress at the ambiguity of where will they seat us. I anticipated we would each be in a middle seat in the middle of the smoking section (anyone who traveled with flight benefits in the 1970's and 1980's recognizes that reference!). We made sure to arrive super early to be the first ones to be assigned seats. So we waited. And waited. And waited. Our flight was delayed. About two hours before the time we were originally set to fly United assigned our seats. Thanks to the magic of the internet, I was able to determine they were the bulk head center seats.

For future reference, I wouldn't pay extra for these seats. The extra legroom was an invitation for people to step over our legs to cross to the bathroom with the shorter line, then back again. Food was great, and it was a treat to not have someone lean their seat into our laps. We watched the Friends reunion and napped.

Once we landed we waited in a long line to get through customs. In my next life I will have multiple passports and be able to use the shortest line (in the EU that would be the European passport). Alas, Don and I fall into the "All Others" line. A guard took pity on our long line and let a few of us cross into the EU line where we sailed and suddenly my passport had its first international stamp less than two months after it was issued.

Prompted by Jean's advice we took the Aerobus to the center of Barcelona. My pre-trip research skills failed me and we got off on the wrong stop. After wandering around Placa Catalonia (forgive my lack of accent marks, after I get my thoughts down I can go back to fix them, it is too slow on an American keyboard), we realized we had no idea how to find the small street with the AirBnB on it so Don ignited his phone's data plan so he could use Google maps to download directions to his watch (very Dick Tracy in my mind). 

A note on that ... it is nearly impossible to travel with just wifi anymore. Everything is on the phone including tickets and access to QR codes to learn more.

After a 30 minute walk we found the AirBnB. Our hostess was waiting for us with the key (I thought we were just going to be able to drop off our stuff and come back later, so this was a pleasant surprise).

The place was located on a side street off of Av. Parel-el in the newly trendy Poble Sec neighborhood. Reviews raved about the area. Frankly, it looked pretty non-descript upon our initial impression. Everything sort of looked the same. As our stay unfolded, we discovered at least three grocery stores, two bakeries, and a never ending street of outdoor dining. There was also a school, and some local businesses. The best part was we were a ten minute stroll from the theater. It was the type of place where I would love to live someday.

After spending an hour unpacking and regrouping we decided it was time to explore. We started aimlessly walking in the opposite direction of where we came from in search of lunch.

We met a couple from Massachusetts on a cruise ship stop. Walked through a market -- which looked a lot like our Farmers Market, but on steroids.

Don plugged the start of our 4:30 walking tour into his phone and began the search for lunch.

Something about the name and the cheery yellow door we could not resist. The service was friendly. We relaxed with some beer and wine. I ordered tapas. I think Don had a chicken sandwich. 

We continued the journey after lunch admiring the sights. Reveling in the perfect 75 degree weather. Marveling at the 1:1 ratio for the euro to dollar (something not seen since the euro began in 2000). 

We made it to the start of our free walking tour with about 2 hours to spare. Hmm... we pulled out Peter's guide of what to see in Barcelona and figured out what we could do near Place Reia (yes, the start of our walking tour was on the map). We decided to walk on La Rambla towards the water and back again.

That left us with an hour until our walking tour began. So we walked in the opposite direction towards the Gothic Quarter -- the section we would soon be walking with a guide.

I feel some of my pictures did not come over when I did the download. I'll look into that later and try to add them when I find them.

Next up, part two -- our first walking tour.