Barcelona day 1 (Saturday, September 27th)

None of us slept particularly well with the 9 hour time change, despite being dog tired and in bed by 10 pm last night, so we were all up by 6 am. But what better way to get started on seeing Barcelona!

The plan was to head in the general direction of the Rambles, where Marlene and Marty were hoping to find coffee and something sweet mid-morning.

Our route took us past the Arc de Triomf (yes we are in Barcelona not Paris) and through the Parc de la Ciutadella, which had a particularly impressive feature, The Cascada, which was worth a photo.  It was built in 1888 for the Universal Exhibition, and was designed by Joseph Fontsere, assisted by his then apprentice - Antoni Gaudi.

From there we walked the Av. Marques de l'Argentera which separates the harbour area from the city. Here we found an interesting street exhibition celebrating 70 years of iHola (Hello) magazine, which made the walk a little more interesting. 

At 10 am La Rambla was almost deserted and the stalls were just beginning to setup. We walked about halfway up La Rambla and then veered off through some of the back streets of the old city which were much more interesting. In one square we found a rally going on (I think a Catalonia pro-independence rally, as there was much flag waving going on) - Catalonia plans on voting on separation from Spain in November. Seeing a large police presence on the side streets around the square we exited stage left and wound our way via the Catedral de Barcelona and on to the tourist information to pick up a map, before checking out the Mercat de Santa Caterina which was selling every kind of fish, fowl and fromage imaginable. 

By the time we got back to La Rambla it was wall to wall people and so we headed off into the side streets on the West side and headed in a zigzag manner toward a large green area on the map, which included the site of the 1992 Olympics. There were lots of little bakeries and eateries along the way, so we took a while to reach the green area. As we approached we could see an impressive building high on the hill and opted to check it out, which was a good call as we found great views of the city from in front of it, the National Art Museum of Catalunya.

After a short break to rest out legs and have a cold drink, we continued up past the Olympic stadium and pool, before beginning our descent back to the city.  We passed by the Olympic diving venue, which sadly seemed somewhat abandoned - the only inhabitants were seagulls.  

We fought our way back up la Rambla through the throngs of people and eventually back to our apartment, where we all needed some time off our feet, and focussed on finding a place for dinner.  Trip Advisor came through with a cute little place called aQistoi.  We all found something to our taste and enjoyed sitting at an outside table watching the locals wander by.

Total steps for the day were 30702 (22.3 km) with 380 feet of elevation gain. Not a bad start to the holiday. 

It's a long day to Barcelona

Although our flight was late leaving Vancouver, we arrived in Munich ahead of schedule so had ample time to make our connection to Barcelona.

The Munich airport is very basic and functional....no money wasted on fancy artwork or waterfalls here.  Plain white walls in the hallways, but good signage.  Those Germans are a clever lot - the urinals had an image of a large fly in the centre rear area, presumably to provide a target and avoid collateral damage.  I didn't take a photo in case it was verboten (sorry for the toilet humour, but you must admire their attention to detail). 

The flight from Munich to Barcelona flew over the alps, Marseille, down the Mediterranean coast of Spain, and over the port of Barcelona, so provided some great views. Our bags were in the carousel, so all was good on arrival!

After the taxi ride to our apartment I was glad that I was not driving - they drive fast on narrow lanes, change lanes on a whim and dodge motorcycles and mopeds. The best 33 euros spent so far on the trip. 

Our apartment is fairly central, has two bathrooms, and can sleep nine people, so we are not tripping over one another. 

After getting settled we decided to head out and get some dinner before having an early night.  We wandered aimlessly around our neighbourhood and found several supermercats (roughly translated as small grocery store) and so we stocked up on breakfast food.  Eventually we settled on a hole in the wall pizza / Indian food place for dinner and had a totally unappetizing meal (note to self - probably why it was rated number 4987 out of 6027 Barcelona restaurants onTripAdvisor, which we only checked after our meal).  We will have to do better tomorrow, but first some sleep. 

Thursday Evening at YVR

After a busy day with the grandchildren, we arrived at the airport at 3:30 to find our flight is delayed until 7:10 pm. So not a good start to our vacation. 

So we have been sitting in the Maple Leaf lounge chatting with Marty and Randy and eating to kill time. 

Thankfully our plane is now at the gate. 

So, Munich here we come!  

Apparently we will have a tail wind and should arrive in Munich on time, which is good news as we only have an hour in Munich before our flight to Barcelona. 

Summer Activities 2014

It has been a great summer on the West coast, and we have enjoyed several visitors from the mainland and taken a few short trips ourselves.

First off was a visit from Donna, a long-time friend of Marlene and the Maid of Honour at our wedding 38 years ago, whom we had not seen for about 8 years.

Lighthouse Country Community Walk

We covered a lot of territory from Campbell River to Nanaimo and out to Uclulet & Tofino on the West coast of the island.  Donna particularly liked the beaches between Uclulet and Tofino.  We enjoyed much good food and laughter, just like old times.

Long Beach, Uclulet

Next up was a visit by Heather and Neil from Sicamous.  Marlene worked with Heather in Calgary about 20 years ago and they have been friends ever since, particularly enjoying long walks.  On day 1 we took them to Mount Washington, for a 20 Km walk on Forgotten Plateau up to Kwai Lake.

Almost at Kwai Lake

On day 2 we took them to Newcastle Island in Nanaimo harbour, where we walked the perimeter of the island, stopping for lunch at the lookout overlooking the Strait of Georgia.

Strait of Georgia from Newcastle Island Lookout

On day 3 they headed home....I hope that we didn't overdo the walking, and that they come back back visit again soon.

This past week we took an overnight trip to Victoria with Randy and Marty to stock up on shoes and other necessities for our upcoming trip to Spain.  We also managed to take in the Viking exhibit at the Royal BC Museum and walk about 18 Km per day, taking in the sights of the city.

The Iconic Empress Hotel

Christy's Pleasure Palace (a.k.a. The BC Legislature)

Floating Houses

Pond and Stone Bridge in Beacon Hill Park

Strait of Juan de Fuca from Beacon Hill Park

All in all it was a wonderful summer, with lots of happy memories, and we still have a trip to Spain to look forward to.  Life doesn't get much better than this.

The Salmon Are Running

Yesterday we took a day trip with our friends Ed and Louella, up to Campbell River to see the Salmon run in the Quinsam River.

We were a little late for the major run of Pink salmon, but there were still plenty of salmon in the river, just below the hatchery.

We were surprised at the size of the salmon that were returning to spawn, they looked too small to be 3 or 4 years old, but they do what they are programmed to do.

We then stopped at "Atlas" in Courtenay for lunch, where the food was excellent, as always, and then headed home mid-afternoon, after a brief visit to Tin Town.