Curious Incidents of a Flailing Mermaid

Whistle-Stop Tour of Barcelona (Part 1)

It's 6 am on 3rd August (I know I'm posting this on the 9th, but none of this is real so...), and I've just arrived in Barcelona. I'm still quite a way behind my travelling companions (I happened to be delayed... because I was reading) BUT I managed to do the two-day Madrid itinerary in just one day yesterday. If I can keep that pace up, I'll find my friends in no time.

I'm quite tired already, but I'm having fun so it's all good. I've booked a hotel room to lay my weary head tonight. Then I'm due to catch an early flight to Montpellier, France in the morning. Crazy, right?

The official itinerary for our stay in Barcelona was two days. But, as I say, I'm adapting it to fit into one day. Here's my plan for the day:

Drop my backpack at the hotel
Hunt for food to eat as I go
Get on the City Sightseeing hop-on-hop-off tour for the morning
Lunch
Head off to the Port Adventura theme park
Collapse into bed!

Luckily, I don't need to stick to the group bookings at the moment: I'd struggle with timings if I did! Saying that, I best get cracking! I'll write more while I have lunch.

*****

With 44 stops, the Barcelona City Sightseeing tour is quite overwhelming. For quite a while I just sat on the bus, resting my tired body. It was fun to watch the sights of Barcelona floating past me as I sat in relative comfort. I had done a little reading on the City, however. So I knew there were a few things I wanted to take a closer look at.

My first stop was La Sagrada Familia. Which is a large Roman Catholic church in Barcelona, designed by Spanish architect Antoni Gaudí. The church has divided opinion in Barcelona. But people have said it's "The most extraordinary personal interpretation of Gothic architecture since the Middle Ages." It's pretty impressive; I have to say!

I then got back on the bus for a few stops to get to Plaça dEspanya, which is one of the city's biggest square. The square includes:
Venetian Towers - (they are 47 m - 154 ft - tall)
Parc de Joan Miró 22m statue
Arenas de Barcelona - It was built in 1900 in the Moorish Revival style and has been converted into a shopping centre.

It was stupidly busy at Plaça dEspanya but interesting to see such beautiful architecture is commonplace in Barcelona.

I did stop at a few other places along the way as well, but the above stood out for me. Although the medieval alleys of the Gothic Quarter are pretty impressive, which is where you find me now.
I'm sat outside a lovely little restaurant, tucking into a platter of meats, cheese, bread and vegetables. I'm watching the world go by as I write this. Before I head off to the theme park, I thought you might like to see a couple of photos from my day so far.



I'll update you on my theme park adventure a little later on. Chao!