Barcelona

8th April

Because our accommodation in Madrid was an hour away from the main station we had to get up early and were at the station at 6am.

By 7am we were at Atoocha station with half an hour to figure out how to catch the fast train to Barcelona.

We figured it out easily and our train was already there. Our only error was to sit in the wrong seats (oops). Easily fixed when the owners of the seat turned up - we were just a row out.

The journey was pleasant with nice views.

When we arrived in Barcelona, we switched trains to get to the correct station. Our host Antonio was waiting at the station for us. He walked us to the apartment so we wouldn't get lost. It wasn't far, but the way was steep.

As it was Sunday we decided not to go out but to spend time with Antonio. He suggested that he'd order lunch from a local place. He rang up to make the order.

When we went to pick it up we were surprised by the long queue.

Jay had been wanting to try paella and Antonio assured him this place made a good one. He'd also ordered calcots, a type of woodfired onion dish. It came with a delicious sauce.

Jay thought that the paella wasn't that good.
I tried a little bit and hated it due to the fact it had shellfish which I wouldn't normally eat. I liked the onions though.

The onions

The paella

A few hours later I was very sick and spent the next twelve hours vomiting. No one else was ill so it wasn't food poisoning, but I think my body rejected the paella (which I'd eaten so little of).  It could've been a stomach bug... I'll never know.

Jay made dahl and rice for dinner which the boys ate. The spices were different from home so it was a bit too spicy.

9th April

View from the apartment 

Once I was feeling a bit better (thank goodness Antonio had some medicine to help stop vomiting) Jay and I headed to town.

We got off at Plaza de Catalunya. We went in all the wrong directions trying to find the Gothic Cathedral. Jay had a hard to read map from the information centre and I wasn't any help.

Eventually we were on the right track.

We arrived at the Gothic Cathedral just as it opened for visitors. Jay lined up while I rested in the sunshine. It didn't take long for him to reach the front.

The Cathedral had a lot of artwork but the best bit was that you get to go on the roof! The worst bit was the little museum. The Cathedral was huge.

Much to Jay's disappointed I felt really tired after that so we headed back home where I slept.

Jay went for a walk along the local Montgat beach in the evening.

10th April 

Today we went to the city again.

We started with Gaudi's most famous structure Sagrada Familia. The last tower is still being constructed and should be completed in 2026. The more we stared at the exterior the more quirky details we noticed. To me it looked like there was fruit and skeleton type creatures on it.

After that we stumbled across Casa de les Punxes on our way to La Pedrera. It was made by a different architect in the same era.

After that we saw the wobbly La Pedrera.

Then it was onto the famous Casa Battlo Gaudi with Casa Museu Amatller next door. There was a café there selling thick hot chocolate with toast. It was yummy and we both managed to spill it on our tops.

Casa Battle

Casa Ametller

We then found ourselves at La Catalunya where we were the previous day. We wanted to go down La Rambla (a particular street). After a while we found it. We'd been down there too the previous day!

Street performers

We continued further down La Rambla than before and found Mercat de la Boqueiria. It was a very crowded market. Jay bought a mango and coconut juice.

We saw the exterior of Gran theater del luceu (theatre) as we continued to the end of the street.

We ate our lunch at the base of Passeig de Colom.

After lunch we went through Parc de Jardin to find Poble Espanol. We thought it'd be nice to take the scenic route.

On the way we accidentally found the art museum located above the magic fountain. It was beautiful.

Eventually we reached Poble Espanol but decided not to enter. Instead we headed to Plaza d'Espanya where we bought some food from the supermarket and caught the metro home.

For dinner Antonio had turned the dahl into empanadas. Jay thought that they were delicious! (I had soup as I wasn't up to eating spicy food yet.)

11th April

Today we spent a quiet day at home, only leaving to take a brief walk. We were tired and now Jay was feeling a bit sick. I was really worried about him because we were catching the night bus to Geneva.

On the way to the night bus we had a quick look at the Arc de Triomf. It was pretty in the night lights.

The night bus was comfier than we expected and I actually slept more than I thought I would. Unfortunately every 1-2 hours they'd announce a stop and switch on the lights.

Jay was already feeling better which was a relief.