MAY 27, 2018
26May was a travel day from Avignon to Barcelona. It was a great all day train ride on the TGV, departing from the central station on Avignon. It was easy to get there on the bus and then we switched to the TGV train at the TGV Station outside of Avignon.
We arrived in Barcelona late in the afternoon and checked into our aparthotel near the downtown area. We had great directions to take the metro from the train station and then the short walk to the flat. As nearly everything is closed on Sunday we had to make a grocery run and I wanted to check out the big sports store, Decathlon, for shoes. Lucky me – and they were on sale!!!! We got home rather late but sunset is late here and it was fun walking around downtown Barcelona on a Saturday night. Lots of people out walking and enjoying the evening.
Of course in any city/town that is on the water, the first place we walk to on arrival is the waterfront. In Barcelona, it’s a spectacular waterfront!!! Very large yachts, lots of people enjoying the day, market areas, food vendors, cruise ships, beaches, the cable car and the boat traffic. We walked all around and started to form our plan for the next few days. There’s a lot to see.
MAY 28, 2018
We metroed into the city and started with the cable car/gondola across the harbor area. What a place!!!! We’re lucky to have such perfect weather too. It was a long wait for the first gondola but that got us up above the city. We then walked another 15 minutes to ride another gondola to the top of the mountain. What views!!! We started walking down and stopped for a light lunch. The waiter was very helpful when we asked for directions down. He advised no need to walk! Take the funicular. It’s part of the metro system so our card would work. It was hard to find it but it was fun to zoom down. We changed to a train on the metro and went to the big market – La Bouqueria. It was late in the day so not everything was open, but it was still quite a site. Markets in Europe are amazing.
MAY 29, 2018
I found a blog with a great walking tour of Barcelona mapped out on google maps. I was able to copy it and personalize it to provide us with a Barcelona – Gaudi walking tour. Lots of steps!! And some up very steep hills.
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1kGTvNpOhh_ZF-pS4cGZs3ehwm13J8TY8&usp=sharing
Our first stop was a charity shop where I donated my 3 month old Merrill hiking shoes. I put in the innersoles from the new shoes and traded out the laces so the old shoes looked pretty good. The shop was very happy to receive them. I picked the shop near to the big Gaudi cathedral. That was our next stop on our Gaudi tour!
We wandered around the city for several hours, stopping for lunch on the way back down the hill.
Time to start packing and getting ready for our next stop – Portugal!