Travel Day - YWG to BCN

Armed with travel vouchers earned from a previous European holiday and a desire for a unique cultural adventure, we abandoned our usual southern USA winter destinations and planned a 3 month journey throughout Spain and Portugal. Despite winter weather delays in Winnipeg and Toronto we arrived on schedule in Barcelona at 11 am after a 14 hour travel day.

We managed to figure out how to get the train to our hotel in central Barcelona without too much difficulty but once we arrived at the main train station our troubles began. I had expected to pick up a city map at either the airport or train station but the tourist information offices were closed because it was New Years Day. We tried to get directions but with the language barrier and foggy brains we ended up walking for over an hour to our hotel when it should have taken just 20 minutes. The saying, “slower than molasses” or “a snail’s pace”, would aptly describe John’s mobility. He didn’t sleep on the plane and he was lugging a 46 pound suitcase, ignoring my advice to “pack light”. For the record, my small bag weighed in at 28 pounds. Feeling somewhat sympathetic, I traded bags with John about half-way.

Once we checked into our room, jet lag and the long walk overpowered us and we had a 5 hour “nap”. We ended our day with a delicious wood fired pizza at Gusto’s and a nice Sicilian red wine, feeling as though we were in Italy and not Spain! After our satisfying meal, much more sleep was needed.Read more