* Pictures notes from bottom to top - The combination of leaving on cheap air carrier Ryanair and the confusion at the Madrid airport was maddening! For Ryanair we had to wait on an endless line for a 'visa check' which wasn't a requirement for us and then we waited on another long 'Police Control' line near the gate only to find out when we finally got to the window that our gate didn't require a police check. Oh well, once that was over it was a smooth flight to the Girona airport 1+ hours outside Barcelona.
Per instructions from our apartment management contact we took a comfortable bus into the city where we found a taxi to our new Barcelona 'home'...at least for the next 6 days. We were happy to find our apartment in the nice Exiample residential area convenient to the Sagrada Familia metro stop, grocery (across the street), fresh produce, bread, delicious cheese, meat, and wine shops. We were also located only a block from the very 'over the top' Gaudi Sagrada Familia church (picture 1) still under construction.
Everything was fine with the apartment except the air-conditioning which didn't cool in the living/kitchen area and clanked on and off all night in the bedroom. Not a great situation with temperatures expected to be in the high 80's. After a number of phone conversations with management and a visit with Gino the 'fix it' man we gratefully moved the next day to a bigger apartment one floor up (2nd floor) with nice ceiling to floor french doors opening to the street both in our room and the large living/dining/kitchen area...and of course, with working air conditioning units in both the main area and the bedroom, better internet access, and CNN or BBC (only English stations) on the TV...we were finally settled.
As usual our first task after doing a little walking tour of our own to get a feel for the quaint neighborhood was the purchase of food and wine for our 'home' meals and cocktail hours. After our first day we enjoyed a stroll along streets leading to the main shopping street, many famous Gaudi structures (picture 2) and the busy Placa de Catalunya. It was impossible NOT to buy SOMETHING in Barcelona - even with Richard's constant mantra about no room in our small suitcases it was worth leaving a few old things behind to make room for some new ones - just too many fabulous shops and sales (which meant clothes were regular price for us with the awful US/Euro exchange).
On our third day the skies opened up and it rained steadily so we visited the neighborhood shops to buy a variety of 4 different cheeses, meats, and 2001 Spanish Reserva for a delicious, fun picnic in the apartment (picture 3). Every day after this the skies cleared so we toured the rest of the city by the double-decker tour bus, getting on and off at various spots along the 3 city routes; walked the wonderful streets (picture 4) where we stopped to enjoy many talented classical musicians (picture 5) and watch some spontaneous dancing by tourists to a local band at a plaza market (picture 6), and used the very convenient metro system as necessary to visit the Gotic (Old Town) (picture 7), La Ramblas (picture 8), Port Vell (pier) (picture 9), city views from National Museum (picture 10), 1992 Olympic Village, as well as the funicular and cable car (picture 11) to see the historic fort on Mount Junic (picture 12).
Since we had the apartment we took advantage of cooking many of our own meals. We enjoyed these meals since the feeling of just 'being at home' was a nice change from our more recent hotel stay in Madrid. That said, we did get out to enjoy a lot of sangria (our new favorite refresher) and good food at a number of tapas bars/restaurants around the different areas of the city (picture 13) and one night lucky enough to meet up with Steven Tonella (son of Raymond Tonella in Napa) who lives in Barcelona and could make time to share a lovely evening visit at a terrific tapas place off the Avingvada Diagonal in the trendy Gracia area. With his help we were introduced to a delicious Spanish wine and many wonderful local tastings of potatoes with spicy sauce, grilled and salted sweet/hot green peppers, incredible mushrooms with shaved truffles, lightly grilled tuna, curried ice cream, etc.
So, all was good and before long our time in Barcelona was over. Next stop - a short flight to Venice to start our week long Mediterranean cruise.
Per instructions from our apartment management contact we took a comfortable bus into the city where we found a taxi to our new Barcelona 'home'...at least for the next 6 days. We were happy to find our apartment in the nice Exiample residential area convenient to the Sagrada Familia metro stop, grocery (across the street), fresh produce, bread, delicious cheese, meat, and wine shops. We were also located only a block from the very 'over the top' Gaudi Sagrada Familia church (picture 1) still under construction.
Everything was fine with the apartment except the air-conditioning which didn't cool in the living/kitchen area and clanked on and off all night in the bedroom. Not a great situation with temperatures expected to be in the high 80's. After a number of phone conversations with management and a visit with Gino the 'fix it' man we gratefully moved the next day to a bigger apartment one floor up (2nd floor) with nice ceiling to floor french doors opening to the street both in our room and the large living/dining/kitchen area...and of course, with working air conditioning units in both the main area and the bedroom, better internet access, and CNN or BBC (only English stations) on the TV...we were finally settled.
As usual our first task after doing a little walking tour of our own to get a feel for the quaint neighborhood was the purchase of food and wine for our 'home' meals and cocktail hours. After our first day we enjoyed a stroll along streets leading to the main shopping street, many famous Gaudi structures (picture 2) and the busy Placa de Catalunya. It was impossible NOT to buy SOMETHING in Barcelona - even with Richard's constant mantra about no room in our small suitcases it was worth leaving a few old things behind to make room for some new ones - just too many fabulous shops and sales (which meant clothes were regular price for us with the awful US/Euro exchange).
On our third day the skies opened up and it rained steadily so we visited the neighborhood shops to buy a variety of 4 different cheeses, meats, and 2001 Spanish Reserva for a delicious, fun picnic in the apartment (picture 3). Every day after this the skies cleared so we toured the rest of the city by the double-decker tour bus, getting on and off at various spots along the 3 city routes; walked the wonderful streets (picture 4) where we stopped to enjoy many talented classical musicians (picture 5) and watch some spontaneous dancing by tourists to a local band at a plaza market (picture 6), and used the very convenient metro system as necessary to visit the Gotic (Old Town) (picture 7), La Ramblas (picture 8), Port Vell (pier) (picture 9), city views from National Museum (picture 10), 1992 Olympic Village, as well as the funicular and cable car (picture 11) to see the historic fort on Mount Junic (picture 12).
Since we had the apartment we took advantage of cooking many of our own meals. We enjoyed these meals since the feeling of just 'being at home' was a nice change from our more recent hotel stay in Madrid. That said, we did get out to enjoy a lot of sangria (our new favorite refresher) and good food at a number of tapas bars/restaurants around the different areas of the city (picture 13) and one night lucky enough to meet up with Steven Tonella (son of Raymond Tonella in Napa) who lives in Barcelona and could make time to share a lovely evening visit at a terrific tapas place off the Avingvada Diagonal in the trendy Gracia area. With his help we were introduced to a delicious Spanish wine and many wonderful local tastings of potatoes with spicy sauce, grilled and salted sweet/hot green peppers, incredible mushrooms with shaved truffles, lightly grilled tuna, curried ice cream, etc.
So, all was good and before long our time in Barcelona was over. Next stop - a short flight to Venice to start our week long Mediterranean cruise.
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