Arrived in Barcelona

A 9:15 taxi gets us to the airport for 9:30 where we breeze through an almost empty departure hall to drop off my rucksack at the baggage check in. Because a rucksack is classed as a soft bag, it must be taken to a different baggage drop point. No problem, it's not far away and only two people in the queue. But there is a problem. The luggage conveyor is running backwards and disgorges the rucksack of the woman at the front of the queue. Engineers arrive. There is a fault, but should be fixed within 10 minutes. In that time, a large queue has formed behind us and people are getting anxious and some becoming short tempered. The engineer works his magic behind the scenes and we are soon able to hand the rucksack over and proceed through security.

It is a short and uneventful flight that takes us from a wet 8.5 degrees in Manchester to a sunny 21 degrees in Barcelona

My rucksack is waiting for me when we arrive at the carousel, and it's off to find the bus into town

The bus drops us off at Placa de Catalunya. 

I've not researched the route to our hotel, and am relieved to find it is only 10 minutes walk away, down Le Rambla, which we have been warned is a pickpocket and muggers paradise. But it all seems very safe and relaxed, and we are soon in our hotel, unpacked, and out to explore the city.

We head off into the Bari Gotic, a maze of narrow streets, full of shops, bars, restaurants and interesting sights

I had heard that the Spanish like to eat late, so no surprise that restaurants were mostly empty. But we were hungry and chose a bar somewhat at random and ordered a selection of tapas and a bottle of wine. 

All very delicious

More wandering after dinner, this guy with his steel wheel was amazing

We ended up in a bar playing ska and reggae

Where we spent a couple of hours chatting to the locals and trying some of the local drinks

Back to the hotel. It has an intriguing vending machine that offers a choice between water and cava

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