Barcelona Arrival!

Boy this plane is full. But we are lucky we do not have anyone between us so we do have a bit of room.

Air France provides a blanket and pillow and great entertainment options.  Each seat has power and usb connections to keep devices charged.

There is a flight plan too; however it is showing us flying from Africa instead of North America.

I ended up watching two movies “Gifted” and “Golden Years”.

We had pre ordered a vegetarian meal – there was no option for vegan.  It was served prior to all the other meals and it looked very good.  Here is a picture.

We ate it all, except the cheese.

Wine was provided with the meal and after dinner liqueur – a nice pear liqueur.

After dinner the lights were dimmed and we prepared to sleep.  But of course we can only sleep intermittently.

We land soon, and thankfully we do not have a long wait till the next flight.

First time landing in Paris and we were not sure if we had to get our bags first or not.

We asked someone at the security and they said no and then told us to go in the expediated line as we were Sky Priority – oh did not even know that.  That saved us about a half hour.

In Paris we have to go thru a security screening.  Odd normally you go thru this when you are entering not exiting but I think it has to do with us connecting.  So take off all jackets, remove liquids, etc. etc.

Once cleared of that, we locate the board to see where our next gate is.  Terminal F – the furthest away Terminal.

Then we walked, and walked and walked.  But it was good after such a long flight to move a bit.

Note we had to clear passport control here where they stamped our passport showing we have entered the European Union and that was it.

We board our next flight and this flight is short.  Only an hour and a half.  We touch down in Barcelona around 11:30.

us on the Metro, exhausted but still going

Our bags were one of the first off and we then followed the signs to the Metro.

Barcelona has a new Metro Line called the L9 that goes all the way to the airport (both terminals). You buy your tickets and kiosk (note there is someone there that can answer questions).  Tickets are 4.50E each and are not covered by the 10 use ticket you can buy for 10 rides.

A short wait for the train and we are off.  We take the train all the way to the end at University Station then board the L3 to Parallel station which is close to our apartment.

It is only 1330 and we have an hour and a half to kill before we can check in.  We are both very tired after very little sleep and all we want to do is settle.  But we have to wait till 1500 as Pierre our host was gracious enough to allow us to check in early.

We walk a bit and find a nice Asian restaurant called Asian Way that looks like we will enjoy.  I would love to sit outside but here in Spain as in many other places in Europe smoking still rules and so many young and old smoke. So we sit inside and enjoy our meal.

Sangria is in order!  We ordered a ramen noodle bowl and a vegetarian spring roll. It was all very yummy and affordable.

After lunch and the walk back it is time to check in and Pierre’s friend Vincent arrives to let us in and show us around.

just love this door

The apartment looks just like the pictures. It is a small loft size flat that will meet all our needs. Of course they are doing work on the sidewalks just near us and we get to hear the jack hammering until they end for the day.

We settle in for a bit and have trouble logging onto the wifi, it ends up the password and name are different now and Vincent was not aware.  But a quick message to Pierre straightens it all out.

But nothing can stop us from napping; however we don’t want to sleep long as we need to try to adjust to the 9 hour time change and the way to do that is adjust to Barcelona time right away.

After an hour and a half nap we wake up groggy and confused but refreshed.  We freshen up and head out for some groceries.

Here, as in many places in Europe they have smaller privately owned corner stores everywhere. We managed to find a bigger grocery store just down the street, but it is still very small compared to what we are use to but I do think our stores are HUGE and not necessary.

We pick up juices, sparkling water, fruit, soy milk, granola and this will be perfect for our breakfasts each day.

View from our balcony

View from our balcony

A quick stop back at the flat to drop off the stuff and then we are back out walking down Ave. de Parallel to find a place to have a light meal.  We spot a Vegan Vegetarian restaurant called Restarante Avocado and we are so happy.

I had organic wine, and Bernie had local organic beer.  We had the avocado nachos and a plate of tacos – All Vegan. Very tastey!  Server was great and helped explain so much to us.

So far we are two for two.

Light showers but nothing that will stop us.  In fact we are surprised because they did not call for showers.  But it stopped before we made it home.

Back in the flat we discuss tomorrow and our game plan.  I feel it is always key to check in with each other to see how the other is doing and what they want.  So tomorrow we agree, sleep as long as we need to, shower, eat breakfast and then head out for coffee and a pastry.  Then who knows.

I wrote a blog about the apartment we booked with Airbnb here.