Our Trip to Barcelona

Last week, Maggie and I rented a car and set off for Barcelona which is 900 kilometers from here.  Barcelona is at the northern end of the Spanish Mediterranean coast not far from the French border.  We actually stayed in a small coastal town called Sitges that is 40 km. south of Barcelona and is well served by a commuter train service to Barcelona.  Maggie found a great deal on an apartment that we rented for four days that had a kitchen, bath, balcony and parking.

The first day we were on our own walking around the beautiful city visiting all the sites: Gothic Bario, the Ramblas, the Market, Plaza de Catalunya, the port, and many others.  We must have walked 15 km. with frequent breaks in some of the many cafes.  We were back in Sitges late in the afternoon to meet Kathy, our friend and on the frequent visitor plan.  She will be staying with us for the next three weeks.  The first night was spent in the apartment catching up with each other.

Setting off on the first day from Sitges

Up early the next morning, we got on the train and set off for Barcelona where we led Kathy around to some of the sights that we saw the day before and discovered new and beautiful ones.  We toured around the old city into the evening to see Barcelona lit up at night.  One of the more interesting visits was to the City Historical Museum that featured 4000 square meters of excavated Roman ruins of the ancient city of Barcino, which lies under the streets of the present-day city.  What a fabulous feeling to retrace the 2000 year old Roman streets!

Roman temple pillars

The next day we rented bicycles and rode along the abundant bicycle pathways all over the city.  One of the highlights was riding through the parks and along the avenues towards the Sagrada Familia church complex and back towards the center.  The beauty of the city's architecture surrounds you all the time.

The market entrance off the Ramblas

All too soon our time in Barcelona ended and we returned to our apartment in Sitges for an early night to get up early for the drive back to Almerimar the next day.

On the way back we made a detour to visit the town of Cuevas de Almanzora where some of the residents actually live in modern-day caves.  This phenomenon exists in other parts of Spain as well, perhaps most notably in the Sacramonte bario in the city of Granada.  How cool is that?

The Ramblas

Columbus monument

After a long day, we finally made it back to the boat to the great relief of Kathy, who was crammed in the back seat with all our luggage.  And that was the end of our wonderful trip to Barcelona.  Visit our photo gallery to see the pictures that we took.

Branko