Well now, my trip started with some interesting bathroom encounters.  In Perth airport as I was washing my hands at the sink in the ladies, a funny woman asked me if this was a sink…. err yes, I said and she replied Ï was just checking as want to pour my coffee down there… And my reply… ""well I sure hope it’s a sink and we’re not all washing our hands in recycled water!"

The flight to Doha was uneventful and I even managed to sleep for a couple of hours.  Had a bit of turbulence but only the fun kind that makes the ride interesting.  The other fun part of the ride was “holding it” for 11 hours due to being in the window seat and having two sleeping strangers next to me.  At one stage I even contemplated climbing over them!  Needless to say, things were getting desperate by the time I arrived in Doha.  Here I made the tactical error of deciding to wait until I cleared immigration (long line) and drinking a half litre of water while waiting.  Then the loos after immigration had their own long line.. so I thought “right, I’ll go to the lounge and use the nice facilities there”… queue long line at lounge… with a water wall behind the desk mind you .. excruciating Doha water torture!  Finally got served and pass swiped etc then to be told “Sorry Maam, this lounge is full and here’s a voucher to use the lounge near gate blah blah”. 

So after all that…   I ended up using the bathroom at the food court.  Moral of the story… waiting behind 5 people is better than waiting an hour! 

Yes, the highlight of 13 hours of travel boils down to two bathroom stories hahaha.

After another flight of 7 hours I finally arrived at Barcelona.  My bag made it as well though looking a little worse for wear.  It might be retired after this trip I think.

My first impressions of Barcelona on the taxi ride into the city was that it looks very clean with wide straight boulevards and plenty of greenery.  And also lots and lots of electric scooters everywhere.

The hotel tried to fob me off into a single room (single bed in a shoebox) but umm no, I paid for a double for single use so back to the desk and they ended up giving me a triple room as I guess all their doubles were full.  So now I have a room that has enough room to swing a gato in.  

Unpacked and then finally had a shower… oh what bliss!  After cleaning up I went out for a walk to suss out the local area and see where I need to go for my tour tomorrow morning.

Heaps of people out walking around the Gothic quarter.  Barcelona has a reputation for pick pockets but I felt perfectly safe the entire time I was walking around.  It also stayed light until past 9pm which helps too.

I walked quite a bit in the end, all the way up Passeig de Gracia, a wide tree lined boulevard home to posh shops like Dolce & Gabanna and several of Gaudi’s houses too.  There are mosaics everywhere, on the buildings, on the public seating, in every shop window, even the paving stones for the sidewalks have patterns on them to make it look nicer.   A very aesthetic city indeed.

While walking around I also saw the Cathedral near our hotel, Placa de Catalunya with it’s nice fountain and gigantic seagulls, and a little bit of Las Ramblas. 

I considered tapas for dinner but instead had the extremely Spanish dinner of Burger King (you can get beer there).

After dinner I walked around some of the more residential sections of the Gothic quarter.  Lots of people out in the squares being social, chatting with the neighbours, having drinks or dinner, and lots of kids playing in open areas (packed fine gravel playgrounds like in Paris).  Really relaxed and nice feel to it and so different to the busy touristy part.   Reminds me a bit of Venice, lots of laneways with interesting artwork and painted doors etc. 

During my exploring I also walked past one of the big food markets, the Santa Caterina market, an amazing looking place with a roof that’s covered in yep, you guessed it… mosaics!  

I succumbed to one of the many gelato stores and then walked around some more while eating it. Found a big square not too far from my hotel that was full of nice restaurants but also, unfortunately Essex tourists... 

Past 10pm now and pretty tired. Went back to hotel and laid on bed. Worked out have had 4hrs sleep in last 46 hours. No wonder shattered!