Saturday 2nd May 2009, the beginning of the first May Bank long weekend. Another redeye flight. Departing from Stansted Airport at 7:20 am. Begin the sequence of unfortunate events. 4:20 am, the Dean St bus stop is closed due to road works. This unforeseen road closure has me searching for an alternative way to get to Victoria Station. After much aimless wandering I arrive at Victoria station late, great, I missed the 4:47 am coach to the Airport. In fact, tardiness is not the only reason for missing my bus, turns out I was waiting on the wrong side of the road. 3 coaches later I climb aboard the 5:35 am National Express and explain to the bus driver that I had missed my previous booking. 'I missed the earlier bus', He looks at my boarding pass and then looks at his watch: 'You missed it by a lot'. Smart ass.
If this chapter in my life has taught me anything it's that expectation management goes a long way. Brace yourself for the worst that way nothing surprises you. There was a realistic chance I could miss my flight, my boarding pass states that all gates close 30 minutes before take off. At 6:55 the coach pulls into Stansted Airport. I disembark like a madman, dashing off the bus, weaving through crowds, bounding up escalators only to regain composure, wipe the froth from my mouth and casually flash my boarding pass to security at the departures hall. I rush through customs/security in record time and find myself lining up to board at 7:10. Who says you need to be at the airport 2 hours before a flight? Currently reading Kazuo Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go.
BCN International Airport, it's a welcome sight to see my other travel companions. We invest in a 10-pass metro ticket and proceed to head into town. The train arrives at the platform and as we board somebody cuts across my left shoulder and barges his way onto the train. He smiles and politely excuses himself, I nod and try to get into the train. Despite my will to move I feel myself being herded into a particular direction by the crowd. At that moment in time I feel fingers reaching into my back pocket and pinching at my wallet. Slapping the hand away I spin around to shove the would-be pick pocketer away. "Hey!" (that's the monochrome version of what language was used). He looks at me, looks to the ground and walks off. The remainder of the train trip is spent being over cautious as we observe the thieves work their way through the train. I'm in a foul mood.
Check into the hotel and begin our tour of the city. I have around €2.60 on me, no problems, I'll just pop over to the hole in the wall and withdraw some Euro. Or will I? 3 card rejections later, I'm still broke. Overseas with no money. Thankfully my friends have been nice enough to offer me a daily allowance. What a start to the trip, almost didn't make it to Barcelona, almost got robbed and almost had no cash. I wonder if I'll almost have a good trip. They say, Bad things always happen in threes. Thankfully this proved true and the rest of the trip went without a hiccup.
Sagrada Familia Church
€13 entrance which include admission to the Gaudi House. Definitely not worth the entrance fee, the interior of the museum was under construction. €2.50 lift to the top was worth it however.
Guell park - Amazing park that lacked grass.
Picasso museum
Free entry on the first Sunday of each month!
Port/Beach
Columbus Monument
Parc de la Ciutadella - The Central park of Barcelona
St Joseph Market (Mercado an Jose)
Great selection of fruit, nuts and snacks.
Mare Magnum - Seaside shopping centre.
Food: Les Quinze Nit, La Gavina, La Xerinola, Tapas 24, KFC, Dunkin Coffee, Crepes Barcelona
Nightlife
Slightly unfortunate that we didn't get to party it up with the Catalans. The first evening we were there also happened to be the Local Derby El Gran Clasico. Real Madrid versus Barcelona with an end result of 6-2 in favour of the locals. The victory meant that locals were in a festive mood, although festive could also be mistaken for riot.
So to answer the question. I would most definitely get out of bed; even for a zero...
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