Day 15
Gray morning, with dogs barking in the village below. We’re packing up and eating the rest of our food.
Stuffed the suitcases and got out around 10:15. I think we collected a record number of souvenirs.
Headed south of Perpignan and picked up the autoroute. Once on the autoroute you move extremely fast. The rule seems to be – get on the autoroute as quickly as you can – even if you seem to be going out of your way to get on.
Stopped for cheese and bread, spent our last francs on gas, and stopped in Spain at a rest area for a picnic and fun on the playground.
Jill panicked as navigator as we hit Barcelona, and it was unclear how to get to our hotel on the map. Dadster kept a cool head and made not an error as we drove up the Ramblas to the Citadines Apart-hotel around 3-ish. Kristen had enough driving by that time and was letting us know.
Checked in, upgraded to a suite on the top (9th) floor with a view of the Ramblas, and went out around 4.
Stuffed the suitcases and got out around 10:15. I think we collected a record number of souvenirs.
Headed south of Perpignan and picked up the autoroute. Once on the autoroute you move extremely fast. The rule seems to be – get on the autoroute as quickly as you can – even if you seem to be going out of your way to get on.
Stopped for cheese and bread, spent our last francs on gas, and stopped in Spain at a rest area for a picnic and fun on the playground.
Jill panicked as navigator as we hit Barcelona, and it was unclear how to get to our hotel on the map. Dadster kept a cool head and made not an error as we drove up the Ramblas to the Citadines Apart-hotel around 3-ish. Kristen had enough driving by that time and was letting us know.
Checked in, upgraded to a suite on the top (9th) floor with a view of the Ramblas, and went out around 4.
The crowds were tremendous – unlike anything I’ve ever seen. Wall to wall people, not only on the Ramblas but on all streets in the Gothic Quarter.
The Ramblas is a pedestrian walk about 40’ wide, with one traffic lane on each side. Exotic bird dealers occupy about 10-20 stalls. The birds were cheap – the most expensive were African Greys for $250 ($900 at home.)
Jill immediately felt uncomfortable due to the crowds and returned to the hotel to leave her pocketbook. We had heard about petty crime but assumed it was comparable to New York.
Walked to the top of the Ramblas and got a café table infront of a Burger King (of all places) because we all wanted a large, cold, soda. While Jill and Kristen were in the bathroom, I saw a thief running, followed about 30 seconds later by the Spanish male victim. Too late.
While I was inside getting sodas, two guys tried to distract Jill by snapping fingers in front of Kristen’s face. But she had nothing to steal anyway. Took about 5 minutes to get 2 sodas. They’re trying to get the fast food thing down but need some practice.
After freshening up at the hotel, decided to skip a full dinner and do the tapas thing. Stopped at several places over the next 4 hours for beer, wine, pizza, salad, and sea snails (tiny, and extracted from the shell using a sewing pin.) Also a pastry.
The Ramblas is a pedestrian walk about 40’ wide, with one traffic lane on each side. Exotic bird dealers occupy about 10-20 stalls. The birds were cheap – the most expensive were African Greys for $250 ($900 at home.)
Jill immediately felt uncomfortable due to the crowds and returned to the hotel to leave her pocketbook. We had heard about petty crime but assumed it was comparable to New York.
Walked to the top of the Ramblas and got a café table infront of a Burger King (of all places) because we all wanted a large, cold, soda. While Jill and Kristen were in the bathroom, I saw a thief running, followed about 30 seconds later by the Spanish male victim. Too late.
While I was inside getting sodas, two guys tried to distract Jill by snapping fingers in front of Kristen’s face. But she had nothing to steal anyway. Took about 5 minutes to get 2 sodas. They’re trying to get the fast food thing down but need some practice.
After freshening up at the hotel, decided to skip a full dinner and do the tapas thing. Stopped at several places over the next 4 hours for beer, wine, pizza, salad, and sea snails (tiny, and extracted from the shell using a sewing pin.) Also a pastry.
Unfortunately the visit was marred by seeing the aftermaths of about 5 or 6 purse snatchings (running thief, slower victim), and a general feeling of unease (not helped by the brawl we saw). We went back and forth between liking the city and its beautiful weather, friendly English speakers, and the crime situation. Not to mention loving the low prices. It’s not the place for a 3-year-old, though. Seems to be more of a party town.
Woke up multiple times between 2 and 6 a.m. with the sounds of heavy partying penetrating the double glazing of our 9th floor windows. Sirens, screaming, singing, etc.
Not the best end to our peaceful countryside vacation in rural Spain and France, but it made us appreciate the rest of the trip!
(Ed. Note: After this experience, and our Toulouse experience, we’ve decided to skip big cities on our future rural trips. Too much of a contrast from the countryside. And I can’t help but wondering what the problem was in Barcelona that day – everyone seems to love the city and no one ever reports as much crime as we witnessed.)
Day 16 >>>
Woke up multiple times between 2 and 6 a.m. with the sounds of heavy partying penetrating the double glazing of our 9th floor windows. Sirens, screaming, singing, etc.
Not the best end to our peaceful countryside vacation in rural Spain and France, but it made us appreciate the rest of the trip!
(Ed. Note: After this experience, and our Toulouse experience, we’ve decided to skip big cities on our future rural trips. Too much of a contrast from the countryside. And I can’t help but wondering what the problem was in Barcelona that day – everyone seems to love the city and no one ever reports as much crime as we witnessed.)
Day 16 >>>