I woke at 4;00am and had this nagging thought that I had set my alarm for the wrong time. I looked and sure enough, I had set it for 5:45am, not 4:45am. We needed to leave the apartment by 5:35am to catch our bus. I was awake, but reset the alarm for the correct time just in case I fell asleep again, which I did.
I showered after the alarm woke me. We skipped breakfast and just got ready to go, leaving the apartment at 5:35am. It is only a 10 minute walk at most to the bus stop and the bus is scheduled to arrive at 6:10am, but we both like to have a margin of error in our connections. We sat on a door stoop and ate our hard boiled eggs until the bus arrived, on time. The bus had a couple empty seats, which we occupied to the airport.
Our flight was scheduled for 9:15am and we were there at 7:00am. Security was a breeze, no lines. Boarding was a bit late. Only one person was at the gate checking tickets so if there was a problem with a passenger the whole line was delayed. In the jetway they told us the overhead baggage compartments were full and they started checking bags. Since we were continuing from Madrid to Barcelona ours wouldn’t be checked. They asked us to stuff them under the seat in front of us. When we got to our seats, the last row in the plane, we found two slots in the overhead that our packs slipped into. No problem.
We were a little late taking off, but made it to Madrid pretty much on time. We deplaned and walked 8 gates to our connection and went thru the same boarding procedure.
We always sit in the terminal until the line shrinks to nothing, then stand and walk to the gate. This means all the overhead compartments are full. We were told they would check our bags, but then just as they were getting ready to word came up that they had found enough room. We were in row 17, but our bags we in row 5. No biggie.
Everyone we told about going to Barcelona had the same first advise. The pickpockets are really horrendous. Be super careful. I cleared my pockets and put everything in an internal compartment of my pack. In my money belt I put my credit card and about €250, my remaining cash. The only thing exposed was my watch and phone.
Sally wore her purse over her neck and shoulder and carried it in front.
I am using an app called City Mapper to navigate. Wonderful! It said to take the A1 bus from the airport. We bought 96 hour metro passes that allow us to ride any public transportation-busses, metro, funiculars, etc for that time period. We tried to board the A1 but were rejected. The A1 is a private company, the Monbus line. They directed us to the #46 metro bus. It was just a minute walk away and was a choice on City Mapper, just a little slower as it made more stops. The bus was not crowded and dropped us right at Plaza Espanya where our AirB&B was. Check in was easy. We rang the appropriate buzzer at the door and were buzzed in. Took the elevator to the 7th floor and walked to the eighth. A couple from Brazil was finishing up cleaning the apartment from the previous occupants who they described as slobs. A group of 6 younger men that partied hard and left a mess. We talked with the husband for 10 minutes about the city, and then left to find lunch across the street while they finished up.
This is going to be so great! We stay in the same place 4 nights in a row!! Don’t have to pack and unpack every night like on the Camino. Don’t have to lug stuff with us through town! And, we have a roof top deck with a great view of the 1929 World Expo grounds and the 1992 Barcelona Olympics grounds. Sweet!
We walked over to the mall that used to be a bull fighting ring, converted in the early 2000s and had Asian lunch of noodles, then returned to our apartment. Sally had taken Dramamine for the flight and was quite sleepy and tired under its influence. I was itching to see the city, but we both took naps and let the heat of the day pass (89°). At about 6:00pm we headed out the door, took the metro red line L1 from our position at Plaza Espanya to Plaza Catalunya and started our Rick Steves Audio tour of Barcelona. As always, it was perfect. Walked us through the Ramblas and Barri Gotic areas and gave us the history and layout of the city. It took us about two hours to follow it. Then we walked the length of the Ramblas to the waterfront where we sat for a few minutes then back up the Ramblas to a metro station where caught the L1 back to our plaza and into our apartment about 11:00pm. A great start to our exploration of this sprawling and amazing city.
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