Hola from Barcelona

The flight from Singapore to Barcelona was LONG. We were fortunate enough to be grouped together at the last minute in a pair and triple 3 rows apart. The flight was absolutely full. It arrived in Barcelona eariler than planned and by 730 we were at the carousel picking up our luggage. We bumped into a fellow DISboarder at the airport and hopefully we'll get to meet the rest of the group come the 24th.

It was only a surprisingly short drive to our apartment. The drive made us nervous when he said that the street was too small for the minivan and that we'd have to walk in the rest of the way. He dropped us off on Las Ramblas and off we went shuttled into a small alleyway. We were rewarded with a spectacular view of Placa Reial and turned into a quaint and charming little street where the apartment building was. It was as good as, if not more than what I expected.

Walking up the alley towards our apartment

At the end of the alley we see...Placa Reial!

Our apartment building

The view from our building

First and foremost, the apartment is in a superb location which we found out later when we went sightseeing. There are plenty of shops, cafes and restaurants around. It is clean, modern and comfortable and has many mod-cons one of which is enabling this blog currently!

The apartment!


Waiting to get some lunch

My parents flight thankfully went ahead with the reopening of Schiphol Airport just only yesterday. So as we waited for their arrival to the apartment, we wandered downstairs to find some lunch for the children. Our first meal in Spain turned our to be an organic-microwave yourself variety. For only 6.95 Euro we got ourselves 2 meals, a dessert, a drink and a bread roll which was enough to feed all five of us. Best of all, it was only literally at the bottom of our apartment building.

The source of our organic self-microwave Spanish meal

When my parents came, we wondered down Las Ramblas enjoying the buzz and the street performers whilst clutching our belongings with paranoia. Malcolm and I decided to hit the sightseeing hard today to try to re-adjust our bodyclock as soon as possible. We stopped at the La Boqueria markets for an afternoon snack before continueing past Placa Catalunya to Passeig De Gracia. We then hopped on a metro to take in the sights of La Sagrada Familia. This was followed by another metro ride to Park Guell. The walk up the hill was punishing. I really wished I was Jonah being pushed up the hill in a stroller! Park Guell itself was surprisingly relaxing. It was nice to sit and watch the children run around with the sights of Barcelona city in the background and beautiful mosaics all around you.

Las Ramblas

Juice stall at La Boqueria markets



La Sagrada Familia

By this stage though, everyone was tired and so we took a taxi home. Thank goodness for parents. Mine stopped to get drinks and dinner (we had to have 2 taxis). The children were then quickly bathed and are now sound asleep. They have coped surprisingly well and it bodes well for many happy travels in the future! If we/they can handle this, then the world is our oyster! I'm going to bed in preparation for another busy day tomorrow. I still can't believe I'm here!!!

Park Guell