Back to the beginning - the final chapter in Barcelona

After the kerfuffle with our previous booking at the 'Love Hotel' we finally managed to get a booking at Cuitat del Prat, near the airport.  Not the best location, but it had a pool and was only a 20-minute bus-ride into Barcelona City, and a 10-minute drive to the beaches at Castelldefels, so it was a good compromise.  The hotel was good, but they were not happy with us when we arrived, as I'd used my Qantas cashcard to secure the booking through Booking.com, and there was not enough money left in the account, even though we weren't supposed to pay until we got there - as a result the receptionist was a little unhappy with us and we had to pay cash upfront before we could check in.  Anyway, we had nice rooms in which to spend our last 4 days in the country, and parking was free, so that was a bonus.

The area we were in was where 'real people' lived and worked, and there were plenty of restaurants, cafes and bars around, so we weren't going to go hungry.  We had a really yummy lunch at a doner kebab place and had a chat with the young Pakistani man who served us - he had been living in Spain for 8 years (I think his family were refugees, but we didn't get to that), and he was still trying to get citizenship, which would take another 2 years, so that he could travel elsewhere.  As he said, no-one would accept a Pakistani passport, so he was in limbo until he could get a Spanish one.  When he discovered we were Australian,and not English (a common mistake) he told us he was very keen to visit Australia, but it was so far away.  He hoped to be able to work in either the US, England or Australia once he had his passport.

Dinner that evening was in the main square, where all the families congregated from about 7.30pm onwards.  Again, it was a mix of generations, all outside on a pleasant, balmy summer's evening.  I have learned that if I want a steak to be cooked rare, or very rare, the Spanish term is 'al punto'.  So I had a very nice steak 'al punto' with chips that evening.

The next day we caught a bus into Barcelona city where we planned to do the cablecar ride across the water and up into the mountain of Monjuic.  We caught a bus to the cablecar then found a looooong queue waiting to go up.  Given that each car seated only 8 passengers, and took about 20 minutes to complete the ride, we did the maths and worked out that we might be able to get on by about ...... oh, a week next Tuesday.  So we did the obvious thing and retired to a nearby bar/restaurant to have lunch and ponder our options over a drink.

Luckily, the bar was right on the beach so we had a nice view while we worked out our next move.  We walked back along the beach and marina area to the city, stopping for a gelato on the way, as you do.  People were out in force,enjoying the beautiful day, sitting on the grass, having picnics, listening to buskers, it was very pleasant.  When we got back into town we stopped at a little bar (honestly, it was very hot, and we needed to sit!!!) for a refreshing ale - I might add that I only had a nestea.  

While sitting there, a young man came up to us holding a sheet of paper with some writing on it and shoved it in from front of us, begging for money.  We said no, but he got more insistent, putting the sheet of paper closer and closer to the table. We still kept saying no, and he started to walk off when Trev suddenly yelled "piss off, piss off" grabbed his hand, and the guy took off.   I was a little shocked, as Trev is usually very calm and rarely swears at people.  He said to me:  'Didn't you see what he was doing?'  I said 'no' - Trevor replied that the guy had my phone in his hand under the paper. I hadn't even realised what he was doing, he was so good at distracting me with the bit of paper and looking right at me as he tried to snaffle the phone.  Little bastard!  Good old Trev saved the day and earned a quite a few brownie points.  I was so annoyed with myself, as I had read up on all the scams and tricks that pickpockets and thieves used in Spain before we left, and I had been really careful.  To nearly get caught on the second last day was a bit of a disappointment.

We wandered the little streets, which now felt quite familiar, and walked past the apartment that had been our 'home' with 'our balcony' for the first week of our stay in Spain.  The street was just as busy, and the waiter at a tapas bar nodded and smiled at us, as he remembered us walking past him every day for a week.  We bought a couple of last-minute souvenirs then caught the bus back to our hotel.


Our last day in Spain was spent at the beach in Castelldefels - at least for me, Trevor and Bill - Lorraine decided to have a rest day before heading off to England for the next part of their journey the following day.  We had a lovely day, the water was very refreshing, and Trev and Bill appreciated the Spaniards' relaxed attitude to the wearing of bikini tops, enjoying the scenery.   We had a good lunch at a little beach bar, watching young Spanish girls buying beachwear from a group of ladies who frequent the beach with all their wares. 

On our last evening we had dinner at the hotel restaurant, and it was excellent.  The service was slow, as they seemed to be unusually busy that evening, but we were all very happy with our meals.  We shared a couple of entrees, then Bill and I had beautiful lamb cutlets, Lorraine had duck in berries sauce and Trev had Bacalao (salted cod) on a mash. Very nice.

In the morning we wandered down to our 'usual' pastry shop and had coffee and toasted boccadillas for breakfast.  Then it was goodbye to Lorraine and Bill who headed to the airport for their flight to London, and we packed our bags for the final time to head home that afternoon.  


So, it was 'Adios Espana y muchas gracias', we've had a great time, and driven over 4000kms through your beautiful country.  We've seen:

• beaches and deserts, 
• lush green forests, 
• beautiful mountains, 
• winding roads through gorgeous, timeless little whitewashed villages,
• cosmopolitan cities,
• innumerable castles and spectacular churches,
• amazing architecture, both old and new
• passionate, intense flamenco dancing
• magical sand sculptures.

We've enjoyed some of the best food in the strangest of places, and learned how to order 'tres cervesas y vino blanco' (3 beers and a white wine), 'tres cafe con leche y uno americano' (3 milk coffees and a long black), even if Lorraine did get a little tired of 'boccadilla con jamon y queso' (bun with ham and cheese).  We've discovered that you can get a beer just about anywhere, any time of the day - even at McDonalds, where you can have your bacon and egg McMuffin with coffee, juice or beer for breakfast.  The coffee here has been so rich and full of flavour, and we've rarely had a bad one.

We've had some interesting conversation with strangers, and been a little shocked at how many people were homeless and/or begging throughout Spain.  With the unemployment rate around 24%, perhaps it shouldn't be that surprising, but we were surprised at how many young unemployed people there were.  One of the young waitresses we talked to early on in our travels, said that although she worked long hours, 'I am happy - I have a job'.  A bit sobering for those of us from 'the lucky country'.  Click here for a link to an interesting article on the unemployed young men in Spain.