3 months in Spain and a few other places: Barcelona 16-18 Dec 2015

It's December 2015 and I am homeless. Sold my house a month ago. The lead up to that was rather depressing, so I came up with a plan to make myself feel better. I left a job I didn't like in Brisbane, Australia and decided to go overseas until I resettle in Melbourne in February. I decided to invite my 19 year old daughter Drew to accompany me. She is on Christmas break from university. I thought travelling by myself might get lonely and let's face it, everything is more pleasurable when you can turn to someone else and say "how good is this?" The most important thing though is that I have someone to enjoy a glass of wine with in another country.

I am spending about 3 months in Europe,mostly in Spain with an occasional detour to Germany (to visit some friends for a few days), France, maybe Amsterdam and possibly London for a few days. A good friend Pete will be over to spend the month of February with us.

We have no fixed agenda other than getting to know Barcelona and Madrid a little.

Ok, now on to the specifics of our trip. Plane journey! Hideous. Wonderful service, great food, fantastic movies to watch. It took us a little over a day to get here. Drew and I were sandwiched between two women as we travelled from Brisbane to Dubai, and then we were penned in by one very sleepy man from Dubai to Barcelona. It was my neck that suffered the most. What is it about those seats and the way they arch away from your body from your upper back to the top of your head? My body slowly seized up from about 5 hours into the flight. Drew's main complaint was her nose, but to tell the truth, that nose of hers has been a problem since she was born. I was having issues of my own. My nose was dry as a desert, and there were very few opportunities to pick it.

Once we arrived in Barcelona we caught the Aerobus from the airport to Placa de Catalunya in the Barri Gotic area of the city (the original Barcelona which is thought to date back to 230BC). It was about a 10 min trip and cost 5 EUR. We walked out of the airport, bought a ticket from a vending machine, and we were on the bus about 15 mins after we got off the plane. When we got off the bus, we basically walked around trying to find the hotel I had chosen to stay in (25 hours in a plane gave me a little time to plan), couldn't find it, then we stumbled upon the one we are in now. $Aus 50 / night. Pretty decent. 2 single beds, nice bathroom. Fantastic street which is bustling with people well after 1:00am. Once the people go to bed, the garbage trucks arrive and then the delivery vans. Strangest sight - an old lady with a walking stick travelling slowly home by foot at about 1.00am this morning. This is our second night here. We have booked one further night which will give us time to find cheaper accommodation.

Barcelona is very pretty in this Gothic area of town. Tiny streets with lots of people and shops and eateries.

What stood out first when we arrived is how social everyone is. People are walking around in twos, threes and fours. Old men together, old women, teenagers, children, groups of middle-aged men and women. Don't see that much in Australia.

It's pretty embarrassing not being able to speak any Spanish. Two separate terms of Spanish lessons during the last few years hasn't helped me at all. I forgot all that a few weeks after each course finished. Besides that, the teacher always recommended I not move on past beginners level. I'm getting more confident at the "HOLA", but I'm still whispering the "gracias" in case I'm not pronouncing it correctly. I did manage to ask for "Dos vino blanco por favor" last night but I was a little shitty that the bartender just poured me two house wines without congratulating me on my language skill or passing me the menu so I could choose which white wine I wanted (just joking).

Drew and I stand out in Barcelona with our blonde hair. The only people over here with blonde hair are tourists. It's killed my idea of getting a funky haircut in Spain. I'm afraid they will fuck up the colour.

My body clock is ruined. I've been up since 12 midnight and it's now 4.30am. I've managed to open my bowels three times during those few hours which is kind of remarkable. The delivery men and women are in full swing in the street below. Everyone seems to be yelling. There is still the occasional lonely person making their way home.

Day 3 today. Some photos:

View from our balcony at Hotel Catalunya on Carrer de Santa Anna.

Typically beautiful street in Barcelona

The cathedral dates from 1298-1460

Kindergarden kids tied with rope on church tour. Very cute.

Cathedral cloister with trees, fountains and geese.

Drew on the roof of the cathedral

Building technique

View from the roof of the cathedral

Man with the legs of a faun taking a rest on the walls of the cathedral.
Quite a few badly deformed and legless people begging for food around the city which is rather sad.