Hola ! Barcelona

We arrived in Spain on time with no hiccups after stops in Calgary and Frankfurt. Note to anyone traveling through Frankfurt airport: give yourself lots of time - 2 1/2 hours is not too much. The security travelling on from there is very strict and the lineups very long unless you are traveling business or first class. Wendy was scanned, patted down, searched, and then had to go to a little room to drop her pants so agent could see if she was hiding something behind her knee brace. I apparently was less shifty looking and was only scanned.

Once we got ourselves to our accommodation here in Barcelona, Hostal Q, we were able to get organized, have showers and then head out to explore a bit. Although our room was small with only a view of a small inner courtyard, it was spotless, comfy, and with a great shower and had air-conditioning. All we needed and only 2 blocks from Plaça Catalunya - perfect for us. It’s  27C here so a bit of a shock to the system. We did a wander up and down little back streets, excited to be back here again, then to Santa Caterina market to eat outside. We were excited to see padron peppers on the list (thanks to Paula for introducing us to this wonderful dish in Santiago 2 years ago.) They were a bit past their prime but fun to have anyway. Then some ham and cheese croquettes followed by pasta with pesto, with vino blanco - perfect for our first day.  Home to bed by 9:30pm – well before most Spanish are sitting down to dinner!  

We were surprised and excited to hear one of our favourite Tasmanians was still in Spain when we had expected she had already gone back to Hobart. Sue emailed and we arranged to meet her for lunch. She lives half the year just an hour outside of Barcelona. We met Sue in 2013 while hiking on one of the Camiño routes in France. 

We had a wonderful 3 hour catchup up at the top of El Cortes Ingles in their restaurant on the 9th floor, with a fabulous view all over Barcelona and good food too. But the very best feature is their serve yourself wine bar! 3 taps labeled blanco, tinto or rose. Grab a glass and fill it up. A lot of wine for 3pm!!!

After saying goodbye to Sue at the metro stop we wandered for a couple of hours before having some limonade and a small pizza at a bar outside on the street. Home for a better sleep – train to France tomorrow.