Day 202 - Churches and the Seaside of Barcelona

 Today was a relaxed day since I spent the early day packing and unpacking to another Hostel in the city. It had a skateboarding theme and was one of the more luxurious hostels I've been to. It reminded me of the hostel I stayed at in Penang, Malaysia.

After getting situated, I headed to the Mediterranean seaside in Barcelona, where there was an extension of the Las Ramblas pedestrian walkway out across the sea. Street sellers lined the bridge with souvenirs and fake luxury brand merchandise, and seagulls hovered closely to pedestrians, looking for someone to feed them. It was cold near the sea, but I stayed for an hour just enjoying people watching and reading a book.

I headed back up Las Ramblas, the seedy walkway lined with talented painters, newspaper stands, street artists, sidewalk restaurants, and purse snatchers (or so I've heard). Nearby was the Gothic Catedral and the Esglesia de Santa Maria del Mar, two of the city's most famous churches.

I spent the rest of the night walking through the small alleyways and seeing what I could discover in the nooks. By the end of the night, I ended back at the Arc de Triomph before heading back to the hostel.

Monument a Colom (Columbus)

Gothic Catedral

Esglesia de Santa Maria del Mar

Day 199 - Rome to Barcelona

I'm finally leaving Rome! Not that it wasn't a beautiful city, but I just spent way too much time there! Spain will be the last country on my round the world tour this time around. The trip is coming to an end soon, but I'm especially excited to visit Barcelona since it was one of the original places I had a very strong desire to visit.

EJ and I headed to the airport before noon. It would be the first time either of us flew with RyanAir, and I was interested to know if there would be any problems at the airport since they basically rape your wallets when you purchase the tickets initially. Everything actually went smoothly though, and we got really good seats near the front of the plane. What was funny though was how much stuff they tried to sell to you during the flight - calendars of hot babes, tour guides, snacks, drinks, duty free items. It was ridiculous! I would hate to be the flight attendant who had to use the intercom every 5 minutes to introduce the next product. I think I'd just feel entirely silly, as if people actually were paying attention...but who knows, maybe there are Home Shopping Network die-hard shoppers frequently on planes...

We arrived in Barcelona and took a bus from the airport directly to the city center - Plaza Catalunya. Our hotel was just a short walk from there, and we checked in and relaxed a bit before heading out to explore the town a little. We noticed all the Tapas menus and I was excited to try some of them. EJ ordered some spicy potato wedges, and we both ordered some hamburgers - mine was called the Johnny Depp...

Since it was already dark, we just walked around the area near our hotel, stopping by a Christmas Crafts Village near the Gothic Catedral and the Shopping areas near Las Ramblas. We ended the night at an Irish Pub, drinking beer and cocktails before heading back.

Johnny Depp