dst. (km) Today 0 Trip 2032.9
7.30 am, sitting in Barcelona bus terminal after a horrible night in the bus. The bus was smoky, the guy in front snored and the lady sitting next to me smoked even though it was the non-smoking half. Her reasoning — the smoking half was full and like most Spaniards, she smokes.
Observations from the night: The bike survived but the bar-ends rub on the top tube when all folded back, and the whole Spanish coast is an ugly mass of resort hotels, concrete boxes stretching to infinity.
For the first time I was too early to get a bed in a hostel, all the people told me to come back after 10 am, so guess what, had a couple of coffees while I waited, then got a bed in the first place I tried.
A shower and unpack then off to be a tourist around Barcelona, which is all a little overwhelming since Barcelona is so big and there’s so much to see!
Picasso musem was next and found some figure sketches I liked, together with some almost luminous pastels that I enjoyed, but most of his later works didn’t interest me. By this stage my legs were tired and the overnight bus ride was starting to catch up with me as I headed down to the harbour to look at the rich peoples’ boats… and then to pay a rich person’s entry fee to get into the aquarium.
It was an excellent aquarium, huge and well laid out with impressive displays, shame about the number of people who hammered on every glass panel to get a reaction from the fish, despite all the signs telling them not to.
Nearly asleep on my feet I walked across to the Maritime museum, again fairly impressive, but nowhere near as crowded as the aquarium. And definitely unlike the streets, which are packed with people. Barcelona is the first place I’ve been where it feels that it could be dangerous to go walking down the wrong street.
Lashed out and paid the money to have a laundrette wash all my clothes, the time has definitely come to get rid of the rotting sock smell that infests my bag.
Spent the evening chatting with the mixed collection of Canadians, Americans and a couple of Aussies, had dinner and a bottle of wine, then tried to go out since it was Saturday night, I was so tired I just gave up and went home early to bed.
Where?
Barcelona(41.3833333,2.1833333).
