Arriving in Barcelona

Our first Sangria!

We had a great flight on which we managed to sleep for a few hours and got through the airport stuff without a problem. Fastest customs I've ever been through. Hadn't really planned on how to get to our hotel...I figured we would wing it. The information desk guy said something vague about taking the "aerobus" to the city centre. We turned right after exiting the terminal and walked a few hundred feet till we found the bus. It was €5.60 a piece and took us to Playa Catalunya which seems to be a hub for everything. All of the tour busses depart from here and it can be a bit daunting with numerous streets coming off of the main circle. The streets aren't really labelled with the biggest of signs and the first person we asked for directions from sent us off in the completely wrong direction. After asking a store clerk, who had very limited English where we were, and then heading off in the correct direction,we were able to find la Rambla quite easily. This is a very busy area in the old part of Barcelona. The street itself is actually two streets running each way, separated by a very large central walk area on which reside the usual bucksters, stalls, boys and men hawking useless little colourful toys and so on. The street statues were actually quite amazing and I will post some if I get a chance! La Rambla runs from The Playa Catalunya down to the Port where there is a statue of Christopher Columbus. This is a very busy area with LOTS of touristos...the street itself is surrounded by areas with certain local names. In the gothic area you find winding little alleys or streets with churches and buildings dating back to the 14th century. A very large Cathedral which actually contains part of the original Roman wall dominates the area. We passed the Picasso museum, saw a Spanish wedding at the Cathedral de la Mar, and strolled through the little alleyways and the beautiful port. Beautiful sunny weather today, with a temperature of about 30...just like what we left in Hamilton.

More later