We are sitting in Barcelona airport, waiting for the plane back to Morocco. It’s late, unfortunately. We were actually supposed to leave Spain in the morning with a short connection in Casablanca, but the airline changed our flight so that we stay in Casa this evening and fly out of there tomorrow as planned. That means most of the day wasted in Barcelona today and another good part of the day going through airport administration tomorrow. And here it has been a perfect day in Barcelona! The weather today is sunny, as it has been each of the last 5 days. Temperature today is 23c. Do you think we are in a rush to leave this lovely city?
We started the morning with a wake up call at 9am so we would not miss breakfast, again. From there we finished packing and left our luggage while we walked over to La Sagrada Familia to visit inside. What we hadn’t realized was just how many people had the same plan. The line up was around the whole perimeter of the building! Had we known, we could have booked our tour online and not had such a long wait. In the end, we just didn’t have the time nor the patience to wait for the visit of the Basilica. I guess that will be for another visit. It was bad enough that we missed the entry to Santa Eulalia the day before as we arrived just in time for it to close for a 4 hour siesta. Sigh, I am not very lucky with these things. Oh well, at least we have a great lunch in the El Born district (what seems to be an artsy neighbourhood), following by a tour of the chocolate museum and the Picasso museum.
So the morning was spent just getting back to the hostel, chatting with friends, finding a mailbox to post that last minute postcard and having a short but delicious lunch. Ok, I also had one last dessert, a caramel pie with chocolate shavings with a side of creme fraiche. Ariane was still recovering from her 2 crazy clubbing nights, so she stayed behind while I went for a last walk along the Gran Gracia avenue. Of course, it was a bit hot and the sun was directly over the sky, so I did what any smart traveller would do, it stepped into the shops and bought myself some stylish winter boots, which I may get to wear sooner than later, it seems.
Back at the hostel, we had a last little rest while chatting with some of our new friends, then we picked up our luggage and made our way to the train which led us to the airport. I have to say, the transit system is excellent here! We bought passes for several days that allowed us to use the subway several times a day, therefore saving a considerable amount in taxis. And this city is also very good for walking everywhere as will attest my worn-down shoes
Once we got to the airport, we shared a last cerveza and Ariane spent her last few coins on a double cheeseburger from McDonalds, sin salsa, por favor. She hates ketchup!
I am currently writing in the plane. Ariane was asleep before we took off. She seems to have come down with a case of the sniffles, not surprisingly after less than 7 hours of sleep in 2 days. I was surprised to hear the call to prayer come over the intercom as soon as we took off. It is sunset after all and we are headed back to a Muslim country. Once we get back to Casa, we have to find out about our hotel for the night, courtesy of Royal Air Maroc. We were thinking we might take an early train tomorrow and try to visit Rabat for a few hours before the flight home. That is still to be determined. For now, I am hoping for a nice dinner and a good bed. We have tried to follow the Catalan schedule with lunches that last from 2 to 3:30pm and dinners that don’t begin till after 8:30pm. Along with that there was a very late bedtime, often after midnight. We will surely have to catch up on our sleep in the coming days.
Turning my world upside down! 