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BARCELONA |
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We flew Iberia's air shuttle to Barcelona, arriving in one hour rather than taking a six-hour train which probably would have provided some nice views. By buying tickets online through Iberia's Spanish language website, we paid the same as train tickets; travelers using the English language website paid twice as much. So brush up on your Spanish before visiting Spain! We departed from Madrid's sleek Terminal 4, a straight building with over 100 gates and a huge shopping area. Signs tell you how many minutes the walk is to each section...it's that big. As Madrid's newest terminal, it is only connected to the rest of the airport by shuttle buses and they are often jammed. We were glad the flight was short: Iberia has no complimentary food or beverage service on flights within Spain but they will sell you a can of Coke for over $2.50! No passenger around us bought anything! From Barcelona airport, we hopped a train to the city. A T-10 Metro ticket is also good for the RENFE trains within the city and our hotel was a short walk from the Franca station. |
 We stayed
at a wonderful family-owned hotel (because it has a popular restaurant
on the ground floor it does not qualify as a hostal), literally across the street from Barcelona's large
Citadel Park. We had a room overlooking the park entrance
and the photo at left is the view from our room. The street noise was
minimal due to double-paned windows but we were over a banquet room and
it was used for a special party for a big soccer game our first night.
Soccer is Europe's football and it was a raucous affair! The rest of our
nights were peaceful however.... Visit our hotel's website! |
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| Since it was Sunday, we spent the rest of the day exploring the area around our hotel. We walked through Citadel Park very quickly since it was jammed for some sort of Children's Festival. To the right of the hotel view photo above is a promenade which leads to the Triumph Arch celebrating the conquest of Granada (our next stop). On either side of the promenade are stores and restaurants. |
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Children's festival at park |
Promenade across from park |
A Spanish SUV |
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| Walking to the Triumph Arch | Wow wow weewa.... | Our first bidet |
