3 trains, a plane and the rain in Spain...
(OR... How Gary & I Accidentally Took
Our 1st European Road Trip)
Clowning around at the aquarium.
At the Christopher Columbus Monument.
The view of the waterfront from the top of the
Christopher Columbus Monument.
A view up Las Ramblas.
Gary & the chocolate factory.
Outside the Sagrada Familia cathedral, still under construction.
Climbing to the top of the cathedral.
Sant Joseph Market (La Boqueria) off Las Ramblas.
Just a day at the beach!
I'm not so good at most European languages,
but I CAN SPEAK ENGLISH!!!!
In front of the Casa Mila (and a new umbrella).
Big smiles in Barcelona.
11pm, the journey begins...
About 4am, somewhere in France.
Gary & I have wanted to go to Barcelona for some time now (even before arriving in Switzerland), but it has been on the back burner. Well, thanks to Swiss Air's last minute weekend specials we made reservations and were on our way. I was thrilled! The thought of warmer weather and a chance to see Spain... I was beside myself with excitement.
We landed, took the train into the city and finally stepped out into the Barcelona sun in front of the main train station. It was cold (actually very cold). No worries, we were still going to have a wonderful time!
I have to back up for a second and tell you quickly about our reception at the main train station in Bruges, Belgium. As we were walking out of the station we were handed two poinsettia plants (it was the week before Christmas) and two lottery tickets (yes, valid tickets). No one wanted money from us (shocking) and we actually WON six euro which we cashed in at the local store (and paid for our local guide book & map). What a great welcome to the city!
That was Bruges. Now, here we are in Barcelona, just walking out of the station and we were greeted with a cup full of some sort of watery, corn meal type, lumpy liquidy substance that was thrown all over the back of my travel pack, coat and hat! Of course I didn’t see this when it happened. One minute I was getting a map out of my pack, and the next minute some man is "kindly" telling me I have something on my coat. (Actually it was a runny, yellow substance dripping ALL over me!)
So what do I do? I pull off my backpack (not wise) and Gary & I are standing there shocked, backpack on the ground, luckily, just out of reach of this "kind" man. The only thing that saved us was we were on a landing of a stairway. We scooped up the bag, to get off the stairs, and at the top we again (foolishly) put the bag down. We didn't realize it, but luck was on our side. We were in a parking lot, where a woman was sitting nearby in her car. That scared off the guy who was still very near us and trying to "help".
I'd read about this scam, but never thought "it could happen to me". We soon saw the "kind" man walking with the guy who had been right behind me coming out of the station and acting strange. This team of thieves were working the main station, targeting backpackers holding a map. We were lucky to have my pack and everything in our pockets! I'd like to say it was my cat-like reflexes and lightning-quick speed that saved us, but really it was plain luck. We found our hotel, got cleaned up, and went on to enjoy our day... a little wiser and feeling good that we escaped the con artists - that is until Gary decided to play 3-card Monty with street hustlers, but that is a story for another day.
So, putting that behind us, we were off to see the beautiful city, determined to have a great weekend... and we did! We saw the Olympic stadium, went to the top of the Columbus Monument (with views of the whole city), walked up and down the grand boulevard (Las Ramblas), took a bus tour of the city, walked the local La Boqueria Market, and visited the Sangrada Familia (Gaudi's unfinished cathedral). This is one of the most moving places I have ever visited. The church’s design is a fusion of nature, architecture, and religion. Construction started in 1883 and is not expected to be complete for another 50 years. I hope one day to see it when it's finished.
The next day we wandered through the Gothic Quarter, toured the Gothic (completed) cathedral, visited the Picasso Museum (highly recommend this), went to the Chocolate Museum (Gary loved this!) and walked about two miles to stand in the sand on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea. This is about when it started to rain, which wouldn't have been so bad, since Gary was prepared with his umbrella in hand. Unfortunately, this is also about when the umbrella broke! But we are troopers and we weren't going to let a droopy umbrella stop us! With some time to kill before our plane took off, we strolled along the waterfront and even caught a quick IMAX film (since the rain was getting worse).
With plenty of time, we headed to the airport. Easy enough. You get on the #2 train, at the second stop, get off and catch a connecting train one more stop to the airport. Easy. We would be at the airport in 15 minutes, 1 1/2 hours before our flight. We had a train map, confirmed our route with a train station employee, and headed to track five. There was train #2, just like the lady had told us and we got on. A few minutes after it pulled out of the station, the conductor came around and asked us our route. "To the airport" we confidently stated. He replied, in very broken English, "Not on this train. This is a direct train to the end of the line and it makes no stops."
This was very, very bad... mucho problemo, to be exact.
We sailed right by our stop and about an hour later we had reached the end of the line in who knows what small town! The only cab at the station was snatched out from under us. So, we hopped on the return train, that made ALL 18 STOPS on the way back to our stop to catch our connection to the airport. This was slow torture for me, since we had plans to snow board the next day with some people from Gary's office, but there was nothing we could do. We arrived at the Swiss Air counter at 9:10pm, 25 minutes after our flight had taken off and 10 minutes after every Swiss Air employee had left for the night. My first missed flight.
Gary was on the phone with Swiss Air who informed us that our discount tickets were non-refundable and non-transferable (of course), but they would be happy to sell us one way tickets for the 9am flight for 750 Euro each!!!!! Ummmmm... No. (Round trip would have been more reasonable at 125 Euro each, but that, with an extra night's hotel stay, would have been very pricey.) So, I get the bright idea to rent a car! The rental, complete with one-way, out-of-country charges, was 94 Euro. SOLD!
The next thing we know we're driving in the pouring rain, in a country where we can't read any road signs, without a map or even the foggiest idea of which way we're heading. We finally found a gas station with a map and we were set. It was an exhausting trip, and I truly hope the next time I see the south of France it won't be racing through in the middle of the night. 500 miles and 8 hours later... we were home! Our first road trip was complete.
Needless to say we didn't make it up snow boarding. We were both completely wiped out, but home earlier than if we had caught the 9am flight and with a few more Euros in our pocket. It was quite the adventure.
So, you ask, after all that did I enjoy Barcelona? I loved it! I'm returning in April with my mom, when the weather is warmer and I can use my newly acquired street smarts.
Lessons Learned: When traveling you have to roll with the punches, keep your pack on your back, stay alert, and beware of the scariest people of them all... overconfident, misinformed train station employees.
Our 1st European Road Trip)
Clowning around at the aquarium.
At the Christopher Columbus Monument.
The view of the waterfront from the top of the
Christopher Columbus Monument.
A view up Las Ramblas.
Gary & the chocolate factory.
Outside the Sagrada Familia cathedral, still under construction.
Climbing to the top of the cathedral.
Sant Joseph Market (La Boqueria) off Las Ramblas.
Just a day at the beach!
I'm not so good at most European languages,
but I CAN SPEAK ENGLISH!!!!
In front of the Casa Mila (and a new umbrella).
Big smiles in Barcelona.
11pm, the journey begins...
About 4am, somewhere in France.
Gary & I have wanted to go to Barcelona for some time now (even before arriving in Switzerland), but it has been on the back burner. Well, thanks to Swiss Air's last minute weekend specials we made reservations and were on our way. I was thrilled! The thought of warmer weather and a chance to see Spain... I was beside myself with excitement.
We landed, took the train into the city and finally stepped out into the Barcelona sun in front of the main train station. It was cold (actually very cold). No worries, we were still going to have a wonderful time!
I have to back up for a second and tell you quickly about our reception at the main train station in Bruges, Belgium. As we were walking out of the station we were handed two poinsettia plants (it was the week before Christmas) and two lottery tickets (yes, valid tickets). No one wanted money from us (shocking) and we actually WON six euro which we cashed in at the local store (and paid for our local guide book & map). What a great welcome to the city!
That was Bruges. Now, here we are in Barcelona, just walking out of the station and we were greeted with a cup full of some sort of watery, corn meal type, lumpy liquidy substance that was thrown all over the back of my travel pack, coat and hat! Of course I didn’t see this when it happened. One minute I was getting a map out of my pack, and the next minute some man is "kindly" telling me I have something on my coat. (Actually it was a runny, yellow substance dripping ALL over me!)
So what do I do? I pull off my backpack (not wise) and Gary & I are standing there shocked, backpack on the ground, luckily, just out of reach of this "kind" man. The only thing that saved us was we were on a landing of a stairway. We scooped up the bag, to get off the stairs, and at the top we again (foolishly) put the bag down. We didn't realize it, but luck was on our side. We were in a parking lot, where a woman was sitting nearby in her car. That scared off the guy who was still very near us and trying to "help".
I'd read about this scam, but never thought "it could happen to me". We soon saw the "kind" man walking with the guy who had been right behind me coming out of the station and acting strange. This team of thieves were working the main station, targeting backpackers holding a map. We were lucky to have my pack and everything in our pockets! I'd like to say it was my cat-like reflexes and lightning-quick speed that saved us, but really it was plain luck. We found our hotel, got cleaned up, and went on to enjoy our day... a little wiser and feeling good that we escaped the con artists - that is until Gary decided to play 3-card Monty with street hustlers, but that is a story for another day.
So, putting that behind us, we were off to see the beautiful city, determined to have a great weekend... and we did! We saw the Olympic stadium, went to the top of the Columbus Monument (with views of the whole city), walked up and down the grand boulevard (Las Ramblas), took a bus tour of the city, walked the local La Boqueria Market, and visited the Sangrada Familia (Gaudi's unfinished cathedral). This is one of the most moving places I have ever visited. The church’s design is a fusion of nature, architecture, and religion. Construction started in 1883 and is not expected to be complete for another 50 years. I hope one day to see it when it's finished.
The next day we wandered through the Gothic Quarter, toured the Gothic (completed) cathedral, visited the Picasso Museum (highly recommend this), went to the Chocolate Museum (Gary loved this!) and walked about two miles to stand in the sand on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea. This is about when it started to rain, which wouldn't have been so bad, since Gary was prepared with his umbrella in hand. Unfortunately, this is also about when the umbrella broke! But we are troopers and we weren't going to let a droopy umbrella stop us! With some time to kill before our plane took off, we strolled along the waterfront and even caught a quick IMAX film (since the rain was getting worse).
With plenty of time, we headed to the airport. Easy enough. You get on the #2 train, at the second stop, get off and catch a connecting train one more stop to the airport. Easy. We would be at the airport in 15 minutes, 1 1/2 hours before our flight. We had a train map, confirmed our route with a train station employee, and headed to track five. There was train #2, just like the lady had told us and we got on. A few minutes after it pulled out of the station, the conductor came around and asked us our route. "To the airport" we confidently stated. He replied, in very broken English, "Not on this train. This is a direct train to the end of the line and it makes no stops."
This was very, very bad... mucho problemo, to be exact.
We sailed right by our stop and about an hour later we had reached the end of the line in who knows what small town! The only cab at the station was snatched out from under us. So, we hopped on the return train, that made ALL 18 STOPS on the way back to our stop to catch our connection to the airport. This was slow torture for me, since we had plans to snow board the next day with some people from Gary's office, but there was nothing we could do. We arrived at the Swiss Air counter at 9:10pm, 25 minutes after our flight had taken off and 10 minutes after every Swiss Air employee had left for the night. My first missed flight.
Gary was on the phone with Swiss Air who informed us that our discount tickets were non-refundable and non-transferable (of course), but they would be happy to sell us one way tickets for the 9am flight for 750 Euro each!!!!! Ummmmm... No. (Round trip would have been more reasonable at 125 Euro each, but that, with an extra night's hotel stay, would have been very pricey.) So, I get the bright idea to rent a car! The rental, complete with one-way, out-of-country charges, was 94 Euro. SOLD!
The next thing we know we're driving in the pouring rain, in a country where we can't read any road signs, without a map or even the foggiest idea of which way we're heading. We finally found a gas station with a map and we were set. It was an exhausting trip, and I truly hope the next time I see the south of France it won't be racing through in the middle of the night. 500 miles and 8 hours later... we were home! Our first road trip was complete.
Needless to say we didn't make it up snow boarding. We were both completely wiped out, but home earlier than if we had caught the 9am flight and with a few more Euros in our pocket. It was quite the adventure.
So, you ask, after all that did I enjoy Barcelona? I loved it! I'm returning in April with my mom, when the weather is warmer and I can use my newly acquired street smarts.
Lessons Learned: When traveling you have to roll with the punches, keep your pack on your back, stay alert, and beware of the scariest people of them all... overconfident, misinformed train station employees.
posted by Swiss Miss | 23:01
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