Snapshots of Barcelona

I have never really given Barcelona the credit it deserves. It has long been a favourite city of Ian’s; he went on a school trip and fell in love, so much so that he convinced me we had to go when we went on our first European adventure in 2009. But our trip that year was nothing to write home about – thanks to major delays on the part of our low-cost airline (which to be fair was not at fault for the fact that a flock of birds flew into the engine of what was to be our plane) we would up having only one full day in Barcelona rather than what should have been almost two and a half. That full day was a Sunday, when most major attractions do not open. We enjoyed ourselves, but what I remember most from Barcelona is wandering around, contemplating closed doors. When we decided to book an extra getaway in late March, all we really wanted in a destination was warmth, sun and reasonable price. Barcelona ticked all three boxes easily, and though we had to get up at an ungodly hour to catch a train to the airport that never arrived (which resulted in sharing a cab with two, luckily pleasant, strangers) we made it to the city in plenty of time to enjoy exactly what we wanted: lots of sunshine. I had a better recollection of the layout of the city than I realized – it seemed like every corner we turned, another memory of our last trip came back to me – which meant we were easily able to find our way around, mostly without even using a map. The hotel we chose based on low price alone proved to be more than perfect, because our room had a large balcony where we could spend the afternoons in the sun, sipping rioja while soaking up vitamin D. We feasted seemingly from sunrise to sunset, indulging in fresh juices from Mercat Sant Josep almost daily, among many other delectable treats. But mostly, because we hadn’t really planned to be there, and I arrived with no expectations of what our trip would be, we just relaxed and took it all in. To be totally honest, it made me wonder why I don’t just let go and see where life takes me more often. I know the answer to that question, obviously – I’m me, and that’s just not the way I operate. So despite the fact that we had an absolutely wonderful time in Barcelona, basking in the warmth under the palm trees, revelling in the glow of pink sunrises and, admittedly, indulging in a few more glasses of sparkling wine than we really needed, I don’t see a lot more spontaneous trips in our future. After all, it would be really hard to top this one…!

Je vous reviens en français dès vendredi, mes belles – histoire d’en avoir marre de mon correcteur d’orthographe et, bien sûr, de paresse extrême. Je vous aime. Gros bisous !