Category: Barcelona

We are not doing much sightseeing at all, just trying to find our bearings. Wandered around in a local park, found grocery stores, we know now where the nearby beach is (it turns out it was converted from an industrial area with sand from Egypt).

We purchased a pass to use public transportation, buses, trams, trains, metro, so we can check out different neighborhoods of the city. 

The mass at the nearby cathedral was comforting, the organ music filled the large gothic building.

Our neighborhood, called El Born is bordering the old town, it feels like a bohemian, artsy place with strong and diverse activist culture. 

I don’t know what I expected, I knew Barcelona is a cosmopolitan metropolis and Catalonia is drastically different than the region of Andalusia, still my first impression is this is not my vibe. Or more bluntly, did I make a mistake for staying here longer than a few days?

The motel where we are staying did not help the mood, we got a tiny, airless room, dark and ugly, the window opened to a shaft, narrow space between another building with humongous brown pipes making strange noises. It did not look anything like the pictures when I reserved it. Krisztina usually able to say something to cheer me up in similar situations, but here there was nothing to say. I went to talk to the manager, we ended up getting another room with a balcony that was less claustrophobic.

The challenge is on, how to enjoy being in this city for 10 days?