Early breakfast then set off to station loaded with bikes/bags etc to catch the train to Barcelona. Arrived an hour before our train and we’re very glad we had. It’s survival of the fittest out there. With limited space allocated for luggage and almost every person with suitcase to say there’s a rush at the gate would be an understatement but we were up to the task! Taking a tram approach we lined up early and approached our carriage ina pre-emotive swarm. Our 30kg bags made it firmly to the bottom rack- and we were well and truly relaxed in our seats before the big luggage debarclle began trying to accomodate the other 30 or so suitcas s.

The scene early was pretty bland on the way over- green farmland mainly and pretty flat for most of it. Arrived in Barcelona just before 3 and in our hotel soon after. A short break the off to explore.

I can see we are going to enjoy Barcelona already- while a big city the thing that instantly struck us was the presence of street trees- even on the busiest roadways- something we haven’t seen a lot of since home. Being Sunday lots of families were out and about but most stores were closed.

Didn’t go too far afield. Finished with dinner at what turned out to be quite a fancy restaurant – BBQ pork mini tacos for me (delicious) and of course the mandatory Sangria – which we are all addicted to and seeking out the best recipes for when we get home.

Off to bed- have a 3 hour walking tour in the morning which hopefully will give us some ideas of places we want to go back and explore in more depth.