I’ve been to Spain so many times it is without question my most visited country. I’ve travelled the coast line all the way from Barcelona south to Marbella. Stayed in Torrevieja where my mum had a home for a number of years. I understand Spainish pretty well, can’t speak it fluently, but know enough vocabulary to get by. Though, I’ve not stayed win Barcelona before. I came here on a road trip, and visited Barcelona FC’s Nou Camp stadium, but moved on, so I was excited to come and get the opportunity now.

For multiple reasons, I chose a hotel near to the airport in Viladecans. This worked out extraordinarily well. After arriving shortly before noon on my overnight flight coming in from Seattle, I took the 15 minute bus ride to my hotel. The bus dropped me virtually at the door to my hotel in the commercial district of Vildecanas. As luck would have it, the hotel is also directly across from the train station. I dropped my bags and was straight out headed to central Barcelona. It’s just three train stops that connect Viladecans to the main Sants railway station. It was great to finally get a chance to come see more of this sprawling stunning city. I arrived on a sunny Sunday, so I’m sure that helped in seeing it glowing. I wandered around aimlessly, and just soaked it all in.

Avenguda De Roma

It’s was 45-minute walk along Avenguda De Roma that was filled with families out having Sunday chats, food and drinks in cafe after cafe. Maybe they had been to church? Maybe celebrating a family occasion? Whatever, they all seemed to be enjoying themselves. What a fine way to spend some time.

I walked on by. I was headed to the Sagrada de Familia, which has been under construction for 144 years. Designed by Gaudi this basilica has taken over a century to build, and they are not done yet. Before the pandemic the timeline was for completion to be done in 2026, but now that date is into the 2030’s.

From there I headed down to La Rambala the iconic tree lined pedestrian promenade. It leads to the Barceloneta Beach. How can a great city get such a glorious beach as well. I think they want it all do these folks in Barcelona!

Barcelona Turistica Bus Tour

My adventures continued In Barcelona taking the Barcelona Turistica bus to go out and around the city to see some more. The main place I wanted to go was Montjuic Castle, which means Jewish Castle. There is a cable car, that takes you up to the castle, but I was all cabled out after my recent trip to Hong Kong. There was also the option of the funicular, so I went that route instead. What I didn’t realize was I caught the funicular at the top, and I rode it to the bottom. Thus increasing how much walking I had to do. I realized that a minor technical error had. happened, but it was fun to ride the funicular, and I found a nice bakery on the route back up, so all was good.

I made my way back to where I was dropped by the Turistica bus, and began to climb the steps up to the castle and the views that can be enjoyed.

At a slow pace the bus journey moved onwards, but in the open topped double decker bus on a glorious sunny day it was time well spent. The glimpse into the sights, sounds, buildings and history just set Barcelona off perfectly. The plan for the day was to do the full red route circuit on the bus and then get off and find somewhere for lunch. The bus navigated at a slow pace, so there was no time for lunch. I got off the bus at my starting point of Sants Railway Station, and it was immediately back to the hotel, collect luggage and shoot to the airport.

I’d seen some of Barcelona, but another day here would have been nice, there is no much to explore. Still, it
reinforced how wonderful Spain is. The weather, the way of life… I would like to live here, not Barcelona, but somewhere in this great country!