Well I needed a good night's sleep. And that just didn't happen. The karaoke or whatever downstairs in the bar kept me awake (even with properly inserted earplugs - which I'd never managed to do before - and two Sleep Aids) until gone midnight. Grrgh.
I got up at 9 and went straight down for breakfast. I just had a couple of pieces of toast and a cup of tea because I was a bit nervous. I picked up my packed lunch and ordered another for the next day. Then I rang Resorthoppa and arranged my pick-up for the next day - 11am outside the hotel.
I left the hotel at 9.45 and walked up to the bus station. There was a British couple in front of me buying tickets to Barcelona but when she told them the price they stormed off muttering about extortion - not 9 Euros to see one of the nicest cities in the world!
I stepped up to the counter and she printed a ticket to Barcelona and pointed at the price. I didn't even have to say anything, I was a bit disappointed, I'd been practising. Just over 9 Euros, not bad for a 90km trip. I sat near the buses, needing the toilet. But I wasn't going to make THAT mistake again! I waited for almost 10 minutes and then my bus arrived and opened at 9.55. I showed the driver my ticket and double-checked that it actually went to Barcelona. I don't trust signs anymore. The bus was very empty and left 5 minutes early at 10.05. As we left the roundabout with the random swirly thing in the middle a British family ran up shouting angrily. The driver ignored them and kept driving.
The only way to really describe the bus was - vibratey. All the seats shuddered with the engine. But it was comfortable enough. No toilet though!
It headed up into the forested hills and did some death-defying stunts, narrowly avoiding throwing itself off into the trees and rocks in the valley below. The bus was very warm inside but outside it was 16C, there was a display at the front of the bus.
It pulled into Lloret de Mar, the only other stop, and the bus quickly filled up, no seats left and now even hotter! The bus was back on its way at 10.25 and we passed a mock Tudor-style building with a sign saying 'Queen Vic' and a children's playpark called 'Gnomo Park', which I thought was funny. The rest of the trip was uneventful until we stopped at Barcelona bus station at 11.20 and the temperature was now 20C.
I got off and headed off straight away to find a toilet. I finally found one after 10 minutes of following signs in a big circle. I found the right desk to buy a ticket back to Tossa de Mar and bought one, just in case, it was another 9 Euros. I put the ticket safely in my wallet and left the bus station. I made a careful note of the street name, I didn't plan to get lost in Barcelona. I didn't quite know what to do first so I looked around and spotted something pretty behind a park and some buildings. I headed that way and it turned out to be the Arc de Triomf! The first thing on my list! 
Hmm, that van was just waiting for me to take that picture wasn't it.
I then wander down past the Arc de Triomf to the Parc de la Ciutedella and sat in front of Gaudi's fountain to eat my packed lunch, which consisted of 2 sandwiches, one ham, the other cheese, with no butter on either, a bottle of water and a manky apple. I threw the apple away but ate the sandwiches, checking each bite for bugs or anything. I rang home from there to let them know I was in Barcelona safely.
After my early lunch (about 12), I wandered back to the Arc de Triomf and go down into the Metro station. It was very similar to London's underground, stalls selling over-priced food and rubbishy souvenirs and quite a lot of people. I made my way to a ticket machine and fiddled with it for a bit. Nope, no English. And my Spanish wasn't good enough to deicpher the different types of ticket. I went down further into the station, scared that this meant I might have had to walk to everywhere I wanted to see. Downstairs, there was a woman with a jacket that said 'Informacion' on, standing next to a different kind of ticket machine. So, with lots of broken English and Spanish, and wild pointing and gesturing, she helped me buy a single-trip ticket to Sagrada Familia station. This cost me 1 Euro 25, much cheaper than London!
It was nice to get into a cool, air-conditioned carriage (why can't London do this! Apparently London held a competition where people could suggest ways to cool the underground trains down but all the suggestions were discounted as being impossible to implement - over 1,000 ideas! Although this scheme and this scheme look interesting. I love underground systems, I wish Birmingham had one. But soon I'll be in Tokyo, where the subway rules.
I changed at Universitat, keeping a close eye on my pockets and bag, as instructed by the gestures of the nice woman at Arc de Triomf, and then emerged from Sagrada Familia. You don't even have to put your ticket in at the exit, they just trust you that you bought a correct ticket at the start of your journey. Although a few years ago, I read about a BBC Science study that said that Spaniards were the most selfish race on Earth, and Japanese were the least. The test was something to do with how much money each race would demand and how much they would leave for someone else. I can't find it on the Internet anymore, as I say, it was years ago.
Anyway, I came out of Sagrada Familia station, turned around, and wow.
So big and pretty! You can read more about La Sagrada Familia here but the basic idea is that it's a huge cathedral, designed by Antoni Gaudi many years ago, and, even though he's long dead, they are still building it according to his original design, and it will take many more years, probably centuries, before it is completed.
It took forever to find the entrance but I got there. 10 Euros for an adult! Forget that, I used my out-of-date NUS card to get in for
5 Euros and went up to the main entrance at 13.15.I saw a Chav with an estrella shaved into the back of his head, which is only funny if you're familiar with the old UK Chav phrase 'Star!'
I joined the queue for the lift to the top and paid my 2 Euros. I didn't mind paying that. It was a very long wait but there was plenty to look at inside the cathedral. It did look slightly buildingsite-like but it was still very impressive.
At 14.00, I made it to the front of the queue and went up in a very crowded lift to the top.
Once I got to the 'top', I realised that there were now stairs to the actual top. And I was already pretty high. I headed up stairs, taking photos through gaps in the stone as I went.
There were some very nice views of the city, including Barcelona's version of the Gherkin in London. There was an omni-present haze over the city, which was either mist or pollution, or both. It was fresher that day, than the day before when I went round Tossa de Mar.
I then took the long, winding walk down the spiral stairs, to the very bottom.
I then wandered through the shop and museum. There was a huge board in Japanese in the museum about a Japanese architect who took lots of his inspiration from Gaudi. I did start to read it but gave up when I saw how much there was and checked the time.I did find time to buy a model Sagrada Familia for the mantelpiece in my room which has models of locations from countries all over the world. That cost me 4 Euros, not too bad.
I left La Sagrada Familia at 15.15, thinking that I had loads of time to do the other things on my list. I took the Metro to Placa de Catalunya (local spelling) and sat down to plan the remaining part of my day.
If anyone is familiar with the cathedral in central Birmingham, or Pigeon Park, then you will know what I mean when I describe Placa de Catalunya as the Pigeon Park of Barcelona. Teenagers and pigeons congregated in their masses. At one point, someone threw a piece of bread for the birds and the whole square rose up in a panic. Birds hurtled to the food like bullets from a machine-gun. It was like a scene from 'the Birds', and I'm surprised I got out without a scratch. Terrifying!
I followed the Rough Guide's orders and went up many escalators to the 9th floor of Corte Ingles and took a couple of pictures from the windows of the restaurant there. They didn't come out well though. The restaurant did look very nice, but expensive and I was getting some odd looks so I left.I then headed down the 'must-see' destination according to the Rough Guide, Las Ramblas. I checked the time, I'm running out of time! So I hurry down Las Rambles. They are three pedestrianised roads linked together in a row of about 1km. There are street-performers, stalls selling everything from T-shirts to seeds and lots and lots of people. It was very interesting to see it all, but I was looking for a souvenir to take home. Hmm... herbs? Nah. I took a detour at Liceu station to see the Seu cathedral.
This picture is actually the back of it. It's much more impressive than the front, which was covered by a huge advert and scaffolding. It's like they're building the city around me! Compared to La Sagrada Familia, it was a huge disappointment. So, don't feel it's a must-see. I headed back to Las Ramblas, stopping to buy a souvenir, so it wasn't a complete waste.
I then headed all the way down to the harbour and got there at 17.00. I realised that I was fine for time and now had some to spare. So I took some pictures of
t
he harbour.I took the Metro from Drassanes back to Arc de Triomf (I've finally figured them out - annoying that the 'translate to English' button only changes one word, and I think I can figure out what Cancel-lar means thank you).
I was back in the area close to the bus station and I was hungry, thirsty and TIRED!
I bought a Coke from one place but they weren't serving food. I went up and down several roads but nowhere was serving food yet. It was before 6pm and I suppose it's the Spanish way to have late dinners but I needed food!
I finally found a place at 17.50 opposite the Arc de Triomf and ordered Paella de Carne (meat paella). It came (microwaved?) at 18.10 and I ate it with bread. I finished it quickly, and it came to 12 Euros. After that, I went back to a coffee shop I'd seen earlier. I had a Cafe con leche and croissant choco for 1.95 and that was very nice. I then walked back to the bus station, past 'Bar Estrella' and the Arc de Triomf again. It's dark by then and the city looks very nice.
I got back to the bus station at 19.00 and checked my bus was still running - it was! Learning from earlier, I went straight to the toilet, where a man didn't seem to have any problem wandering round with his pants down. Hmm...
I made my way to "platform" 25 and waited for my 19.45 bus. I asked the driver of a bus I knew wasn't going to Tossa if it was just to make sure. It wasn't. My bus arrived 5 minutes early and I got on, it wasn't full but I was still glad I bought my ticket that morning. We left and I relaxed into my seat. What a great day, an exhausting day, but a great day.
I entertained myself on the trip back to Tossa by counting the arrows in the hard-shoulder pointing to the nearest SOS phone (that's an excellent idea - I've always wondered how people who have broken down decide which way to walk to find a phone). We were on the C32 from Barcelona heading north along the coast (32 is one of my favourite numbers too) in quite heavy traffic in the city and then at tolls but the bus got priority.
I got back to the hotel, asked for "una cerveza" and get asked to show my 'All-inclusive' band for the first time, and then I went up to my room. I went to bed at 22.10 and wondered why there wasn't loud music playing downstairs like the previous nights. There was a piano-sound coming from somewhere and a crying child nearby but no music.
I got to sleep at about midnight, pleased that the day was such a success.
Next time, the journey home - will it be a disaster like getting to the airport?
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