Barcelona (Part Three)

This weekend I did my TEFL course in Birmingham and I will post some information about that once I have finished all these posts about Barcelona!

So, the hotel seemed nice enough, except that the entire town was in the midst of that powercut. So, no food and no room. And I was so tired!

But I did what I could. I checked-in and got my uberly cool blue 'All-inclusive' band. They had some cold sandwiches in the restaurant so I had some of them. And so began the being-careful-with-what-I-eat phase of my holiday. I had read reviews of the hotel online before I went - and they seemed to mainly warn against the food.

As I was sitting at reception waiting and waiting, a British man came down and starting shouting at the receptionist "Why is the power off?! My girlfriend is upstairs ill because of your food and we can't even watch TV! It's not even funny!" and then stormed off. Hmm... what have I gotten myself into here?

Then the staff started arguing with each other in front of me for about 10 minutes, ending finally with one of them storming off and the other muttering something very rude about his mother. Which my Spanish-speaking friend David had told me the week before was the worst thing you can say to someone in Spanish.

At 12.30 they told me that my room was ready. Yay! I take my suitcase up through the winding corridors - of course I get lost and spend 10 minutes looking for the room in the labyrinthine hotel. I finally find it and it's freezing cold in there! But I unpack and make all my things neat in the cupboards etc. Then I lie down.

That lie down became a 3-hour siesta. I woke up at 16.00 and dragged myself off the double bed. Nice and comfy. As I went to the toilet, the lights flickered back on and I cheer in my head. I promptly turn the heating up to 30C, which may have been a bit excessive, but I was cold!!

I turn on the TV and watch 'Friends' in Spanish on channel Cuatro. And 'Friends' is on channel 4 in the UK. Why need I ever feel homesick? As I'm so sad, I know exactly what episode it is, even though I can't understand a word. "I'm Dr. Monkey!"

The only UK channel is ITV1. Great choice Spain.

So I did not a lot for a few hours and then went down for dinner at 18.30. It's true what the reviews said about the restaurant. There is a funny, not unpleasant, just funny, smell as you go down the stairs into the basement restaurant. I eat some chips, chicken, salad, bread and some weird potato balls. There were some odd looking dishes being served - definitely avoided those!

I went back to my room at 19.15 and had a lovely hot bath for half an hour. I rang home to say goodnight and then, realising that in the last 31 hours, I'd had 4 hours of broken sleep, I fell into bed at 9 and woke up at 9 the next morning.

It was lovely sleep. I woke up feeling properly refreshed but I know I could have slept for many more hours. I got up for a shower and then realised that I couldn't work it, so it was another bath for me.

I went down for breakfast and ate egg, sausage, bacon, nice toast (maybe it was Bimbo ***** that may have given it away) and butter beans in a tomato sauce (ew).

Then I went out for a wander to see some of the town. I used the internet in the hotel's reception and emailed home. Then I bought postcards and stamps, and a disposable camera. I then followed signs up the road to the main Tourist Information office.

Saw a nice random swirly thing in the middle of a roundabout and the bus station behind. I got information about buses to Barcelona from the TI office and then headed back to the hotel to write and post the postcards (they arrived a week after I got home, oh well).

When I was in my room, the lights randomly went out. Not another blackout! I checked the lights in the hall and they were on. I walked down to reception and told them that the lights had gone off. They wrote it down and said they'd check it out. I went back up to the room and found a slot for my keycard which turned the lights back on! I took my card and walked down to reception again to tell them it was fine. Got back, and the lights went off again. Hmm... I can't be bothered.

So I ignored the lighting problem and went for lunch at 12.30. Chips again - it was all I trusted. Who can mess up chips? And some kind of red meat, with lettuce (actually very nice and crisp) and grated carrots.

I left the hotel for an afternoon wandering round Tossa. As soon as I stepped out of the hotel, I was hit by the humidity. The air was so thick and dense. I couldn't see the tops of all the hills surrounding the town, mist covered them. But I went for my hike/ photo-marathon.











It was around siesta time, so although everything was closed, it was lovely as I seemed to have the entire town to myself.

After going down to the beach, I then headed up towards the castle.
























I walked all around the town, up to the castle and lighthouse, back into the centre, then all the way up into the hills and back down, via this pretty church that chimed the whole way through my walk. I stopped at a beach-side Heladaria and bought a Chocolate & Stracciatella ice cream for 2.90, an old favourite from Italy. And it was good.


I walked back to the hotel and got a Coke and a beer (it's free!) and headed up to my room at 15.45. I looked down at the street from my room and planned my trip to Barcelona using the travel guides and the bus timetable.















I ordered a packed lunch for the following morning and then, in my OCD-style, made a chart with everything I wanted to see in Barcelona, the closest metro station and the metro line it was on. You don't have to tell me, I know I'm cool.

I ate chicken in breadcrumbs, chips (again), carrots, lettuce and bread for dinner at 6.30 and then went for a walk along the seafront in the dark. I did take some photos but they didn't come out well in the dark so I won't post them. It was lovely and quiet, deserted almost. I rang home once I was back in my room and then had another bath (wish I knew how to work the shower). I was in pitch-black for almost the whole time as the lights had taken to switching themselves off again. But then I finally figured out that I needed to keep my keycard inside that slot to keep the lights on. Is this a common thing in hotels and I was just being really dim? Probably.

I put my clothes and bag out for tomorrow. I was very excited, big trip! I got into bed and was kept awake by loud people below me. I knew I'd get the room above the bar. So I put my earplugs in and settled down for sleep - I needed it.

Next post, the big trip itself - Barcelona!