Wednesday 2 April 2014

Last day in Barcelona

Like a good tourist I decided to do a city bus tour to orient myself. It was a good decision because I really got a glimpse of all the essential sites of Barcelona and some interesting facts. If I was to do it again I would do it over the two days and make proper use of the hop off hop on facility. It is relatively economical and I actually used the discounts to get 3€ off the entry  of Casa Batallo  one of Gaudis masterpieces. It cost me 4.50€ return by metro bus to go to Parc Guel  another of Gaudis fanciful creations. It was worth it. Tomorrow I will finish with Sagrada Familla, the amazing cathedral.  I have covered a lot of territory on foot, and have a feel for Barcelona.
It seems to be full of groups of teenagers on excursions every where I go. Not all Spanish either but mostly. In fact the whole town seems full of attractive people. Hardly a fat person to be seen. I keep thinking of how so many Australians are so overweight in contrast.
Everyone around here seems to be walking or riding bikes, without helmets too. The city council has a bike hiring system for residents where by they pay a yearly fee and can use the red and white council bikes. Cars do not seem to go as fast in the city and a lot of the thoroughfares have specific pedestrian lanes, specific bike lanes and then a tram line or road.

I have had enormous trouble with my phone. I bought a Spanish sim but it wouldn't work because it said my phone was locked. In the end I had to go to the Apple store and get there help. Fortunately there was a lovely guy from Melbourne , Simon, who helped me contact Telstra in Australia(or the Philipinnes judging by the accent), to sort out unlocking the unlocked phone! I have to wait up to 72 hours before checking again by replacing the sim in the phone. It is likely I will have to reset back to factory settings. Aagh! I just wanted to cry. So email is my only means of contact until that is sorted. I would have appreciated more assistance with this aspect.  We get so used to having our phones as tools that it is an inconvenience when they don't work when we want them too. I didn't set up global roaming either because it costs so much.
When you are on your own you need to focus on your inner strength or you could be overwhelmed by these challenges. It is a completely different experience. I managed to have conversations today with two people while I was visiting the Parc. Both were solo but killing time while waiting for friends. I am not unhappy and feel confident about getting around but I do miss sharing the experience. It is a lesson to be learned.
I have been using the camera mostly though the weather has been cold with a foggy atmosphere so the photos are very grey and indistinct at times.
My hostess is cooking for a fundraiser for school. They are having a dinner and she is charged with cooking the eggplant for 120 people. She gave me some to have with my dinner. Very tasty.  I bought my dinner from the Boqueria, the fresh food market. What a cornucopia of foods. The produce looked amazing. Los of seafood, and Jamon, as well as fresh veggies and fruit. Relatively cheap dinner of salad and fruit salad. I was craving greens!
I actually had a siesta today as I was quite tired from all today's activities.

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