Barcelona - 1st impressions

Last minute cleaning, breakfast and we were on the road by 8:30. Dropped Mum and Dad at the airport. Returned the rental car. Called the rental agency and arranged to meet them at the apartment. Caught the Aerobus and got off at Placa Catalunya. Checked the map and walked  about 15 minutes to 70 Trafalgar, where we were met by Laura.

Our front door is huge as are most of the main doors to these buildings
where there is retail on the bottom floor and apartments on the next 3.

We are on the 4th floor and this is what we would have had to lug our luggage (maybe
that's where the name came from) up, if there wasn't an elevator. Wooden door, then 2 thin
wooden doors into a space that was just big enough for the 3 of us and 2 suitcases. Pretty smooth with a
double click as you pass each floor and a rather disconcerting clunk and jerk when you get to the top. But
way better than climbing those stairs!

She let us in to the apartment, answered our questions and took our money. It all went very smoothly, by 1pm we were out walking, and very hungry.

First stop - food! Chicken Paella and a Sangria for E8.50, we're in.

We went looking for a Tourist Information Office and the map said there was one close, at the train station. Turned out it was no longer a train station (its a gym now) and there was no tourist information there.

Old railway station and I'm not sure about the weird egg thing in the background

We are a half a block from the Arc de Triomf which is the entrance to Parc de la Ciutadella.

Very ornate carving and wide walking area with benches at the sides.

I remember this about the time I was in Barcelona with George, wonderful ornate light standards.

I had a hard time getting a picture of this guy as he was moving so fast. He was doing
gymnastics while in a large metal hoop rolling around and around in a circle.

We wandered into  El Born neighbourhood, past the Picasso Museum (with a huge lineup) and through some narrow streets back up to our neighbourhood.

El Born CC. This is an old wrought iron market building , excavations under it are exposed
and there are display rooms around the outside. You need a ticket to get into the rooms or
walk through the excavated area but you can just walk into the building and read some of the
information for free. We will come back and do it properly.

After wine in a café and grocery shopping at a small neighbourhood supermarket we headed home.
First impressions:
We were struck by the sheer numbers of people in Placa Catalunya when we got off the bus there. We haven't had to deal with that in Ceret or its surroundings. I usually travel out of season so crowds and lineups are few. But this is Easter week and the tourist season is starting here.
Graffiti is everywhere. Usually restricted to the metal shutters that pull down over shop doors and windows when they are closed. Its not attractive and makes the area look seedy and a little unsafe.

On one of the metal shutters

and, sadly, on an old wooden door.

Everywhere we look there is interesting architecture, ornate wrought iron and a combination of narrow, dark streets (we have got our sunglasses on and its hard to adjust from bright sun in some streets to total shade in the narrow ones) and wide boulevards. The park area was full of people strolling or lying in the sun.

Note: the internet in the apartment is brutally slow in the evening so I wrote the text then and luckily it is a bit faster in the morning , so I have loaded up the pictures this morning. So, for those who read this regularly, I apologise, I may not be as prompt as I have been with the Barcelona blogs but will still try and post every day.