As our time in Barcelona draws to a close, it is safe to say we are ready to go. Barcelona was one of our favourite places in Spain when we first visited back in 2012 (yes… our 10 year anniversary of first visiting Spain). We found it flat, easy to get around on foot and chock-full of beautiful buildings and a stunning old town. Given that Barcelona was settled by the Romans 2000 odd years ago, it's safe to say not a great deal has changed in just a decade. We have certainly enjoyed our time here, but it is no longer a budget place to visit. Having said that, our Australian peso was worth at least the same as a US Dollar back in 2012… that is also no longer the case. Eating and drinking in Spain is never particularly expensive (though we can see why the Spanish flock to the Costa del Sol for their holidays… it is a lot cheaper down south than in the big cities). With an 18 day cruise coming up we've self catered for all but four meals, which has kept a tight lid on costs - even indulging in pre-made Mercadona paella (lush) and barbeque ribs (divine). What has seemingly become expensive (and/or our spending power has shrunk) is the 'doing of things'.

Never one to let a pesky thing like prices get in our way, we went out of our way to research all those handy blog articles on free and cheap things to do (or when to do the expensive things for free or cheap). Our mantra is, after all, 'Never Ever Pay Retail' and, equally, 'Don't say you can't afford it, Do say 'How can I afford it'? First off, it is never cheap to visit Gaudi's masterpiece properties. Starting at €35 odd per person (so let's say A$100 per couple per property), we have been happy enough to glance at the likes of Casa Batlo from the outside. And in fairness, given it's on the other side of town to our apartment, we never actually got around to visiting the Sagrada Familia for mass on Sunday - the only time it's possible to visit for free. We did however visit the National Museum of Catalonia for free (usually €12) on 'Free Sunday'; we visited the Picasso Museum (usually €12) on weekly 'Free Thursday after 4 pm) and we definitely made it to the Maritime Museum of Barcelona on 'Free each Sunday after 3 pm' (usually €10). So over A$100 if we'd paid. All were outstanding, and no doubt worth the money - just not to us

When we visited in 2012 we used the metro frequently as we were staying in Badalona, a seaside suburb about 20 minutes out of town. This time, what with Covid and what not, we've stayed above ground and avoided the metro. It's not that we're particularly scared of Covid - though it is undoubtedly not pleasant. But we are required to do antigen tests on Monday 21 November - to allow us to board our big, beautiful ship to the other side of the world on Tuesday 22 November - and that is almost upon us. Doesn't help that seemingly every second person is snuffling or coughing or both and generally carrying on. And it's not just the humans. Saw a little white fluffy dog shivering badly today (needed a jumper or coat) and even had a German Shepherd sneeze as he walked past us. But it has been unseasonably warm all of November and now, just as we are about to leave and cruise to warmer climes, the cooler weather has arrived. The Spanish are freezing. I am splitting the difference with a beige merino jumper paired with white linen pants and Birkenstocks. It works.

So. Aside from ducking, diving and weaving around the most economical of attractions, what have we done for the last month? Well. First off, getting here from Paris, almost 4 weeks ago, was a breeze. It bears repeating since Australia has not got a lot of trainage, that High Speed Trains are awesome. We nipped to the Gare de Lyon in a taxi, spent an hour or so drinking posh coffee in the lounge and then headed for the boarding scrum when the platform was announced. Thankfully there was a separate gate for 1st class so we went right through - lucky actually as we were in the 2nd carriage and it was at the very furthest spot on the platform - we essentially started walking to Barcelona. But we zipped along as zippily as possible with 2 massive bags each and claimed valuable bag storage real estate in the upper deck. Even with our bags cable locked to the luggage rack it was nice to have them on the same level as us. With all the high-speed-will power in the world, our train ran an hour late getting into Barcelona due to a switching defect early in the trip, but it was still a great trip (and Europe being Europe, we'll get a 25% credit off our fare, probably, due to it being 30+ minutes late. We were ecstatic to arrive, got in a taxi almost immediately upon leaving the station and were at our AirBnb 10 minutes later.

It would have been very easy to buy a cheap dinner just down the road and there were multiple options, but the Frugalism Games have kicked into high gear with the forthcoming travel plans now just around the corner. We ventured out to the local Mercadona at the old Barcelona bull ring (now a posh shopping mall). We stocked up on the basics and bought a surprisingly good pizza and an old favourite bottle of cava for our first night in town. So delish that we've bought the same pizza for each weekend of our stay and just added a couple of personal toppings to our respective halves - bargain for around €4 between two. The bull ring mall is stunning and we revisited it after a couple of days when we weren't so brain fried. There is a panoramic view from the open top deck and it was outstanding to walk around and see the city laid out before us. Albeit in soft focus. There is invariably unhealthy air quality in Barcelona and today it was a visible haze in all directions. We try to live by the rule 'if you can see the air, don't breathe the air' - it will be hard to abide by for the next 4 weeks due to lack of alternatives.

It having been 10 years and all, and never having lived in this 'hood we ventured out early in the stay to see the Mercat St Antoni. Over a 100 years old it was among the first of Barcelona's covered metal markets based on Les Halles in Paris. It was pretty but pricey - similar to Mercadona for fresh fruit and veges and very expensive by the standard we expect of Spain. We figured we'd come across a local big fruit and vege market eventually.

One of our most important ports of call on Day 1 was actually the post office. For the simple reason that the bags are at their top end weights and we still don't have dive masks or hand and foot warmers for the forthcoming adventures. In the end we both sent a 10kg box back to Sydney with winter coats, shoes, boots and souvenirs that we have no need for during the next 4 months. One box has made it already. We shipped it on 31 October and happily received the news that it had arrived in Sydney on 11 November. Just 2 weeks! We were told at the Post Office that it would be 4-6 weeks for the economico service. Now that is managing expectations. (We had wanted to do this back in Ireland - but it was €190 for 10 kg vs. the Spanish €85. Worth every penny.) The 2nd box was sent off with a kiss and a wave on 10 November - so waiting patiently now to get the advice that it's safely in Sydney.

Our first Saturday in town we decided to get our proverbial boots on the ground and took ourselves into the heart of the city for a free walking tour of the Gothic Quarter. We did this same tour 10 years ago almost to the day - still fascinating. More importantly, on our quick walk into town and thanks to Google Maps, we discovered an awesome 'local' street with all the inexpensive fruit and vege shops we could hope for and a chicken joint called Lahori Tandoori. We have so much to go and see in Little Bangladesh in the next few days. The walking tour was excellent and once more it's safe to say we quite like Barcelona. It was a huge day of walking and Sunday was a gazetted rest day to recover. We did not leave the hobbit hole.

Unfortunately our 'local' Mercadona does not stock the ready made gourmet meals that we became addicted to in Fuengirola back in May 2022. But. There is another Mercadona near the post office that we went to investigate and we did a massive stock up of paella and barbeque ribs. Dusted off the Spanish and managed well. Having gotten rid of Box 1 at the post office we turned our attention to the next major hurdle of the stay, getting James a multi-entry Chilean visa for our visit to Chile at the end of January. We achieved his passport photos this morning. We amortise the cost over both of us as I'm on my NZ passport for the foreseeable future - realistically Australia makes the Chileans jump through hoops for a visa so it's justified. Kiwis on the other hand can go almost everywhere for free… even if all 5 million turned up somewhere at once, unlikely they'd be noticed until a rugby match was on telly.

Not visiting Gaudi's astonishing buildings on the inside is obviously cutting down expenditure in one area of the 'not-the-budget'. However. After six months of checking thrift stores relegiously for a ski mask for James and dive masks for both of us, we have reached the point of giving in and buying (shock, horror) brand new (eek!) Halloween fell on a Monday this year and the day was full of great decorations, ghosts, ghouls and oddly, people dressed for the Madhatter's tea party. We enjoyed the scenery and wandered into down via Little Bangladesh, the gothic antique market and made it to Decathalon - home to every possible sporting and indoor/outdoor, wet/dry, endeavour/pursuit on the planet. We got a great ski mask (amazing how the tecnhology has developed since we last skiied in around 2013, also a couple of scuba masks and snorkels. We're hopping to do some diving in the next couple of months and keen on the reliability and hygeine of having our own kit. Was not cheap but it wasn't as bad as we'd thought it would be. We carted our big bag of goodies home and cut through a eeriely lit old garden which is part of the old general hospital complex dating back to 1401.

We had grand plans for 1 November including visiting FNAC which seems to be the only possible place in Barcelona that might stock my whizz-bang phone cover. Which is becoming more of a necessity by the day. So we headed into town, walkies, walkies, picked up some coat hangers and el cheapo suit bags en route and then… having reached Plaza de Catalunya, couldn't get into the mall. Say WTF? Ohhhhhh… stray public holiday for All Saints' Day. Of course it was. Enjoyed a wander down La Rambla and trundled home eventually for a snooze. It being a public holiday and all.

So the next day it was second verse, same as the first. We went into the Gothic quarter and almost emptied out Decathalon's selection of hand and foot warmers. We discovered these little gizmos when we first started skiing and they are incredible. They will also cost an arm or a kidney when we reach Antarctica - though with the way the weather is behaving it could be a heatwave. Nevertheless, we refuse to suffer from cold hands or feet. We finally got to check out FNAC and it was a wasted trip - but gee… haven't big screen TVs come a long way lately. We had thought that using a loo would be doable at a shopping centre and it was - for €1 each. Hell would have to freeze over first. We visited a 365 cafe instead (chain of coffee shops with squillions of outlets in Barcelona). Rested, refreshed and relieved we visited Muji for rolling travel compression bags. In our lexicon these are 'suckie bags' and allow us to have massive selections of clothes on hand for all possible climates - they save inordinate amounts of bag space. It being a speciality Japanese bits and bobs shop, they were not super cheap, but not much dearer than ordering online and we're not in a position to get things safely delivered to the apartment so, needs must. We were in the vicinity so went and stared wondrously at Gaudi's Casa Batlo.

With the failed phone case buying endeavours getting on my nerves and having visited every mobile/case shop in the city (or very close to it), I gave in and ordered my new phone case online from somewhere in the east of Europe - to be delivered within a week. Magic. We checked with the brunch cafe downstairs which is open from 9-5 pm and they're happy for it to be delivered there, so at least that'll work out. The shopping continued on the way home and we visited a second hand store (not charity - privately run by a guy from Bulgaria). He imports unwanted clothing, shoes etc from Switzerland which is obviously a very wealthy country with more money, clothes and shoes than they know what to do with. James got a pair of expensive black jeans and we picked up 5 pairs of woollen socks. Total spend? €2.

It already felt like we'd been here for weeks but by 3 November - we were only one week into the stay. We saddled up for a long hike to the other side of town to visit Barcelona's Arc de Triomph. What a story. Apparently Gustave Eiffel offered Barcelona his planned tower for their universal exhibition… No! We have our arch! Why would we want a silly, pointless tower in the centre of town. Why indeed… But the Arch and the City Park with it's stunning monumental fountain were well worth a visit.

Our Gothic Quarter walking tour a few days back finished in the El Born area and we wanted to take a closer look on our way through. When we left the city park we lucked upon the El Born Cultural Centre. Not as hard as you might think - it was huge. This was Barcelona's very first covered metal market and was built in place of the old, shabby but fairly efficient collection of market traders. They realised shortly after building this one and the Mercat St Antoni that they might have gone overboard on the size. So cut back a bit after that. It was huge. The most fascinating thing though was the 16th and 17th century ruins that sit in what would be the basement (if it had a floor that is). We both learned a lot about the history of the period and the houses beneath our feet - fascinating place to visit - more so becuase we had no idea it was even there. En route home we visited the strangest of public garden beasts - the sort that are actually the backyard of a reasonably expensive hotel. We didn't let that stop us and bowled in the front door and out the back for a nosey around the Jardi de la casa Ignacio de Puig. We had a sneaky cafe lunch on the way home and even visited a 'global' supermarket. We live in hope of tripping over vegemite or even marmite in our travels. This was more so global in a European / sub continent / North African kind of way, but - we did pick up some evaporated millk from I think the netherlands - harder to find and the most important ingredient in one of our favourite pasta dishes. So big win there.

A big day out frequently means a big day in for us these days - because there simply is no great rush. With a Friday rest under our belts we trundled out on Saturday, eventually. That's one thing about Spain, there is precious little point launching into the day and being out the door by 9 am. With the exception of pharmacists and coffee shops, you'll be a) lonely and b) have no shops to look in. 11 am ish is a sensible time to leave the house. Thereabouts. Our purpose today was a jaunt to the Palau Musica / Music Palace. James discovered this place online and we thought no way are we paying €15 odd each for a guided tour - no matter how fabulissimo it might look. Oh no - months ago we coughed up €75 each instead to support the Ukrainian ballet in their performance of Swan Lake. Our daytime pre-visit did not disappoint (and geez - a lot of people are happy to chuck the bucks at guided tours it seems). The building was stunning - though smaller on the ouside than we expected. Tardis-like it will no doubt be bigger on the inside. With our visit complete we meandered back to the Gothic quarter. We enjoy area so much because we invariably head down different little laneways and discover more of this fascinating historical area. Today we popped into the Casa de l'Ardiaca near the cathedral. Now the home to the city's archives it had beautiful tiling and also the remnants of the Roman aqueduct within its walls - it was once the residence of the Archdeacon. We (well me) are also completely over sandwiches. Of all shapes, sizes and bread formats. So we found a cheapie Asian noodle joint and I snuffled some hot chilli noodles for lunch.

Whilst Saturday might have sounded big, Sunday 6 November was always going to be a big day. It was officially 'First Sunday of the Month' and free day! Luckily we had the Ukrainian ballet starting at 5 pm at the Palau Musica - otherwise it would have been a truly mind-bending day. As it was, just a huge one. We booked free tix online months ago to ensure early and peaceful access to the National Museum of Catalunya - or MNAC - just up the hill behind us on Montjuic and presiding over Barcelona's amazing, incredible, superb Magic Fountain (inconveniently shut for annual maintenance for the entire month of our stay. Nevertheless, the art museum was ready to welcome us. Now big queues on free day are the norm in Paris, so we were up there far, far too early… possibly the only people awake in Barcelona - except for the thousands of women in hot pink getting ready for the fun run to support breast cancer. So that kept us amused. By the time the doors opened at 10 am, the run had taken off and as the 2nd people in the queue we took off and did all the religious old stuff on the ground floor. Seriously old. Around 1200 odd - so old. So all in pretty good nick really and some truly beautiful pieces. Also, having seen the religious old stuff all over Europe, uniquely different to the French, Dutch, Flemish etc interpretations. One of my faviourite pieces in the section was created in the 1300s and I'm sure is the very first 'Talk to the Hand!' in recorded visual history. It is the Anunciation where the angel gives Mary the good news. Hilarious. The second floor or modern section really rocked our wolrd. Just incredible. Picasso, Gaudi, furniture, jewellery and art, art, art. The best thing about the MNAC though is not the art, nor the views (we could see the Sagrada Familia in the distance), nope - the very best thing is the escalators that took us all the way to the top in a Hong Kong/Mid-levels/multi-escalator fashion. Didn't mind at all when we walked down after our superbly enjoyable visit.

We were stuffed… and it was lunchtime, so home for economical eats and a coffee and a watch of The Walking Dead. We kid you not, 11 seasons of brilliant drama on Netflix that has zombies as supporting cast members. It is however anything but a zombie show… the interaction of the human characters makes us pray that humanity is never subjected to a deadly virus with nasty side effects (like living)… oh right, hang about.

Before we knew it, it was time for a minor gussy up and a long walk to the Palau Musica. We hurtled up the stairs the minute they opened them and took a great many photos of this stunning building with mosaics and a lead-light glass dome. We are usually in the cheap seats for cultural events. We'd rather see more than save up for a 'once in a lifetime' visit in posh seats. But, given the posh seats were affordable we just for once treated ourselves to the first level in the centre. Any closer and a ballerina would have had an eye out. I'm not kidding. We feel that we've done the right thing in buying tickets because as ballet dancers go, these Ukrainians were on the exceedingly slender side. A burger could have fed the whole cast. Two burgers they'd have put on weight. We didn't know what to expect, but it was an incandescent performance with no staging or sets, on a very small stage with nothing but a bit of lighting and the dancing to tell the story. It's the third time we've seen a production of Swan Lake and it was brilliant. As is usually the case we were humming the theme for the entire walk home. 16,000 steps, 14 od kms. Can see a rest day in our immediate future.

Monday 7th November was definitely a rest day. We booked this Airbnb because it was a 1 bedroom - nice to have a real bed in a real room (and a King! albeit European…). It also had a couple of arm chairs and a big comfortable sofa. Apparently. Well after a week of to'ing and fro'ing about the presence or absence of said comfortable sofa, the host agreed it was an oversight and bought a big new sofa bed from IKEA (furnishing Barcelona since 10 BC). So few people spend any time here that we're the only people to quiz the sofa's absence in 4 freakin' years! Seriously. So Monday was the big day and we were both wondering how in god's name a sofa was getting up the stairs (because it definitely wasn't fitting in the 2 person lift). Of course. Why didn't we realise it was a flat-pack sofa. Which didn't have anyone to put it together. Luckily one of the delivery men had a cancellation and whipped back and hour later to put it together for a snappy €25 fee. Which by Australian standards doesn't sound like a lot, but remember €1000 a month is the average wage and earned by most people. Resting on sofa was accomplished forthwith.

Tuesday (8th) was a pottering day. We shopped in Little Bangladesh for inexpensive pharmaceuticals, topped up the supplies of ibuprofen, paracetamol and antibiotics, bought fruit and veges and relaxed in the afternoon. As much as one can relax when it sounds like someone is demolishing the apartment upstairs and the roof is about to cave in and disrupte one's siesta. First world problems of course, but still.

Wednesday saw us doing ironing. We kid you not. Huge fun when you don't do it often. There is no point having lovely linen and cotton summer threads if we end up traipsing about on the cruise looking like un-ironed baskets of laundry. So that kept us busy. And the phone case arrived - woo hoo! No more ghostie business on my photos so I might take a few more. It was definitely a red letter day as we received an email that the visa for Chile had been approved. So that was a phenomenal relief - slowly but surely the hurdles are being cleared and barriers are falling down before us. I packed my 10 kg box - which wasn't difficult. Altogether a thoroughly productive day.

When we spend a month in a city we start to settle in. We're not out taking Taikwondo classes or anything (though must admit wouldn't mind doing some tango in BA…) But we do visit our local supermarket frequently - it's on the way home and it's only a 5 minute nip around the corner if we run out of something vital, like red wine. So people start to see us around. Then 'poof' we disappear. In the case of Barcelona, the post office exactly 1.2 km from here now thinks we're locals. We know the name of the woman on staff who speaks English well. She knows that we have far too much stuff and seem to be sending it home by the truckload. On the 10th it was time to lug my 10kg box to the post office. Must be reasonably fit. It was a nice walk and even nicer once we waved goodbye to box number 2. There are also excellent variety shops in Barcelona. Hundreds of them. We affectionaltely call them the Chinese s*** Shops. Anything we might need can be found in these shops - we've stocked up on makeup, moisturiser, more suckie bags, coathangers, suitbags and myriad other vital items. We stopped at one of our favourites and also had another look at a small, privately run second hand/vintage shop. The Italian lady who owns it is lovely and we had a good natter and I found a couple of silver brooches in her costume jewellery tray - one amber and one lapis lazuli. I love shopping in the wild and polishing them up when I get home. Next stop was the Humana shop in Little Bangladesh. Wow! We've not been overly impressed with these shops so far - a bit on the pricey side. But. Today they had 30% off their black label range and I picked up a techo Columbia brand ski jacket and pants and a neck gaitor for a grand total of €35. Last year's model (or the year before) but in brand new condition and we were just in the right place at the right time. They had just gone on the rack when I whipped them off to try on - suspect they wouldn't have been there long. We had planned to stay out and about and head to the Picasso museum for the 'Free from 4 pm on Thursday' visit that we'd booked tickets for - but the shopping was weighing us down almost as much as the 10kg box had so we headed home for lunch and a rest before hitting the streets again.

The Picasso Museum was excellent. Many stunning pieces and presented chronologically as his life and art developed. Much more interesting that the Picasso museum in Paris. It was a beautiful night and dusk by the time we finished at the museum and wandered back through town to the Gothic Antique Market. This is held in Plaza Nova in front of the Barcelona Cathedral (Proudly brought to you by Samsung). There were two amazing buskers doing really well for themselves at either end of the market - one rocking Pink Floyd and one the Beatles - a great vibe and I confess I bought an antique amber and silver pendant (that's how much fun the evening was). It dates to the 1950s based on the atomic burst style. It is stunning. Doesn't go with anything else - but looks great with everything anyway. Love it to bits. Really have to stay away from markets in all shapes and forms.

It was a clear evening and we were enjoying seeing the Gothic Quarter in the glowing golden street lamps. We revisited Plaza del Pi (Pine Tree square). We took a look inside the stunning church with one of the largest stained glass Rose windows in the world. They were setting up for a concert and had hundreds of candles all over the altar - beautiful. As we made our way home the sun was setting the sky on fire through the narrow alleyways - 10 minutes of sheer magic.

A couple of weeks into our stay by 11 November and the reality of the forthcoming adventure to the frozen continent is biting. Despite having good ski pants, another pair for James was on the shopping list. When we arrive at the bottom of the planet realising the only place to buy an extra pair will be the onboard Helly Hansen shop strikes fear in our hearts and wet trousers are no laughing matter. We found a good pair at Humana and, since they were in the display cabinet at the till and 30% off I also bought a fabulous pair of suede wool and fur gloves that look handmade. From my knowledge of Parisan gantiers… reckon they'd be about €200 in the real world - so €10 was a bargain (and, afterall, it's a good cause…) With the Chile visa approved and the bargain shopping going well we wanted to thank the cafe downstairs for allowing me to have my phone case delivered there, so popped in for lunch. One of our few food outings here in Barcelona and a significant cut above the el cheapo cafe/sandwich joint we've been to a couple of times. We shared the most miraculous nachos with mango, avo and chilli and had a coffee and cookie for dessert. We had thought it would be purely a gesture of goodwill, but as luck would have it we enjoyed it immensely and the nachos were unfortunately very, very moreish (which is why it's something we never prepare at home - can't be trusted).

We're at the 10 day mark on Saturday 12 November (cruise departs on 22 November) - Relevance of 10 days? Means cruise online check-in time. Filling out the medical questionnaire online was simple - No, No, No, No, No… symptoms, positive tests, etc. Must not catch covid, must not catch covid - 10 days from now we'll be boarding. We were in a drugstore today (couple of steps up from our usual variety stores), and I found a lipstick colour I've been chasing for months - 2nd item half price which was an unexpected bonus.

Speaking of ports, we ventured down to the waterfront on Sunday to see the Columbus monument and with a plan to visit the Maritime Museum of Barcelona after 3 pm (free!) It was a lovely walk down one of Barcelona's main avenues and the weekend antique market was on, so we had a browse. We also visited the fandangled Maremagnum mall down on the pier. Not bad but nothing flash - however did have some things we needed including a litre bottle of sunscreen. We walked back in a loop and enjoyed the promenade and the marina full of expensive boats (as if there're cheap ones!) The Maritime was stunning. Flat out, outstanding. It is in the old Royal dockyard buildings of Barcelona - a historic spot to store all that history. The dockyards were constructed in the 13th century and there is a great full size replica of the Royal Galley (Battle of Lepanto 1571). We enoyed the visit and headed home via a different route and managed to trip over a flea market that is only on one Sunday each month. We were both pretty tuckered out, but still had energy for a flea market. Was a bit on the pricey side though (and I was a bit too knackered for hard haggling). There were loads of clothes and shoes for a €1 each, but we didn't spot anything we actually needed and the coral bracelet and lapiz earrings I fancied were toppy at €40 and €20 respectively.

With the approved Chile visa application email in hand, on Monday we decided to psyche ourselves into using the Spanish banking system. Idiots. So anyway, not having a European account and not wanting to risk a foreign transfer going astray, we figured we'd go to a branch of La Caixa bank and deposit the fee directly to the consulate's account. Easy? Si? No! First one we went to said they didn't deal with cash and we had to go to another branch. One bloke was relatively helpful and offered to help us use the whizz-bang ATM to deposit the cash. But then said no because it was €114 and the machine could only take notes. Traipsed to the other branch, just near our post office. Waited in the queue. The 3 people in front of us all got variations on 'No - we can't/won't/aren't going to help you'. We were not confident at that point. Finally our turn and the next problem arose. Passports? Money laundering? No. But we have photos of our passports. No. Need the actual passport to scan it. FFS. Then a frightfully important man came over and shoved his female colleague out of the way to say it was a pointless question since they didn't take deposits over the counter from non-Caixa bank account holders. Double FFS. He suggested we use the whizz-bang ATM to deposit the money and round it up to €115 so the machine could take it. Then he changed a €20 for us. Proviing decisively that Caixa does have money in the building (which up til then was a dicey proposition). FFS. Having said all that it's the first time either of us have used an ATM with a full alpha keyboard to type in the Reference etc ("Payment for Visa"). Job done, photo of detailed receipt taken and emailed to the consulate. (Seriously… even Vietnam let us pay with a credit card online - though in Chile's defence, it doesn't ask for the dosh until it's actually approved the application).

To celebrate the successful giving of cash to a bank we were just a few doors down from the shop with silver brooches. Popped in and bought another vintage 1970s silver and lapis brooch. Now I have two. Rather like my Swedish silver collection, 2 is definitely enough to be called a collection. Having been on the internet I now know what silver and lapis lazuli costs and should have bought the silver/lapis earrings on Sunday as it turns out. Researched today's brooch when we got home, might be from Chile. Small world.

We were still in 'glove' mode so went digging through a trunk of hats, scarves and gloves at the Bulgarian's shop and found some vintage Swiss leather ski gloves for €1. They were a bit dry and the colour was a bit ropey but with some dubbin leather preserver they came up beautifully and have been packed away. We always have a good look around in shops like this and there was a tiny box in the barely displayed cabinet at the counter, hardly visible. It contained an antique brass magifier / loupe from France, likely used in the tailoring trade for thread counting. Actually smaller than the jeweller's loupe I usually have tucked into a pocket. So gloves and an antique for a few euro. What can we say, this guy has all sorts of bits and pieces. We headed to Little Bangladesh next for a couple of roast chickens and potatoes, fruit and a ticket for Euromillions. Necessities.

When we were at Muji the other week we saw a couple of 'end-of-line' suit bags that look like tote bags on sale. Originally €100, reduced to €70… they were still toppy price-wise. Did we need them? Wouldn't the disposable ones be enough? Decided to hike over on Wednesday and take another look. As it turns out, and certainly without advertising it in any way, shape or form, they really were on sale and rang up at the till at €29.95 each! So two for less than the price of one. We also visited our new favourite variety shop for some rubber gloves. I know right, what could two world travellers need with rubber gloves? Not as though we work at Immigration. But we saw a tip online that for Antarctica, especially when out in speeding, water sprayed rubber duckies, the most waterproof gloves in the world are those created by a regular pair of warm gloves - covered with a pair of rubber gloves. Never let it be said we don't take advice, so picked up a couple of pairs of rubber gloves each and some other odds and ends. On the subject of gloves, we passed a Humana on the way home and it was happy hour. 40% off everything was irresistible for a look, so bought another pair of woolly gloves for 90 cents. These will actually be disposable after the trip.

When we arrived home from our shopping adventures we were elated to find the ongoing saga of the Chilean visa was in the throes of concluding. We received an email with the e-visa (to print out…) and a separate email with the QR-coded receipt proving payment had been made and received. Yippee! So Thursday was finally official printing day. We'd scoped out an internet cafe about 20 minutes from home so made sure we had everything in a virtual pile in the email account to get all the necessities printed out. Chile Visa and receipt, bag tags for cruise, cruise ticket and boarding passes… all done. Huge sense of achievement. We bought a couple of precautionary RATs to stash in our bags and headed home. More than enough accomplished to justify slacking for the rest of the day

As the day of the dreaded Covid tests approached (Monday 21 November), we were being vewy, vewy careful - like Bugs Bunny on tippy toes. Friday 18th? Rest day. Made it to the shop for red wine and salad to go with our pizza. Chilled. Saturday 19th? Left the house for a walk and nipped in and out of Mercadona just for BBQ ribs to split between our last two dinners. Avoided excessive breathing. Sunday 20th? Luckily we have a super comfortable apartment with the addition of the new sofa, as we are spending a lot of time at home and on the sofa. It was officially cold on Sunday - only 8 degrees outdoors when we poked our heads out for a weather check. We're very much between wardrobes right now as we're 99% packed and don't want to be pulling stuff out for just a day or two until the cruise and warmer weather. Covid tests Monday morning then we're off to inhale a tank of the virus - as long as the certificate says 'negative' we are home and hosed (and onto the ship on Tuesday).

Update…Woohoo! Done and dusted before noon on Monday! Negative, Negativo and all good. I could have kissed the pharmacist lady. Given I was awake all last night, there could well be a cheeky snooze this afternoon once the packing is complete. Neither of us were acknowledging the utter PITA it would be if either test came back positive. Best not talked about and now not an issue. Adios Barcelona! Costa-Not-Mucha - Hasta Mañana - here we come!