Day 9 - Sunday 6 September 2015

This was our last day in Porto, we were flying to Barcelona in the afternoon. We took it easy in the morning and casually packed up our things and got ready to leave.
On the food tour we had been on a few days earlier we went to this delicious bakery called Pasties de Chaves. Before we left the country Jazz wanted to go back there so we got the taxi driver to make a quick detour on the way to the airport so we could get some snacks. The taxi driver didn't speak any English but was very nice and we could show him on our map where to go.
Airports are always a bit stressful but we checked in our bags successfully and ate our pastries.
When we were through the security gates Jazz got stopped when they scanned her bag and had to open it. They saw something on the x-ray they didn't like, a jar of jam we had bought in Porto! We thought it was a bit funny that jam was a threat but did as we were told and threw it away. We walked through the gates and the first thing for sale that we saw... Jam! We had a laugh.
We were in our final hours in Portugal so I wanted to have my last Franchesina sand which and Super Bock (Portuguese beer).
We were flying with a small airline called TAP. The plane was very small with less than 60 seats from what I could count. The flight only took around two and a half hours. Jazz managed to sleep for most of it but I read my book.
There is a one hour time difference between Porto & Barcelona so we arrived around 6pm.
We casually walked through the airport to the baggage collection area and before we even made it to the carousel we could see my bag. We ran forward and grabbed it and within another minute Jazz's bag came out. So easy!
We followed the signs and found the area where the taxi's wait and got one straight away, again so easy!
There was quite a bit of traffic on the roads but it wasn't too bad. As we drove Jazz pointed out a few building landmarks and we both admired the architecture and all of the beautiful old buildings.
The taxi driver couldn't get to our actual street so dropped us off a few streets before and counted to four in Spanish to indicate we had to walk the last 4 blocks ourselves. We paid him and started the walk with our big heavy suitcases through the bustling streets. We walked the four blocks but when we read the street signs this wasn't our street.
Jazz had a map but it wasn't making sense so we did the only logical thing, stop and get a beer! This was logical for two reasons, first the beer calmed us down because we were starting to get stressed. And second, the bar had wifi so we could get online and refresh our map.
The lady could see we were stressed so brought us over some chips too. Once we finished our beer & chips we headed on our way again.
We found the door and our host Leo buzzed us in. We had to carry our bags up all these flights of stairs and in the process I managed to hurt my left wrist. I think I had hurt it a little leaving Porto but hurt it more arriving in Barcelona.
Leo helped us get into the apartment and showed us around. It was amazing! The last two places we had been were pretty tiny but this place was a fairly normal sized apartment. It is right in the centre of the gothic quarter so it had awesome views of the bustling street and restaurants & bars are at our door stop. The only down side is that it is quite noisy however that was no issue as Leo gave us earplugs. After Leo left we nested a little. We were going to be here for 8 nights so we unpacked our things and got comfortable and organised.
We freshened up a bit and went out for a walk around the streets. Jazz wanted to show me La Rambla. This amazing and busy street with restaurants and shops everywhere. It was Sunday night and there were hundreds of people everywhere. We walked along without any real purpose but to take it all in.
We both had a craving for Australian beer so we asked the lady at the tourist office if there were any Australian bars. There was one close by so we went to it. We asked the bar made what beers they had and they didn't have any Australian beers! She said they used to have fosters (because fosters is gross) but no one ordered it so they got rid of it. We left and went to an Irish pub instead. We had bought a notebook in Portugal that had Fernando Pessoa on the front so we brought that so we could make a list of all the things we wanted to do in Barcelona. We managed to make a big list but both agreed we wanted to make sure we still had plenty of time to relax while we were here as well. If we didn't do everything on the list we'd survive.
We hadn't had a chance to look up any nice restaurants near us yet so decided to wing it and pick something at random. Jazz had been given a tip during previous visits to Barcelona to never eat in the street so we wanted to find something smaller and off the main strip.
We wandered around for a bit and found this restaurant near our apartment so got a table.
We ordered a few tapas items and some beers.
We were sat in a corner next to a table with some other travellers. Jazz asked them about something they ordered and we started chatting. They were from Lancashire in the UK and probably in their 60's. They had daughters our age and had spent 6 months travelling around Australia in a camper-van so we had lots to talk about.
After dinner we went for another walk around the streets. There were guys selling cans of beer in the streets so we got one each but they were gross. I think they must have sat somewhere hot so we ended up throwing them away.
Jazz wanted to take me to the Harlem Jazz club but we couldn't seem to find it so we came home instead. We sat on the couch and watched a silly American movie on TV and then went to bed.