Day 6
Thursday 31 August

We were due to leave Valencia and head to Barcelona on the train at 11am. We got up at about 9am and packed our bags before heading down stairs for breakfast. All of our washing from the day before was still wet so we wrapped it up in bags and figured we could hang it up again once we got to Barcelona. At breakfast we sat with the same girls as we did the day before and talked about the fight. They were in a couple of our photos from the day which we showed them. We talked about where we were headed next and they gave us some tips for Paris. We headed back upstairs to grab our bags and head off to the train station. Jazz quickly called Karen to check in and we went down to the Main Street to find a taxi. We got to the Valencia Joaquin Sorolla station at about 10.30am and had to line up to get our bags scanned and some people also got bomb checked. In the lines we bumped into Joey & Jess from the Gold Coast. We hadn't seen them at the fight so we chatted for a few minutes and walked to the train together. They were on a different carriage to us so we said our goodbyes and headed further down the platform.

The train ride from Valencia to Barcelona was about 3 hours long. We had good seats next to the window with lots of leg room and toilets close by. It was a pretty comfortable train ride and we re-watched our engagement videos on Jazz's iPad on the way there. We arrived in Barcelona just after 2pm.

We caught a taxi from the station to Hotel Gaudi which we had booked because that was were the other wedding guests coming via Barcelona were staying. It was in a really good location and all of the guys checking us in were really helpful.
The hotel smelt like hubba bubba bubblegum. They had a jar of lollies on the counter and also a jar of dog treats which I thought was cute.
We got up to our room and hung out our wet washing on the coat hangers in the closet. We were both a bit hungry so we hit the street to find some snacks. We wandered down to La Rambla and then headed down one of the side streets. We spotted a place that has a Alerol spritz sign and beer on tap that we thought we'd try, I think the place was called Schilling something. We knew from experience that lots of restaurants near La Rambla could be pretty dodgy so we ordered some drinks & croquettes to see if it was worth sticking around. The croquettes were pretty average so we finished our drinks and kept wandering up the street to find somewhere else. We found another place close by where we could see some people eating some yummy looking fish. It was a pintchox restaurant and they charged you based on the amount of skewers you had at the end. I didn't mind it but their was probably too much seafood for Jazz. We had a few little snacks and some drinks, Sangria for me and vino tinto for Jazz.
We hit the streets again and wandered deeper into the Gothic quarter.
We came across this little place called Bodega la Palma. There was no one inside but it looked cute and authentic so we got two small Moritz beers and ordered some croquettes and a beetroot salad. We shared a pea and mint croquette and a Jamon & cheese croquette and it was delicious. Our beetroot salad and that was amazing too. The only bad thing about the bar was that there was no music and because we were the only ones on there it was very quiet so we kind of just whispered to each other. We would have stuck around at this place for longer but we had to head back to the hotel to meeting the Perth contingent for the wedding so said goodbye to the guy working there and walked back a bit tipsy.
We bumped into Kate & Jason in the lobby of the hotel. They had just flown in fromScotland (I think) and seemed a bit stressed. We headed up stairs and freshened up a bit and then headed up to the rooftop bar of our hotel. A few people were there already and we were greeted with lots of excitement. We ordered a jug of Sangria and chatted to everyone and had a bit of a wander around the rooftop to check out the view. We took a photo to send to Tania & Tim to let them know we had all arrived. Once everyone had made it there we starting talking about dinner and as no one had any firm planned we suggested that we head back to Bodega La Palma. Kelly had a European SIM card so we used her GPS and walked through the Gothic quarter again to find it. Jazz spoke to the guy from earlier but unfortunately as it was a bit later now they were full and we would have had to wait 45 minutes which was too long. Jazz asked the guy if he had any recommendations and he suggested a place nearby called Cafe de L Academia where he said he goes to eat. We headed in that direction and when we got to the restaurant they were quite busy too. We waited a few minute and they set up some tables outside in the courtyard for us. There were people in the courtyard on plastic chairs watching a movie just in front of us.
We had a really delicious dinner with everyone and had more drinks and got a bit silly. The waiters at the restaurant kept telling us not to leave our phones or wallets on the table as people would walk past and steal them. Sonja for some reason started talking like an Italian nonna so I joined in and we laughed lots reciting all of the Italian sounding words we could think of. We were all having lots of fun and enjoying ourselves when I man watching the film got up and came over to our table and yelled at us to shut up before sitting back down. We all sat there gob smacked for a second not really sure what to do and then starting whispering to each other trying to be a bit more quite. We told one of the waiters what had happened and he got all upset saying it was their square and we could do whatever we want. When the movie finished shortly after we cheered and this group of people starting charging towards our table. They were like an angry mob! The waiters were there and intervened and they yelled at each other in Spanish for a minute or so until the tension died down.
We paid for dinner which was very reasonably priced so the restaurant, despite the angry mob, had been a great find.
After dinner Jazz suggested that we all head to the Harlem Jazz Club. We used Kelly's GPS again and found our way there. Jazz was tying to negotiate a good price for us to all get in but half the group decided it was late enough and time to head home. Jazz, Sonja, Nick & I went inside however once we got seats Sonja and Nick did a "ghostie" and disappeared. Jazz and I scored some seats right near he front and sat down to watch some Jazz. It was really good and very soothing. This ordinarily would have been great but in my drinker state it started putting me to sleep so I said to Jazz that we had to head home and get to bed.
We wandered home and drunkenly made it back to the hotel. I'm not really sure what time it was but we were both exhausted. Jazz wanted to go out and get McDonalds but I said I would definitely be asleep by the time she got back so there was no point.