It's never going to be reassuring when the most common reaction to finding out you're going to Barcelona is "my mum/sister/aunt/friend/neighbour got robbed there". Seriously, it's like EVERYBODY knows somebody that fell foul of pickpocketers in this Spanish city.

So I was very nervous about this!!

I actually am wearing a money belt for the first time in my life, keeping my hand absolutely clamped on my handbag zip and viewing everybody around me as a potential criminal. I'm probably not going to make any friends, let's face it but I DO value my material possessions highly and wish to remain in possession of them!

Anyway.

My flight was fine (my ears are not blocked!! Wtf??! They always block for at least 24hours! This is good tho)

I got a taxi from the airport. It cost me €30 but was worth is for peace of mind.

My hostel, Be Ramblas, is in the neighbourhood, or barrio, of El Ravel. It's a 'colourful' neighbourhood. What appears to be the red light district basically backs on to my hostel, one block over. I've already figured out (by walking down them) which streets I don't want to walk down!! So long as I make a left out the hostel, and avoid the bit to the right, it's more or less ok :P

Yesterday afternoon I mostly just got my bearings, I wandered along La Ramblas, every so often dipping off to the side to get lost in the maze of backstreets.

I love this.

There is something so magical about wandering the twisty narrow, cobbled quirky side streets of a new city, in the Mediterranean (31c today) heat. They hail Barcelona as a modern city but the buildings here are so wonderfully OLD!

Narrow Stone streets flanked by buildings four stories high opening out onto numerous 'placas' or squares. That characteristic mishmash of classic with absract that is so Barcelona. Glimpses into tiny Spanish cafes with old men sat at the bar drinking tiny coffees or cervezas, plates of tapas behind glass counters. The heat makes the streets smell, that hot, slightly putrid smell of fluids spilt on pavements going rancid in the sun.

I discovered three great looking veg restaurants and made mental notes to return...

I was back to the hostel early, to plan for the days ahead and revel in the comfort and security of having my own room - a bargain at €40/night and compared to the dorm-days of my previous travels, total bliss! Worth every penny :)

Day two I set out as early as poss (although later than I'd planned as the kitchen didn't open to make breakfast til 8am). I walked up to la Mercat de la Boqueria to gaze upon the plethora of fruit&veg, sweets, fish & charcuterie on display. It wouldn't be Europe without head-height hanging smelly sausages!!

Most of my day was spent doing a Ciclo bike tour of the city, which lasted 4hours. It was great!! There were 18of us on these old style bicycles with big padded saddles and wide high handlebars like choppers. One lady said "I've never been part of a bike gang before". They said on the flier you don't have to be a good cyclist, but my god it wasn't a walk in the park! Some bits were fine but for others we were streaming down narrow streets, swerving round pedestrians, whizzing over zebra crossings, all following the guide and generally, as far as I could tell, not following either pedestrian or vehicle rules. The tour cost me €20 and I'd say it was worth every cent. We saw soo much, including things that I might not have got to alone. Including weaving through El Ravel and the Barri Gotic, stopping in Placa Reial and Placa St Jaume with the Catalan government buildings. Then down to Barceloneta and the beaches. I am deffo coming back here on thurs, the bike path runs for miles and miles alongside sandy beaches. Yup there is a share of bums and thieves but doesn't every sea side city district have this??

We had a drink at a cafe by the beach :)

Then down to the Olympic port and up to the Parc de la Cituadella, Sagrada Familia, La Pedrera, Caso Battlo and back, phew! It was cool to be cycling, I plan to rent a bike thurs and come back to the beach quarter.

Then lunch, 3pm (late, right??!) I coped ok though! I dined in Woki Organic Market, an ecological/organic supermarket&cafe. I had a beansprout& tofu salad with homemade hummus & those toasted bread cracker things on the side. Happycow.net you are amazing :) it was just perfect.

I bought some almond milk in there (already got soya in the supermarket) and spent a few mins ogling the tofu/tempeh/seitan, sprouting things, soya yoghurts and varied grains. yup you can get all this here if you know where to go ;)

I have to finish this now, my eyes are buggy from staring at the screen and I have RSI in my thumb.

But.

I also went into the cathedral and a church and scouted another veg cafe for lunch tomorrow.

Still too scared to take my iPhone out and about with me so all photos are on my oldskool digi camera and must wait to be uploaded til I am back home.

This blog is now a day behind, I have had another incredible day since I wrote it.

Tues: open top tourist bus (yes I am a tourist and I am out and proud!!)

Sagrada Familia (possibly the most incredible piece of architecture I have ever seen.. Jaw dropping)

Parc Guell - excellent views, cool and quirky but seething with tourists so didn't stay long

More open top bus round sarria and other neighbourhoods. Lots of people walking around in red&yellow with the catalonian flag for the national day of Catalonian Independance.

Then Montjuic! Where I went to the Fundacion de Juan Miro, an artist who lived and worked in Barcelona, realist then modernist. It was really good.

Cable car up to the Castell de Montjuic for some breathtaking views and lots of awesome old castle walls.

Back down to Las Ramblas via the cable car, funicular & metro and I had a delicious Seitan burger sitting on a high stool at the bar of a funky vegan cafe (Gopal) in Placa George Orwell in the Barri Gotic. So glad I discovered this early on I will certainly be back to sample the amazing looking iced vegan carrot cake!!

It was still early so I wandered down to the water and Ronda Litoral, where I sat and planned my next day of activities looking out over the yachts and La Rambla del Mar. I had an entirely Spanish conversation with the lady in the tourist info shop- so useful to be able to ask about bus times and prices and logistical things!! She humoured me and didn't switch to English as some people do.

I had a last walk up the Ramblas and through Placa Reial before back to the hostel. The evening is the only time when I miss being with other people. I LOVE travelling alone and wouldn't do it any other way but last night I didn't want to go back so early and it would have been really nice to have someone to sit and drink sangria with, I haven't experienced the evening atmosphere of Barcelona yet, being on my own here I am quite wisely returning to the hostel before dark, so by 7.30pm each day. But this is ok!! When I've been out since 8.30am I am just about beat by this time and it gives me a couple hours to chill out and plan for my next few days before getting an early night.

It is actually now Wednesday morning as I write this, so I must leave it here and get on and get dressed and go!!

One last thing - I am so so HAPPY being here and being away. I am relaxed and chilled out and interested and stimulated. I am also very aware of how much more WELL I am than when I have been travelling in the past and getting so much more out of the trip as a result.

Here's to many more such trips :D