After an afternoon in Andorra I headed back on the bus through Catalonia and arrived back by early evening in Barcelona.

Having been to Barcelona once before I was a little unsure if the city would entertain me. However as this had been a day trip over ten years ago I was proved wrong. There was more than enough to keep me occupied.

I started my adventures in Barcelona by heading out to see the Sagrada Familia by night, which was nicely lit up, before heading back towards my hotel via the promenade and the ViennaSphere. However it was back at the hotel that the real adventures would happen - getting into my bathroom!

Unfortunately the bathroom lock had jammed, and as I got out the shower I found I had trouble getting back into the room. However with a little tug it was fine. I opened the window and to prevent a draft I closed the door. Going back 15 minutes later to open it I again had problems getting in. However no matter how hard I tried the door simply wouldn't open. Having to put my clothes back on I went back to the reception where the guy came back and tried to open.

Coming back after finding a ruler to try and use to open the door, he eventually resigned to the fact he "had no tools" and the mechanic wasn't coming back until tomorrow. This was fine, but how was I supposed to go to the toilet tonight? Well luckily there was a toilet opposite the room so that wasn't anything to worry about - before he left he gave one final tug and it miraculously opened. "Phew" I thought - so I quickly put my shoes in the way so that the door wouldn't slam shut again.


The next day I got up, gave the eclipse a miss due to the cloud, and placed the chair in front of the door to keep it open. I then headed out towards the old city, taking a walk past the cathedral and buying some souvenirs before taking the funicular up to the Montjuïc hill.

From the hill there are some great views of the city, and this is also where the Olympic Park from 1992 is located. I walked around, going in the Olympic Stadium before heading down the hill to Plaça d'Espanya, with its monumental gates - gaining a great view from the roof of the former Bullring, which is now a huge shopping centre.















After this I headed off to visit some of Gaudí Barcelona - stopping off at the Casas Batlló and Milà before heading back to the Sagrada Familía. I would today be entering and had intended to go up the towers. However due to the horrendously windy weather this wasn't possible. I therefore just made do with witnessing the massive construction from the ground.

After having dinner I then headed out to the last stops for the day, heading out from the Arc de Triomf and heading south through the park to the beach, where there were huge waves, showing just how windy it was today.


Going back to the hotel I found that the maid had moved the chair and closed the bathroom door again!! I now had to head back to reception and the fiasco continued, Luckily the mechanic was still there and so he came to fix my door.

With the WiFi also dead, I headed back out to McDonalds to use some quick WiFi when it had began to rain before going to bed for the last day of the trip.

The next morning was again pretty miserable weather wise, but as I had just one more place to visit I couldn't complain too much. I headed out of the city to Park Güell which is the best place to witness Gaudí architecture. Usually there are impressive views of the city too, but unfortunately this wasn't really to be seen.

And this is where my return to the city ended. It had been very interesting and surprisingly busy time and there is much to see in the city. If the weather had been great it would have been the icing on the cake, but even without that it was still a great time!