After last night’s storm, with rain continuing through some of the night, awoke to slightly cooler temperature and light cloud cover. Had a very basic buffet brekkie in our hotel before walking for about half and hour along the river to check out the castle area and gardens. Enjoyed a coffee near the hotel, at the edge of the tramline and old markets- chatting with the friendly Argentinian owner. Before 11.30am we had negotiated the lift exit from the carpark and were on our way to Barcelona.
Less than half an hour and the scenery was virtual moonscape - quite desolate. Very flat with sparse vegetation. Then just as quickly the scene changes to spasmodic farm areas - corn and other grains, orchards and vines; occasional
abandoned old stone farmhouses and tiny villages. Although not mountainous, the plateaux between hills were quite lush .Then before we realised we were amongst rolling forrest covered hills . Can’t complain about lack of diversity! Another interesting point was passing through the Greenwich Meridian - formalised by an archway spanning across the motorway !
As closer to Barcelona and obviously the coast, mountains appeared .
Negotiated Barcelona without drama and found our Onix Rambla Hotel, right in Las Ramblas. Not a large hotel but seems really pleasant, staff were lovely directing us to nearby parking and other advice. We found a laundromat not far away and Raym left me to supervise the washing while he searched for a barber. Unfortunately he didn’t have any luck- was directed to a store that sold hair clippers (too funny!) after he tried to
describe what he wanted - but he did get to see more of Barcelona and bought some beverages and snacks!
After a cool off swim in our rooftop pool we were ready to go exploring our area for food which according to google and what we have seen - there is an abundance!
So much to choose from and such a great vibe ! We ended up with some tapas and sangria at “Mas Que Menos” (translates to more than less) - one of the many restaurants situated right in the centre of Las Ramblas - just near us. Strolled a few more blocks, realising the parallel street is all designer shops with no restaurants. Back closer to us and found a lovely bar for a night cap. (Cochitas).
On returning to our room realised our balcony directly overlooks Las Ramblas with fabulous view in both directions!