Highlights-London to Barcelona
I departed the apartment without taking my duffel bag jacket (asked owner to give away). I couldn’t imagine a reason to take it with me after purchasing the more stylish item. At Heathrow Airport, I heard a woman trailing her husband asking, Why are we doing this? That’s happened to me too. I was hot on arrival in Barcelona, having dressed for London departure. My apartment (not AirBnB) was in El Raval neighborhood (older, grittier part of the city, across from El Born). I like the local vibe there. It was quieter being several blocks from the congestion of La Rambla (still a construction disaster).
El Raval-Barcelona
Notable Items
I arrived at Heathrow early as expected. That’s better than late. Searching for breakfast and a place for the long wait I had for boarding the flight to Barcelona, I passed up Wagamama (a concept restaurant, but the concept eludes me). They had English breakfast (check), but bench seats? Are they kidding?
The Giraffe World Kitchen had better seating and amazing efficiency. They advertise 10 minutes or less from order to arrival of food. The only problem was: The table was so uneven that I felt like I was at sea! Awkwardly squeezing under the table to jam sugar packets to “steady the ship” was very difficult (and only partially successful). They did a passable job on the full English. I sipped my latte for over an hour.
When I started sipping foam instead of latte, I went to the duty-free area. Normally, I avoid that commercial zone like a High Radiation Area on a Navy ship. I was looking for hand lotion samples (my hands were a little dry) when I bumped into a skin care products demonstration lady. She was on a mission (or her boss was watching). The products (all rubbed onto the backs of my hands) were wonderful, but pricey for someone who only wanted a sample. They were also too large to fit in my luggage. I don’t fit the model of the basic duty-free shopper. I won’t carry bags of skin care products (or anything else) around airports. After this experience, I’m back to staying clear of duty-free shops.
On the plane, the charging connection under my seat was difficult to see without putting my head into a stranger’s lap (warning-don’t do that). Other airlines put the charging connections below the seat in front, but those aren’t easy to reach either. There are some ways my body just won’t fold.
Last time I arrived in Barcelona, I had difficulty finding the stop for taking the light blue A1 bus to Plaça de Catalunya (closest stop to the apartment I rented for my stay). This time it was much easier since I knew where to direct my attention in the terminal and as I exited.
It was warmer in Barcelona at 4pm than London at 8am, of course. This made it uncomfortable to schlep my bag from the bus stop to the apartment. The wool coat had to come off. Unfortunately, I had a wool long sleeve shirt under that!
The street and room door of the apartment in El Raval unlocked via website (very cool). I’ve stayed there before, was thinking about staying somewhere else just for a change, but returned because the reviews of other places were horrifying. The street in front of the apartment building doesn’t get much traffic and lacks outside bars so it is quiet.
I was thirsty after my hot walk (not “Hot Wok,” a chain of restaurants in Europe) so I had a Frappuccino at Starbucks (the baristas were Yoa and Coco). I wasn’t there for more than ten minutes before two different people entered asking for money. It’s a thing in Spain.
Another thing in Spain, throughout Europe, in fact, is tethered caps on plastic bottles. I encountered them two years ago. You can’t remove the caps from bottles (gentle twisting won’t do it, you need tools!). I wrestled with the super strength tether mightily at first because I thought there was a defect. No. The defect is with the humans who litter, not the caps.
There is no doubt that fiercely adherent plastic bottle caps reduce litter, just like the elimination of pull tabs on soda cans. There’s just one problem. The caps poke your nose when you drink. Notice I didn’t write “tend to.” They absolutely do, which lowers the pleasure of drinking a cold liquid a wee bit.
I found a solution. After unscrewing the cap, while it is sitting at a bad angle, practically begging to poke your nose, position the inside of the cap facing up. Then, push it down hard toward the bottom of the bottle. This doesn’t snap the tether completely (it’s made of sterner stuff), but it reliably fractures one of the tether points. This allows you to push it completely away from the top and out of nose poking position.
Push hard!
Your nose will thank you.