Wednesday 20-08 - The mountain trail

We had planned to wake up by 9-30am and get out into Barcelona. Instead we woke up at midday. No really minded though, we desperately needed the catch up sleep. We lazily washed and dressed and then headed down to the kitchen for lunch. We had the most enjoyable meal I´ve had in a while. We had slices of Spanish Tortilla with salad and tuna. I had eaten nothing but hamburgers and hotdogs and chips in Belgium. The salad was a god send and the tortilla was delicious.

Then we set off to the mountain in the South West corner of the city. It is the place that houses an olympic area and a castle. We didnt really want to see either, but the mountain gardens and view seemed like a good idea.

We caught the metro to the foot and of mountain and promptly got lost trying to get up, in the heat of the Spanish day. The path of stairs we saw when we found our way was canopied by trees. We were thankful for the shade. Up we went. Slowly at first, but Dani and I started to race. We ran as fast as we could up every flight. Panting, we were only a few steps from the top (I was winning) when Josh snuck in from behind to take the gold.

At the top of the stairs was a tuck shop so we bought strawberry and white chocolate magnums. They were amazing as we sat looking at the view.



All around us were gardens. We walked through the paths surrounded by green. I watched the other people around us as I went.





It was relaxing and cooler than before. This place seemed so different from the bustling city.



We were looking for a part of the mountain that was full of over 800 types of cactus. We found the place,but most it was fenced of for works.



So we looked around for a bit then started to make our way down the mountain. On the way we passed through more gardens, a restaurant and a hotel.



Down the mountain we found ourselves at the port. We walked by the busy port streets and past the tall coloum of Columbus. We walked down to the curvy bridge out a giant shopping centre. There we found a place by the water and sat for a while, watching the fish that swam beneath. It was really nice.





The book said this shopping centre had an H&M. Josh had lost his jacket in the haze of Madrid, so this was a good place to find a replacement. As we entered we saw a stall selling flat caramel things. We had to have one.



We found Josh a jacket and browsed the stores for a while. On the way out we found a chocolate shop with amazing looking delicacies. We had to have them.



From the port we strolled up La Rambla. La Rambla is the very big and very touristy walking street. It is the place you think of when someone says Barcelona. It is also the place you think of when someone says "watch your bag in Barcelona". Living statues line the sides of street like the hard candy of M&Ms. The chocolate centre is the tourists, packed in between the street performers. It was fun to walk though.

We side tracked into a food market with colourful stalls. I love the look of food markets. The candy stores and the fruit stores always look so full of colour and shapes and patterns.



We reached the part of La Rambla that I remembered. Back in 2001 when we went there with our parents, I recalled the kiosk along the street selling animals. Birds chirping loudly and turtles everywhere. I was looking for them this time around and finally there they were. Except now when I looked at them all I saw was appalling conditions and sad, sick looking animals. A few years can make such a difference.





Back at the hostel we had food and drinks and went out with the hostel group. The hostel had a guy whose job it was to take people out to bars and make sure they had a good time. We went with them to a bar that had a jazzy cover band. The place was cramped and most of the crowd spoke English. I wasn´t really into it. We stayed for a while and had some drinks but left after a while.