The Landing - Barcelona!

We arrived in Barcelona on a Sunday around 1PM on a direct, but Air Canada Rouge, flight from Toronto and were soon at our base for the next four days, the Hotel Arts.

After Monday afternoon, Lisa's days would be filled with work obligations until Thursday morning but we still had a little time to wander Barcelona before that began so we went for a good walk Sunday and grabbed a bite at L'Ostia in Place De La Barceloneta.

While the food was good overall, one thing was not (a croquette) that Lisa avoided but Christos unfortunately ate putting him at a disadvantage for most of the time in Barcelona.





In any case, being a little weak in the stomach still beats working all day!

We also visited one of our old haunts, Can Paixano or as we once called it, "Champagne Charlie's".









It was as good as it ever was with sandwiches of sausage, peppers cheese and more, all washed down the lovely pink cava they serve for a couple bucks a glass.

The big change at Can Paixano was the increase in the number of tourists there.

In the distant past, we had generally been the only tourists there for lunch but with the rise of the internet the place has most definitely been discovered ... even though there is almost no signage or visibility from the street!

The other change was the presence of a security guard at the door ...




On the Monday we managed to get out to the Ramblas and around the gothic quarter for a bit before Lisa had to attend a work dinner.

On Tuesday and Wednesday, with Christos still on the mend, his wanderings through Barcelona while Lisa worked were limited but a visit to the gothic Cathedral (now overrun with tourists and requiring security as well as an entrance fee) and the La Boqueria food market were still managed, as was a couple of meals including much needed vegetable soup, at a local restaurant called Bitacora.

On Wednesday night, after mingling with work people at the hotel,  we had dinner at Agut in the Gothic quarter with Clive from Lisa's work. It was decent but certainly not amazing.

With Christos finally back at full capacity and Lisa's work done by 11AM Thursday, we were soon off in our rental, a fun little Audi softtop, for the true holiday portion of our trip ... the drive from Barcelona to Madrid with many diversions along the way!