Barcelona - it was the first time that we metBarcelona has a confusing airport. When you disembark from a British Airways flight at Section A of Terminal 2 you discover that your luggage makes it way to the baggage reclaim at Section B of Terminal 2... or was it the other way round? Anyway we cocked this up well and truly and after asking a member of airport staff we found ourselves inadvertently on the wrong side of security... minus our luggage. After asking a couple of times how to get back we were told we had to go back through the metal detectors and scanners etc. which of course meant we had to explain to each official what we were trying to do. Curiously this didn't surprise them and it wasn't long before we were back at the correct baggage reclaim and low and behold found our suitcases almost on their lonesome. I say almost because as it turned out we weren't the only ones to make the mistake. We met a woman with a baby who had done exactly the same thing!
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After this momentary hiccup we decided to get the bus to the city centre as it was cheaper than getting a taxi. Miraculously we found the bus stop and bloody 'ell there was a bus waiting. The only down side were the 5,000 people trying to get on it and of course being on the Continent these Mediterranean types don't believe in an orderly queue and were just barging their way on to it. N went ahead and bought the tickets off of the driver whilst I staggered aboard with the cases and whilst she sat down I stood guard at the middle exit. The next 30 minutes were spent hanging on for dear life and having to listen to some cocky Spanish girl chatting to various passengers (loudly)... I was very thankful when we eventually arrive at Placa de Catalunya which is the central meeting hub of the city of Barcelona.
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Rather than trying to work out where exactly the hotel was and brave the Metro we decided to get a cab and it was a mere 10 minutes or so later that we arrived at our hotel. We were checked in by a rather sombre looking bloke called Oscar who seemed to spend all his time staring at a computer. Our room was on the 5th floor and was pretty large and very comfortable.
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As we hadn't eaten yet and time was getting on we went on a scouting mission for a restaurant in the immediate area. Easier said than done. We walked up the street some way and found a place that looked like it would fit the bill. Now I get rather irritated by restaurants that ignore you when you are waiting to be seated and of course this one fell into this bracket. Normally we would walk out immediately but as eateries were thin on the ground we decided to stick it out. At last we were shown to a table and given menus (in Spanish). We had a go at picking out what we wanted and waited and waited. The waitress came over and asked us if we were ready to order and N asked if anyone could speak a bit of English just so as we could check what were ordering. The waitress went away on the pretense of getting someone. Of course she clearly didn't bother and we were naturally left waiting. In the end we got up and walked out. No one even asked us why we were leaving. Total tossers. I hope this a*sehole restaurant falls victim to the global recession and the w*nkers go bust...
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Now very hungry we wandered back to the hotel to see if we could have dinner there. Again we waited and waited. Clearly being seen by members of staff we were totally ignored. Spanish customer service at this stage was hitting a rating of 0/10 at this stage in my brain. After a couple of foul expletives muttered under my breath we left to look for somewhere else.
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At last we found a cafe (we had walked passed it earlier) and sat down at a table outside. We were served promptly and the meal was fine (rating increased to 6/10). After a glitch with the chip and pin credit card we walked the short distance back and went to bed.
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To be continued...
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