Barcelona--Weather Alert!

After fifteen days of heat and high humidity we arrived in a somewhat, or what felt to us, chilly Barcelona. I cannot recall any other visit to Barcelona where the sun was not shining and the clouds were certainly threatening rain. Hotel Turin was not quite ready for us yet. The last couple of times we stayed there, we lucked out and got into the room upon arrival. We locked our suitcases in the available lockers at the hotel and decided our first order of business was a cup of coffee or tea at the Bar Lobo next door.

The Bar Lobo is quite a busy sandwich/sweet place. I opted for tea and a croissant while Bob went for his favorite, grilled ham and cheese sandwich called a Bikini.

We still had a couple hours to kill so we decided the next order of business had better be to buy some umbrellas. We hadn’t packed our travel umbrellas because of the need to keep the weight of the luggage down for our domestic flight in India. It certainly looked like we would need them.

At one end of La Rambla almost to the statue of Columbus (who points the wrong way to the New World) there is a little corner convenient store where we knew we could get water and umbrellas and we hoped some cough drops to help with the head colds we acquired along the way.

Too tired and out of ideas, we headed back to the hotel and decided we would just wait out the last hour in the small lobby. To our delight, the receptionist said our room was ready. Gratefully we gathered our bags and checked into our room. We were tired. It had been a long night and neither of us had slept much on the plane. Ah, the joys of travel.

On our last visit, we had found a nice restaurant that had good Paella and we tried to find it again but couldn’t. We settled for one of the restaurants that line La Rambla at one section. We had surprisingly good seafood Paella.

Done for the night, we strolled slowly up La Rambla back to the hotel. The rain had kept a lot of people away in the afternoon but it was dry now and pleasant and the crowd was growing. Always fun to people watch there.

There was a time difference of seven and a half hours between Kolkata and Barcelona. (Have no clue why there is a half hour difference in India.) We hoped for a refreshing restful night and were rewarded.

Unfortunately, we awoke to a rainy morning. So much for an open top Hop On Hop Off ride. Besides, we’d done that so many times before we almost knew the route by heart. I got out my GPS My City app and we connected with AT&T International service and decided to explore the Gothic Quarter where the cathedral was located. We’d been by there before but really hadn’t delved into it.

Umbrellas at the ready, we found our way to the cathedral which was the first stop on the walking tour. Many time we had passed this and taken pictures but we’d never gone inside. For 9 Euros each (excluding the tower) we were soon inside and enjoying the beautiful architecture and interior of the massive structure.

The early beginnings of this cathedral date back to the 3^rd and 4^th century. When the Arabs invaded and burned the city, some of the basilica survived. In 1046, a second cathedral was built and that was followed in 1298 with the present day Gothic cathedral.

Inside the cathedral and below the altar area, is the tomb of Saint Eulalia. She was said to be horribly tortured and then burnt at the stake for her faith.

We quietly walked about as did others and listened to the commentary that Bob had managed to get with a QR code. There were signs posted frequently reminding people to be silent. Suddenly our phones buzzed and squealed with an emergency warning. It reverberated throughout the cathedral as each and every phone got the same message. The problem for us was that the message was in Spanish. We shrugged and chuckled and didn’t think anything more of it.

When we finished the interior of the cathedral, we found that there was also a courtyard to explore. When we looked outside we could see it was pouring rain. The perimeter of the courtyard was covered so we ventured out. At that point, we could hear the rumbling thunder. The warning on the phone became clear. It was a weather warning.

We dawdled as long as we could and watched the thirteen geese that inhabit the garden area. The geese represent the number of years this young woman lived (290-304 AD).

The gargoyles were spewing water like I’d never seen before. The rumbling seemed to fade and we thought the rain was letting up a bit so we decided to move on. We had passed a Churros y Chocolate shop nearby and used Apple maps to get us there. By the time we arrived, our shoes were soaked. The water running downhill and around a corner had rushed up past our ankles.

The respite from the rain was only surpassed by the perfectly done churros, crispy, sweet and deliciously dipped in rich creamy hot chocolate. My favorite Spanish delicacy and Barcelona knows how to do it right.

Later we would discover that the airport had flooded and flights were delayed or canceled. We hoped those coming to board the Oceania Marina the next day would not miss the ship. We were thankful we were there now. A taxi ride to the port and we would soon be on a slow boat to home, crossing the Atlantic without having to squeeze into an airplane seat for several long hours. Sweet.