We were met at Barcelona airport by Marc & Laura. Waiting at the luggage carousel we met fellow South Africans – Corli & Janus who are going on a cruise. Marc assisted them with directions to their hotel. Geniet die Med julle twee & sien julle in SA.
After a well deserved shower we had a beer & then Marc took us on a guided tour. As he lives round the corner from La Sagrada Familia we took a walk round the church. It’s amazing to see this cathedral still being built and all with money donated.
From there it was a 15 minute walk to the old town Born according to Laura. I’m sure Marc’s maps was not functional (joke Marc) but it took us more than 15 minutes to get there. It was however great to walk through areas of Barcelona that I would not get to see as a tourist. A local guide makes it much more interesting. We walked into the Santa Maria del Mer and size of these cathedrals that are 100’s of years old always amaze me. After wondering around and just soaking up the city, we sat down for a beer. Our dinner plans were a bit unorganised but that was our indecision. Marc told us about his favourite little restaurant that serves sirloin prepared in the Catalan way, but also gave us the option of tapas. We chose the latter, but sitting down with our beer Marc said on the Camino we are going to have lots of Tapas. We then decided to opt for the sirloin. Marc called the restaurant to make the reservation but little did we know that he made a reservation last week, then cancelled when we chose tapas only having to call again. Luckily for us FC Barcelona was playing football so the restaurant was not busy.
At 21:40 we ended up at Restaurant de Gràcia – Cal Boter. Cal means house and Boter means barrel maker. By this time we’ve only had aero plane food for the past 24 hours and we were starving and a bit tired. Marc ordered starters with mushrooms in foi sauce and a grilled cheese which is served with the ever present bread. A red wine from Rioja was well deserved. Mains we ordered medium sirloin with a mushroom foi sauce which is served with rice. It is a great little local restaurant well recommended. With compliments to the owner and Marc translating he told us that his brother who likes to fish has been in Namibia for business where he did some fishing.
Back home we repacked our backpacks and checked everything. Both Laura and Marc were “concerned” about the weight of my backpack. That off course got me worried which resulted in checking off the check list twice. In the end Laura decided its the size of my backpack as only have the things which I need. Marcel’s backpack is smaller than mine and as a result also weighs less. When Marc saw the size of my sleeping bag he gave it one look and lent his to me which is at lease two times smaller than mine. That saved me at least 500g and gave me space in my backpack. Marc made reservations on the train to Pamplona leaving Barcelona at 09:30. Another glass of wine and eventually off to bed after midnight by which time the two of us were sleeping on our feet.
Up early, shower, last check of packs and then breakfast downstairs before heading off to central station together with all the people off to work so the Metro was quite busy. When we got tot the station to have our tickets printed there was nothing on our reservation. When I checked the email which was sent by Renfe we realized Marc made the reservation for 07:30. Thank goodness for a Catalan speaker and within no time using his charms we got ourselves booked on the 09:30 train.
As I write this we are on the train going through the Catalonian country side on our way to Pamplona and from there we’re planning to go to Rondesvalles today.
It was so good to spend time with Marc & Laura. Their hospitality and generosity opening up their home to us is much appreciated. Thank you for sharing your space and taking off from work to fetch us and then show your home time to us. Gracias Hasta
Hikes and Motorbikes 