Northern Europe | Spain: Back in Barcelona (1)

When I wrote about my first impressions of Barcelona six months ago, I said I couldn’t really explain why I wanted to go to Spain. This time, the reason was clear: the visa was about to expire, and not using it felt like a bit of a waste. So before that six-month, multiple-entry visa ran out, we booked another trip to Europe.

The main focus of this trip was Northern Europe. After comparing a bunch of flights, the best-value route still turned out to be flying into Barcelona first. And so I was back in the place where I’d landed on my first trip abroad six months earlier, only this time it was winter.

Our itinerary this time was: Barcelona, Spain → Oslo, Norway → Tromso, Norway → Paris, France → Barcelona, Spain.

It was the same flight we’d taken to Barcelona six months earlier. The difference was that this time, we could already see mountain ranges covered in snow from the plane. We’d arrived in Europe in winter.

More than ten hours later, we landed in Barcelona again. It was the same airport, but compared with our first visit, we had far fewer worries this time. After collecting our luggage, we made our way out of the airport without any trouble and headed into town.

We’d booked a vacation rental online. Maybe we’d arrived too early and our host wasn’t awake yet; we called several times, but no one answered. There was nothing for it but to find somewhere to wait.

There weren’t many people around in Barcelona in the early morning, and the streets felt rather empty. We trudged along dragging bags of all sizes, looking like we were fleeing a disaster.

Luckily, there was a park nearby, with a swing beside it. After more than ten hours on a plane and all this running around, it was just the place to lie back and zone out for a bit, hahaha.

Since we were stuck waiting anyway, we checked out an underground supermarket we’d spotted next to the park. Some of the baguettes on the shelves cost just 0.49 euros, and the freezers were stocked with salmon at all sorts of prices. In the end, though, we only picked up a bag of lettuce for 1.99 euros, then sat down and started eating it.

Thankfully, we didn’t have to wait too long before we finally reached our host and got into the rental without any trouble. As we left the park, I looked up and noticed a Palestinian flag hanging outside someone’s window. It reminded me of how I’d accidentally wandered into a march on my last visit to Barcelona. Who would’ve thought that six months later, I’d see that familiar flag again almost as soon as we landed?

Once we’d checked in, we got ourselves settled, but weren’t planning to spend much time indoors. We still had a train ride south ahead of us today, to revisit that gem of a restaurant we’d found last time.

Back in Barcelona six months later, I had far fewer worries than when we’d first landed, but waiting for our host while hauling all those bags was every bit as awkward. Knowing our way around was all well and good, but if we had to wait for the host, we still had to wait for the host, hahaha.