Not much happened on our third day in Barcelona in terms of sightseeing and enjoying ourselves.
Our Easyjet flight was at 3.40 in the afternoon so we had plenty of time – we were just 5 minutes from the train station, the train journey was half an hour and that should be enough time, right?
But, no, of course not.
We checked out on time, left our luggage at the hotel and went to have the last taste of tapas. We found a cafe/restaurant on the Passeig de Gracia, sat down and ordered. Two of us ordered canelloni (Barcelona style) – it’s supposed to be the city’s dish so we thought we’d give it a try. The waiter told us it was pasta in a creamy sauce with chicken and beef. The others stuck to chorizo sandwiches and ham/cheese sandwiches – the safe options. When he brought this canelloni, it looked completely unappealing and was inedible – it was mush. The ham/cheese sandwich suddenly looked like the tastiest thing in the world. We told him we didn’t want the canelloni and could we change it for ham/cheese sandwiches? He agreed and even said he wouldn’t charge us for the canelloni – I thought we’d have to pay for them.
At about 12.45 we should have been making a move but decided to have our last taste of sangria! We practically downed it when it came, paid the bill and headed off to the airport.
At Passeig de Gracia station we spoke to a most unhelpful woman who couldn’t tell us what time the next train to the airport was. It turns out that it was at *that* minute. We ran to the platform and only just made the train. I thought we could just relax then. In 30 minutes we’d be at the airport and that would be it.
But, no, of course not.
We got to the airport and looked for the check-in counter for Easyjet. It said it was in section C so we walked towards section C. And we walked. And we walked. It took us almost 20 minutes to walk to the check-in counter. At this point it was 2.25 and there were a few people in front of us in the queue. We still had 35 minutes so I wasn’t too concerned. It soon became clear that this queue was moving at a snail’s pace because there was only one counter open. And had we arrived any later there would have been 20 more people in front of us! We eventually checked in at 3 on the dot and had to rush to the gate as the flight was already boarding. I didn’t get a chance to buy any treats for my colleagues and I didn’t get a chance to buy anything for my nephew Vindoo either. As we approached the gate, I could see people still queueing to get on the plane, so that was OK, right?
But, no, of course not.
Being Easyjet we had to get onto a bus which would take us to the plane. As soon as we left the terminal it started pouring – so you can imagine what a state we were in when we finally boarded! It rained the whole time we were queueing to get onto the stairs to get onto the plane – and my clothes were still damp when we landed in London two hours later!
All in all, it was a great trip. I think everyone had a good time, especially the birthday girl… but I will have to go back for longer to see all the things I missed out on!
Notes by Nectar 