My Last Day In Barcelona

October 16, 2011: My last day in Barcelona was started by a gloomy Sunday morning. I woke up with my two legs extremely sore at the calf and feet and tense from too much walking from yesterday's sightseeing and with a slight hang-over from too much drinking of the ever palatable yet addicting sangria just made with a Barcelona twist.

I got up of my soft hotel bed and filled the tub with warm water thinking that it will vasodilate my tight muscles and increase the circulation to that area. I soaked myself in the bubbled tub for almost one hour and then voila.... it's magical to feel that the warm tub bath had helped relieved my aches and pains slightly. As if I am new and whole again ready to rumble and face what is in store for me today.

I went down at the hotel lobby to check my emails as well as my Facebook account which was been lagged down for almost a week now. My email was been full of messages and I started to weed out the unimportant ones and tagged them as a spam.

We checked out at the hotel before 1200H then we headed to Mt. Montjuic with our travel light backpacks. We took the Metro and came out at the hub near Plaza Espanyol and there we peruse a lot of places that we haven't been for the past two days.

The sun had eventually came out on this quite balmy midday but the cool breeze of the Catalonian air quite compensated the sunny weather. We roam around the Plaza Espanyol area and took some of the last batches of pictures of the famous buildings and historic edifices as well as some of the interesting places around the area.

The highlight of our visit was the "Poble Espanyol" which was a very famous tourist spot in Barcelona. "Poble Espanyol" was a gaudy place in the area depicting the old time "puebla" in a Spanish language. It depicts a small town equipped with a plaza, church, parks, marketplace, and restaurants. I took a lot of pictures of it for my online album.

We decided to have lunch there for the last time. Since Arno decided to order a local white wine I opted to order a charcoal grilled chicken menu which was good. Then we were so giddy and anxious after that because we were about one-hour-and-a-half hour more for our plane departure and we were still somewhere in Barcelona far from the airport.

We cheerfully asked the guard at the exit of the poble what's the fastest way to get to the airport then we hastily walked towards the Plaza Espanyol Centerville and took the light blue bus as instructed by the guard at poble to drop us off at the airport in a nick of time.

We arrived at the airport just barely one hour before our flight. We then lined up to the check in area and have us inspected at the security check line and then I got caught with my BB&B lotion inside my backpack which they had eventually confiscated. I eventually accepted and resigned to leave the lotion for me to catch up the plain on time but my feelings was been touched of losing the lotion that I really liked. I then decided to just buy a small lotion at the Occitaine when we get to Aix-en-Provence.

The trip back to Paris via a RyanAir flight to Beauvais was an uneventful one. We arrived in Beauvais safe and sound. It was already 1930H when we arrived there and the weather was still nippy contrasting the humid weather we left in Barcelona.

When we located Arno's car at the airport's parking lot we then headed back to Paris taking the 80 miles trip back. It was quite a long trip back to Paris because of the thick and heavy Sunday traffic along the way. I think Arno had missed some few exits that's why it took us a few hours drive on the road.

We arrived at Arno's place at almost 2100H and we all look tired and fatigued. Though this weekend escapade was full of fun and everlasting memories and unforgettable moments I couldn't forget with my friends, I am so happy we have decided to go there in the first place. My heart was filled with unexplainable joy spending time with Arno and Doreen and I will always treasure this experience and memory.

Although I was extremely tired I can still vividly recall what had happened on my weekend trip to Barcelona with my close knit friends. All I can say is that nothing can even change and erase my experiences there. It was a fabulous yet a very educational escapade. An experience nobody can buy, equal, or fathom. Oh how I love to be back there again if given another good opportunity.

The people, the places, the Spanish ambiance is quite apart from the atmosphere in Paris. Both places have different meaning in my heart yet left a big mark in my soul. Thank God I had the opportunity to visit these two place and enjoyed what it has to offer. There I proved my point. Good night guys!