“Thus we know we are near to some other place on the map which is not yet visible on the countryside.” CS Lewis, The Pilgrim’s Regress
About noon we hopped aboard the 30 minute train to Madrid where we waited an hour before boarding the 2.5 hour train to Barcelona. The countryside, with its rolling hills and farms did indeed hide the city until we were upon it. First impressions of Barcelona? It’s a cosmopolitan community on a grande scale with treed parks, charming architecture that reaches to the sky creating labyrinthian lanes laced with boutique artisan studios and eateries. We’re staying in an apartment near the Bohemian neighbourhood so there’s a young vibe and a lot of late night noise. But nothing like little Toledo that rocked into the wee hours of the morning and awoke us at 8:00 am sharp with echoing cannons booming from river bank to river bank. Ladysmith will seem like a monastery after Spain!
After a second attempt we found a tapas bar, happy to serve gluten free for me. Delicious! We meandered through Santa Maria Cathedral — simply structured with granite in the Romanesque style. Barcelona is our last stop in Spain and we plan to be here for 5 nights before boarding our train to Paris on Tuesday for our Wednesday flight home. And now for bed.
