Last night, we benefitted from staying at the Ibis in Mataro on a Sunday night as their rates are significantly cheaper on the weekend. This morning we noticed that their rate had jumped 25 euros today. We are always surprised by this as it is the opposite at home. Generally, the weekends are higher than weekdays in Canada.
Ibis are not memorable hotels in term of esthetics, but the Mataro Ibis provided us with exactly what we needed -good wifi (we phoned Barry’s mom on Skype), comfy beds, super quiet and a parking place for Seavo.
The ride in to Barcelona went well. It is good that we have mirrors and a “super navigator on the rear” as at times it was pretty busy at roundabouts when N11 connected with the bigger freeway to Barcelona. The biggest challenge was navigating the busy roads of Badalone, but we persevered and followed Google Maps on highway N11 to the centre of Barcelona. On the way to the centre, we noticed Acte Antibes Hotel on a corner and stopped. They made us an offer we couldn’t refuse: 90 euros a night for a large family suite and good storage for Seavo. As well, we are only 5 km from the port where we will go to take the ferry to Genova Italy.
A wonderful thing about Barcelona is that it lives up to the hype that it has great cycling infrastructure. Once we entered Barcelona, we noticed that the centre of the road is dedicated to cyclists. How brilliant is that? We were able to ride safely in the centre of a four lane road on our own separated lane, never worrying about car doors opening.
We had a great sleep and are eager to get on the road. About 30 km to Barcelona which should take about an hour and a bit, we hope.
The N11 highway to Barcelona doesn’t have cycling lanes- most of the time a small shoulder. But what it does have is drivers who have an awareness of cyclists and are pretty patient. It is always surprising when a car is speeding by and suddenly slowsdown to wave, take our photo or call “bravo” out their window with a thumbs up.
Now, this is more like it! As soon as we entered Barcelona the cycling lanes began. We love having our own path in the middle by the boulevard. It makes so much sense to be away from parked cars as the car door opening is a big hazard.
Barcelona has a lot of green space with huge boulevards down many of the streets. One can stroll down the boulevard or the sidewalks and the bike lane is another element. This statue is on the boulevard through the Arch de Triomphe.
This looks like a stand-off of cyclists! They are waiting at a crosswalk of a boulevard and of course cyclists have their own crosswalk and traffic light.
We often see people in costume like this in city squares making a living entertaining people on the street. We enjoyed her interactive approach of encouraging you to sit on the wee bike for a photo.
Arch de Triomphe - a social place where many people gather to visit and enjoy the ambiance. Barcelona has wide open spaces on their busy streets with a large boulevard down the middle for strolling or cycling. This Boulevard is particularly special with beautiful statues, palm trees and ornate stone benches for visiting,
Another wonderful look at a typical lane in the city. So narrow and the apartments with balconies which almost seem to be within touching distance with itsneighbour across the lane. Little has changed over.
Laundry is always visible and the flag reminds us that Barcelona is proud to be Catalonian. In fact, most people here speak Catalonian and not Spanish.
What a bizarre scene to come upon. We were walking down this narrow street and they were doing a photo shoot which wasn’t going well. People would walk through in front of the camera, the wind wouldn’t cooperate for,the train to look artistic. It al looked pretty frustrating.
The Palace of Catalonian Music is a spectacular building. Apparently the stained glass and decor is amazing. It requires no lights during the day as it is illuminated by the walls and ceiling made of stained glass. Next time, we will go for a tour here -it lasts one hour and grounds wonderful.
