July 20 - July 26, 2021
So on the afternoon of July 20th, I purchased a WizzAir flight from Vienna to Barcelona for the departure on the following afternoon, the price of which was €120, the carriage of my bicycle an additional €40 – quite a reasonable price (especially for the bike, some other carriers demand a lot more). Now came the first challenge, that of boxing the bike, a requirement for all airlines. For most bikers, this is rather straightforward thing, for my large-sized bike getting a box that fit was already a hurdle and disassembling the bicycle was another. I had only a couple of hours to get this done in the morning hours of the following day. I will spare you the details of waiting for the shops to open (some at 10 or even only at 11 am), then schlepping an all-too-large box from a store that was able to spare one to another one that would agree to disassemble the bike as an express service - of course for an express fee. The €90 that they charged hurt quite a bit, on the other hand, they did a wonderful job of making the parts fit, even gluing the free-flowing components to a small rack at the bottom of the box. Had I done this on my own, I would have gotten a badly beaten up bike upon the arrival in Barcelona, but not in this case, it was a professionally packed bike.
Returning home, I threw in some clothes and at 2 pm, quite exhausted, I bid farewell to my partner, thinking not to see her for almost a month...Then I was off for the airport by cab. Check-in was a breeze, compare that to my earlier ordeal en-route to Vietnam and soon I was sitting on the window seat in the front row, attended by nice Hungarian stewardesses (or being stewarded by these flight attendants, whichever is more politically correct). Wonderful sight of the Austrian and Italian Alps, of Marseille and then a full aerial tour of downtown Barcelona during landing.
The €90 packaging did wonders and now was carrying this large box towards the train bound for the city, somewhat keeping a check on my expenses. I had been to the city as a teenager with my folks, that being so long ago that I had hardly any recollection of what to expect. As with most large towns, the outskirts are everything but pretty and I was told to get off in station with rather unattractive surroundings (how come people love this city this much, I was thinking). The reason for getting off here was that in the vicinity of this station I had found a number of bike shops, to help reassemble to bike the following day. It was getting rather late, like 8 pm, but being in the western part of the time zone and that in August, it was still plenty of day light.Oh, did I mention I did not yet have a room to stay at? At the station, I booked a small hostel room (called Hostal Radio Barcelona for just €30, again, I was trying to make up for the expensive box, I guess), which was about 2 kilometers away. I did not plan on carrying my large box (plus the bags) there, so I hailed a cab, somehow we squeezed the huge box into the Skoda (where are all the Spanish Seats?). Soon we were riding on a beautiful boulevard flanked by houses of amazing architecture and suddenly I understood the love the world has for this city. After a sharp turn, a new sight: we were now cruising through narrow, narrow alleys, with clothes and laundry hanging from the balconies, the historic center of the city.
My hostel had the tiniest entries that I have ever seen, one trap-door, followed by another one at a 90 degree angle. They were very friendly and accommodating, though, and opened a large door reserved for laundries and supplies, so I was able to store the bike box for the night. I went for a long walk into the evening, which led me to Las Ramblas, the elegant pedestrian boulevard and got as far as the city beach, with a wonderful full moon shining on the water, with groups of youngsters chilling in the sand.
I called my partner, who is everything but a keen flyer and stared convincing her, stating that Barcelona is too much of a pity not to visit. She was hesitant, started looking into alternative ways of getting there from Vienna. By train, it would have taken roughly two days and cost hundreds of euros, by plane, it was less than €100 and quick. Knowing her aversion against flying, I did not really expect to see her.
The room was quite OK and I slept well. I had a pleasant breakfast at one of the cafes in those alleys and at 10 am, I was the first customer at the bike shop called Paloma 13, about 150 meters from my hotel. The owner was very nice, he smiled and told me to come back in an hour. Keeping to the (un)lucky number, he charged €13 for assembling the bike and made a comment how nicely it had been disassembled. The large empty box was now on the street with a new tenant replacing the bike – a beautiful grey cat was in the process of making it its new home.
Now equipped with my assembled bike, I planned spending a couple of hours in the city, then starting the ride. I visited some famous sites such as Sacrada Familia, then got my stuff from the hotel, still unclear where I was heading to, just that I would be leaving the city At lunch, I called my partner and was in for a surprise. Apparently, the praise I had for the city, accompanied by the pictures I had sent, made her consider getting on a plane, something she had not done for quite a while. After some convincing, she hit the “purchase” button and was scheduled for a flight for the following day.
OK, change of unplanned plans, or whatever you might want to call it. I liked the hostel, called them and got a similar room for a similar price. Still loaded with my bags, I started riding uphill, there was a hill, then one more and soon I found myself riding to the top of Barcelona called Tibidabo, offering amazing views of the city. It was to be the first major climb on this trip, to be followed by many others. It was quite hot and tiring, I must not have been in the best shape, a half-naked jogger overtook me running uphill. I was quite surprised to see peacocks next to the road At the summit is the Church of the Sacred Heart, the statue at top has wonderful views of the city.
Dropping back to town, I went to the beach for an early evening swim, freshening up from the earlier ascent, was quite a treat! I explored more of the city with lots of historic buildings. Back at the hotel, the night receptionist was an avid biker and he recommended I should be heading for the Pyrenees mountains. Hmmm, sounded like an interesting option – something I would keep in mind for later. I asked him for directions to the airport by bike for the next morning, he did mention it as being rather confusing , but doable.
The following morning I started riding to the airport, allowing an hour and a half prior to the arrival of my partner. I really hoped she would actually board the flight, well, I did not get a call from her telling me otherwise. The receptionist was right, the bike path heading towards the airport ended at the start of the freeway, from there onwards it was quite a struggle, I had gotten lost multiple times. I was tracking the flight on my cell phone, which was pretty much on time and had to hurry. I then reached the runway, as I was riding next to it, there I saw the jet landing from Vienna. I waved widely at it, but she did not notice me. At the arrivals, we met up and took the train to the city, the one I had taken the two days earlier.
OK, for those that have read my earlier blogs, I am not going to detail out the next four days, this being a biking blog. We found a nice downtown 4-star hotel, called Exe Laietana Palace and explored the city, spent time on the beach. One of the culinary highlights was a small Italian deli serving the most amazing focaccia close to the city beach, in the Carrer de Sant Carles. We went back like three times – it was so delicious, we were not the only ones making this discovery, each time there was quite a queue. The owner explained that there is a huge community of South Italians living in Barcelona. We also visited Els Encants, a large flea market with a reflective roof, built in 2013, worth a visit already for the architecture.
The days went by, on Monday (July 26) I took her to the airport and bid farewell. Back in the city, I explored even more of the city, guess you never run out of things, with almost each house having its own character.
On July 22nd, I mapped my movements in Google Maps, you can find it here. It was 30 kilometers of riding, with 600 meters of elevation gain - and the same amount of dropping.
The 15 kilometer flat ride on July 23rd can be found here.