28 August 2019

Please don’t misconstrue the title! It has nothing to do with my current state and a whole lot to do with our big day ahead!!

Before our Fat Tire Cycle Tour ( see!!!!), we headed out onto La Rambla in search of coffee ( big mistake) and something for breakfast. La Rambla was a totally different place in the morning, the night life gone and the early morning street cleaners and market sellers taking off where the hangovers began.

All signs of head cold had disappeared (must have been the aircraft air con) thankfully.

These two accidental tourists stumbled across a nearby market and wandered aimlessly, checking out all the local produce. Stunning.

We wandered around the Gothic quarter aiming for the meeting place for our cycling tour. The streets were narrow, quaint and full of graffiti.

Can’t help but think this hotel is unfortunately named!!

Anyway we met up with our Fat Tire cycle tour and headed off to see the city. This is our third Fat Tire tour and once again it didn’t disappoint. The guide was informative, witty and good company.

Cycling is a thing here and the city is well set up for it , with cycle paths, cycle lanes and even cycle traffic lights. It was a bit daunting at first with so much to concentrate on. Cars, trucks, pedestrians, narrow streets, each other as well as traffic ( bike) lights. I think we were lucky a few times but we all survived and it was a great overview to the city.

We ended down at the “beach”. A spot reclaimed and restored for the Barcelona Olympics. The sand from the Sahara, the palm trees from Hawaii, the surf from nowhere. There was none!

We ordered the second from last menu item and it was…… delicious!!!

Probably the most interesting part of the tour was learning of the passion of the locals. “Catalonia first, Spain second”! It was evident in the flags flying, the political protest banners draped over balconies and the Yellow ribbon symbol on display everywhere!

Our guide explained a little of the passion of the Catalonian people and explained the significance of the yellow ribbon.

During the recent “unrest” in Catalonia, the pro separatist politicians have been imprisoned and whilst not all Catalonians want to secede from Spain, they are incensed that the pollie’s were jailed and display the yellow ribbon in support of their release.

As if we hadn’t had enough of Fat Tire, we returned in the evening with a new guide to experience some wonderful tapas, being reminded of the Catalonian uniqueness, and watch a flamenco show. For once the Aussies were in the minority. We were accompanied by 6 Americans. All from the central south. Donald didn’t get a mention and the conversation re gun control stopped almost before it started. Wise move! Despite the obvious, we had a great time and enjoyed the evening even more than expected.