Barcelona in May, First Walk, Evening

The first day in Barcelona was very short. When I arrived from the airport and barely found the house that was listed in the Booking reservation, I found no trace of a hotel there. After walking around the block once more and checking the address at a nearby barber shop, I sat down on the porch steps and tried to call the phone number listed in my reservation. But, as always happens in such cases, the phone turned off as soon as the call went - the battery was discharged while searching for the hotel using GPS navigator. I was about to go find a coffee shop where I could charge my phone, but the barber came to my rescue, bored waiting for customers on the next porch. When he found out why I looked so preoccupied, he took out his phone without further ado, dialed the number he needed, and told the caller that they were waiting for him here-they couldn't wait. When I heard that the owner of the flophouse promised to come back in 10 minutes, I sat down on the steps next to the hairdresser and a casual conversation began between us in a mixture of Spanish, English and German words. It quickly turned out that my interlocutor has some knowledge of the Russian language, since a year ago he was a barber's conference in Russia. I was in St. Petersburg and Samara, and from this trip I brought a lot of impressions, the main one of which was the amazing beauty of Russian girls who drink vodka in huge quantities without visible consequences. Then he asked about my plans, and I told him that I was going to Aragon. When I mentioned Haku and Canfranc, he shivered and said it was cold even in summer, which I actually experienced a week later. Finally, my landlord came up, apologized for not being there at the appointed time (I gave the time of arrival), and we went up to the second floor of the entrance of an ordinary apartment building. The guesthouse turned out to be a converted apartment, and there was no sign that it was a guest house. Apparently, the owner optimizes taxation in this way. My room turned out to be a cubbyhole with a bunk bed and a small window to the courtyard-well, but I didn't expect anything more. The establishment had 5-6 rooms, shared toilet and shower, there was a kitchen with all the necessary equipment, there was also WiFi Internet access - there was no signal in my room. In general, it was possible to live, especially for such money (22 euros per day) in relatively expensive Barcelona, only beds in hostel dormitories were cheaper. After settling in, I went in search of food, and when I found a Chinese minimarket nearby-Alimentacion, I bought food for the entire two days of my stay in Barcelona. After lunch, I went for my first walk in the Catalan capital, just as the sun was sinking towards the horizon.

Since my apartment was located in the Gothic Quarter, I started my walk from the Plaza de Seu, where the Archdeacon's house is located, built on the remains of a Roman aqueduct.

Near the wall where the Roman masonry is visible, there is a sculptural composition by Joan Brossa, installed in 1994. Seven bronze letters make up the word Barcino, the ancient Roman name for Barcelona.

In the square, I admired the Gothic stone lace of the Cathedral of the Holy Cross and Saint Eulalia, better known as Barcelona Cathedral.

Then I crossed the Anton Maura Square, where the night lights had already been turned on at the Bank of Catalunya.

Then I went to the Sant Pere quarter to the Palace of Catalan Music.

This greatest creation of the architect Lewis Domenech y Montaner was also beautifully illuminated.

Knowing that darkness would come very quickly, I took a tripod with me, but it was impossible to use it on a narrow street in a crowd of people.

After taking three shots, I gave it up, decided that it would be better to come here in the afternoon and headed in the direction of Luis Companis Boulevard.

On Louis Companys Boulevard, I finally turned my tripod around and captured the Arc de Triomphe, which was built as the main entrance to the 1888 World's Fair.

After walking along the boulevard, I turned into the Ribera quarter, where I stayed for a long time. But more on this in the next article.