Where’s Colin? He's at the CityStop Aire in Barcelona. It's not cheap at €30 per night (electric €4 extra per night; water and waste plus showers, toilets and camp kitchen included) but it is: a) open in winter; and b) convenient for the city.
Sant Feliu didn't grab me yesterday, perhaps in part due to the weather. Today, with clearing skies, it improved on me as we walked along the beach, around the harbour, out along the breakwater* then back through the town. The town has invested heavily in multi-lungual information signs which are dotted around at regular intervals and whilst they don't tell a chronological story, they did give us some interesting snippets about the history of the place.
A shop-bought Spanish omelette and some freshly baked bread made for a tasty lunch before we headed off to Barcelona, with the intention of getting there just after 4pm, such that we could arrive in daylight, leave in daylight and have almost two full days (tomorrow and Friday) looking around.
The drive was a bit tedious, particularly on the wiggly section of road when we were stuck behind a large lorry. It nearly drove me to navigate onto the toll motorway ... but not quite (the bonus of a slow drive is that it gives the phones longer to charge - silver linings and all that).
I'm sure that most motorhomers who come to Barcelona opt for a campsite outside the city, but then most probably come here in summer when the campsites are open. I did finally find one within commuting distance, but by then I'd seen that the reviews for this CityStop Aire were almost universally good (a rare thing on Park4Night), and being just a few metro stops (or an hour's walk) from the centre we decided to go for it.
Admittedly the drive did get a bit stressful as we reached the edge of the city. Particularly when, on a six lane stretch of road the SatNav told is we were about to turn left, causing us to move over a few lanes, only for me to notice at the last moment that by 'left' it meant 'right'. That's the second time this week that it has confused a slip road off right, which loops around and over so as to get onto the road going left, for a left turn. Incredibly we did make the turn; even more incredibly, the manoeuvre didn't result in any horns being sounded.
Let's hope our exit from the city in a couple of days time goes more smoothly.
In the meantime there are decisions to be made as to what we want to see in Barcelona whilst we're here.
(*As we stood at the end of the breakwater I noticed that the ground in our immediate vicinity was wet. Realising what that meant, I moved away to some dry ground. Mick stayed where he was for a few more minutes and timed his removal just right as two seconds later a rogue wave made its way through and over the multiple lines of sea defences. The woman who had been standing next to Mick wasn't so lucky. She got an unexpected shower. We didn't laugh (or at least, not too much).)
Sant Feliu didn't grab me yesterday, perhaps in part due to the weather. Today, with clearing skies, it improved on me as we walked along the beach, around the harbour, out along the breakwater* then back through the town. The town has invested heavily in multi-lungual information signs which are dotted around at regular intervals and whilst they don't tell a chronological story, they did give us some interesting snippets about the history of the place.
A shop-bought Spanish omelette and some freshly baked bread made for a tasty lunch before we headed off to Barcelona, with the intention of getting there just after 4pm, such that we could arrive in daylight, leave in daylight and have almost two full days (tomorrow and Friday) looking around.
The drive was a bit tedious, particularly on the wiggly section of road when we were stuck behind a large lorry. It nearly drove me to navigate onto the toll motorway ... but not quite (the bonus of a slow drive is that it gives the phones longer to charge - silver linings and all that).
I'm sure that most motorhomers who come to Barcelona opt for a campsite outside the city, but then most probably come here in summer when the campsites are open. I did finally find one within commuting distance, but by then I'd seen that the reviews for this CityStop Aire were almost universally good (a rare thing on Park4Night), and being just a few metro stops (or an hour's walk) from the centre we decided to go for it.
Admittedly the drive did get a bit stressful as we reached the edge of the city. Particularly when, on a six lane stretch of road the SatNav told is we were about to turn left, causing us to move over a few lanes, only for me to notice at the last moment that by 'left' it meant 'right'. That's the second time this week that it has confused a slip road off right, which loops around and over so as to get onto the road going left, for a left turn. Incredibly we did make the turn; even more incredibly, the manoeuvre didn't result in any horns being sounded.
Let's hope our exit from the city in a couple of days time goes more smoothly.
In the meantime there are decisions to be made as to what we want to see in Barcelona whilst we're here.
(*As we stood at the end of the breakwater I noticed that the ground in our immediate vicinity was wet. Realising what that meant, I moved away to some dry ground. Mick stayed where he was for a few more minutes and timed his removal just right as two seconds later a rogue wave made its way through and over the multiple lines of sea defences. The woman who had been standing next to Mick wasn't so lucky. She got an unexpected shower. We didn't laugh (or at least, not too much).)
Hmmm... here's one for Mick. If you're travelling south from Barcelona, then check out the truly bizarre Ghost Airport at Castellón (Costa Azahar Airport - it'll come up on Google Maps). Built at monstrous cost in 2011, it has never been used to my knowledge.
ReplyDeletePutting the Real into Surreal . . .
Mick had heard of it, but prompted by your comment did a bit of Googling for the unbelievable detail. Apparently it is now seeing some use, but the early history is still incredible.
ReplyDelete