Spain 2011 Day 5 Friday May 27

Spain day 5 – Friday May 27, 2011 – Zaragoza, Barcelona – 313 miles

Rivoli Rambla Hotel, Rambla dels estudis 128, Barcelona E-08002

http://www.hotelrivoliramblas.com/index.php?lg=eng

“Globus: Enjoy vistas of Rioja wine country on the way to Saragossa. Stop on PLAZA DEL PILAR, one of Spain’s grandest squares. Free time to visit the Basilica of Our Lady of the Pillar, where, according to legends, the Virgin appeared to St. James. Then, on to Barcelona, Spain’s second-largest city and the host of the Olympic Games in 1992. (Breakfast, Dinner)”

This morning Pamplona looks very dark and windy and cold, but hopefully it will get better as we move south. 7am bags out and breakfast, leave at 8am for Zaragoza, which has Spain’s “grandest square” and not much else. It’s a two-hour ride from Pamplona. After that another long drive to the Mediterranean coast and Barcelona, where we hope to warm up! They are very efficient as they collect the bags from outside our rooms while we eat breakfast, so they are all on the bus when we are ready to go. And they bring them to our room while we are doing something else. Nice to not schlep bags all over, so that is a VERY nice part of the trip for me as I’m used to schlepping.

After a pit stop along the highway, we arrived at Zaragoza around noon, but not for lunch, just an hour to view the very large town square, usually called Plaza Mayor in most cities, and I finally found an ATM that worked, as many of them did not work. Again the kids were camped out in the square, and still quiet at midday, but I guess ready to demonstrate at night. We went into a huge basilica, with many many people there to touch the pillar where supposedly Saint James saw the image of the virgin Mary in a pillar of light. There was an actual small pillar in the church that people touched. Not me though. Lots of school kids in groups brought flowers to leave.

At last, “Beautiful Barcelona” (as an extra tour was called) and our hotel, the Rivoli Ramba, right on a main street going to the main square and right now at night it is pretty noisy out there. But we have the best room in the hotel, with a balcony on the street, and the three flagpoles flying the flags of EU, Spain, and Catalonia. The weather is great now, warmer and a slight breeze, so hope it stays this way.

We went on the optional extra bus tour despite not wanting to get on a bus again, but it was well worth it, as we went up up up the hill to the park with the Gaudi sculptures and buildings in it, a planned community that was never finished except for two houses that we didn’t go to. But the grounds and the gateway buildings were fantastic, truly wonderful to see, despite the masses of tourists there with us. Then the bus went down to the coast for a view of the beach right in town, and the Olympic village that was turned into apartments. The area had been a former industrial wasteland that was torn down to make way for the buildings, now a high end place to live.

Going back to the hotel for dinner was difficult as the Ramblas street was blocked off due to the demonstrations and crowds at the top of it. So the bus had to make a long roundabout to find a parallel street, and there weren’t many, to drop us off for a short walk back to the hotel just in time for dinner at 8:30, fortunately in the hotel. And it was a great meal too, nice salad and salmon, but no free wine, which I didn’t need anyhow.